Drug and alcohol addiction is a chronic disease characterized by compulsive, or uncontrollable, drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences. This disease causes changes in the brain, which can last for a long period of time. These changes in the brain can lead to harmful behaviors, as well as to the development of different mental health problems. In addition to this, drug addiction is a relapsing disease, which means that it is common for people who stop abusing drugs or alcohol to return to the use of the substance, despite their intentions not to.
However, alcoholism can be treated successfully. Most patients who get the right type of treatment for their addiction problems are able to recover their lives by finding long-term sobriety, allowing to live a healthy and fulfilling life. In this article, we’ll talk about the basics of addiction recovery and how certain medicines, like Campral, can help in this task.
How Does Rehab Work?
A drug rehab center is a place that provides treatment for substance addiction, whether it is inpatient or outpatient, short-term or long-term. Rehab generally consists of a personalized combination of therapies for addiction recovery, like cognitive behavioral therapy, one-on-one counseling, group therapy, etc.
An inpatient drug rehab center provides a place for you to live while receiving addiction treatment on-site. Inpatient care is the best option for most people, especially for those with serious cases of addiction, because it removes them from triggers in everyday life and offers 24/7 professional care.
On the other hand, outpatient programs provide addiction treatment but not housing. This is the best choice for patients with a lighter addiction who don’t require 24h care, and who have responsibilities in their daily lives they need to maintain. Patients in this kind of program live at home but attend treatment 3 to 5 times a week, generally.
Medications in Addiction Recovery
There are parts of the rehabilitation process that are not easy, but they are definitely needed in order to get you back on the right track, such as detoxification when you stop using your substance of choice and your body goes into withdrawal. This can cause different symptoms such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, etc. Here is where medications come in handy since they can help alleviate these symptoms and make this unpleasant part of recovery a lot easier.
Campral (acamprosate calcium), for example, is one of the most used medications in alcohol addiction recovery. In fact, more than 1.5 million people have been treated worldwide with Campral, and it is one of three medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of alcoholism. What it does is help restore the balance of your brain's neurotransmitters and ease your symptoms, which, in turn, helps reduce your cravings. Unlike other alcohol treatment medications which either reduce the pleasurable impacts of alcohol or create deterring side effects from alcohol use, Campral reduces the brain’s dependence on alcohol. You can search for campral reviews to understand it better by reading people’s experiences with it.
This medication should be prescribed only after you have completely stopped alcohol use and gone through initial detox. It definitely is not a standalone treatment for alcohol addiction and should be used along with counseling, therapy, and other types of support for treating alcoholism. Campral can be prescribed by any doctor. It has shown to be safe and effective for most people, and it doesn’t interact dangerously with other medications. When combined with other recovery resources, acamprosate can reduce the risk of relapse.
If you think you might have an alcohol dependency problem, you should contact a medical professional today. They can orientate you better, help you find the best type of treatment, and determine whether you should use medications such as Campral to help you during recovery.