If you’re reading an article about drug addiction treatment, chances are that you, or someone you care about, are having a drug problem and you’re trying to find out how to fix it. The problem may be new, or may have been going on for years. Whichever is the case, it’s vital to use the right treatment method for your situation if you don’t want to still be dealing with the problem years from now.

What are your options?

Out-patient treatment: Often these programs are the least successful. A drug addict needs help getting through the pain of withdrawal. The symptoms can be so severe that addicts take the drug again to get relief, despite the fact that they really want to quit. There is also the problem of environment. Staying in the same environment where the person took drugs, with all the same problems, friends, habits, and so on, makes it very difficult for them to change.

Detox programs: While supervised detox programs can help an addict get off a drug safely and make sure their basic needs are taken care of during the process, a true addict will often need follow up in an addiction treatment center. The detox center helps them through the withdrawal process, but doesn’t not address the issues that caused them to take drugs in the first place. Many addicts make the mistake of thinking that once they’ve stopped taking the drug, they’ll be able to stay off it on their own. Generally, that’s not the case – although there are exceptions.

Narcotics Anonymous: Like Alcoholics Anonymous, this program has helped a lot of people. But many also drop out and relapse. And others find themselves going to meetings for the rest of their lives. Some go several times a day. But the reason they need the daily support, for years on end, is because the cause of their addiction was never successfully addressed – as it would be in a good addiction treatment center.

Drug replacement therapy: The most widely known replacement drug is methadone. People who formerly took heroin or other narcotics take methadone instead. They’re still addicted, but they’ve switched to methadone. Methadone is extremely difficult to kick, much worse than heroin, and people sometimes wind up on it for the rest of their lives. Methadone advocates often lead addicts to believe that the drugs they’ve taken have caused irreparable brain damage that will prevent them from ever being able to function without drugs of some sort or other. However, people are generally not tested to see if this actually is the case so they go on methadone for no good reason; they could have been actually cured of their addiction and the problems that set them off in that direction in the first place had they done a different type of treatment.

Short-term residential drug rehab: These programs usually last for 30 days; enough time for the person to get through withdrawal, but not much else. Very little, if any, actual rehabilitation has occurred and the causes of the addiction have not been addressed. You can expect the vast majority of graduates to relapse – possibly as many as 95%.

Long-term residential drug rehab: This method has proven to be the most successful. It removes the person from their environment so they are free of their usual influences and problems and can focus on resolving their addiction without distraction. The first step is withdrawal, then the person begins to address why they became addicted in the first place and is taught life skills that help the overcome those issues. To wrap things up, they are sent off with a program for a new life. A good long-term residential addiction treatment center also includes getting the person in good physical health and condition.

While not everyone makes it, the chances of relapse after long-term residential drug addiction treatment are far less than with any other treatment model.

If you’re looking for help, check out the long-term residential model first. While the others may be more convenient, there’s no point in first trying something with a low success rate as you are likely to have to deal with recovery and relapse cycles that could go on for years. Getting the right treatment in the first place, on the other hand, could completely change your life, and the addict’s, within a few months.

It depends on the drugs, but if altered perception is involved then to a certain degree the answer is yes. However, for several reasons it is detrimental and definitely not recommended. Firstly, drugs artificially stimulate and force open receptive centres in a way which can be damaging to the unprepared subtler bodies. The natural conscious opening of these centres through simple techniques is by far a much more interesting and rewarding experience.

I believe the ‘instant gratification’ that drugs can seem to provide is just a learned mental greed, a blown-out-of-all-proportion ‘I want!’, especially when just a little patience and practice can produce lasting and repeatable results. Many drugs have physical side effects, but all of them temporarily imbalance the energy centres (chakras) to one degree or another. Often it is more the sensation of this imbalance and the resulting experiences which people are addicted to than any addictive qualities to the drugs themselves (marijuana is an example of this.)

Common street drugs not only do not help you achieve Astral Projection, but will most likely create energetic conditions inside your body that can actually prevent you from projecting naturally. At least until the imbalance truly subsides. And unfortunately for fans of the wacky tobacky, marijuana is known to suppress dreaming memory and alter REM cycles, which certainly doesn’t help Lucid Dreaming and in many cases prevents it (though the individual effect varies.)

Other bliss-inducing drugs (such as ecstasy, heroine, cocaine etc.) may temporarily open one to the feeling of more blissful astral levels. But whatever the short term effect, it is an undesirable means due to their temporary and pendulum-swing nature alone, and the physical and psychic repercussions confirm this. With natural techniques, one acquires access to the knowledge of how to anchor blissful experiences into everyday life. Isn’t this seemingly elusive state what people call ‘happiness’? It is far easier to create than is generally thought of!

Hallucinogenic drugs (such as magic mushrooms, LSD, party acid cocktails, peyote, etc.) mostly cause a ‘bleedthrough’ of astral perceptions into physical perceptions. This can be confusing or disorienting, especially without experience focussing one’s consciousness, and there’s always the risk of a ‘bad trip’; very unlike the vibrant and evolutionary Astral we are seeking to access. The temporary trip may be a curiosity for some, enlightening for others, but is truly incomparable to the available natural methods.

The more intense variety of hallucinogens such as DMT or salvia divinorum or others are a topic in themselves, purportedly resulting in dimensional journeys similar to projection. I have no wish to explore the topic here, there is plenty of information elsewhere. However, I would really like to caution against these to anyone who is inexperienced with hallucinogens, as the immediacy and intensity of these drugs is very difficult to control. Certainly they are not to be used for escaping a negative state like most ecstatic drugs – instead they will amplify the experience of your current state manifold.

Experienced projectors have done their own investigations by observing those using drugs to access the Astral and unanimously report the inferior aspects of such methods, including various damage to physical and astral bodies. The only thing observed to temporarily counteract this damage to any extent is the spiritual intent of the person, as for example observed in various shamans.

In conclusion, there is simply no need for drugs when greater, more stable, more beneficial, and more interesting and ecstatic experiences can be had through natural means. On a sociological level, the prevalence of drugs in any society is more an indicator of the devaluation of the meaning of life, and a lack of real spiritual education in the means for achieving psychic growth and these same ecstatic states naturally.

When it comes to the aims of Astral Projection and Lucid Dreaming, we want to learn how to create and experience what we desire. We need to become more consciously focussed. And focus is usually the first thing we lose when we use any kind of mind-altering substance. It is usually an ‘unconscious’ rather than a ‘conscious’ journey in many respects – at the very least we don’t know exactly where we are nor exactly how we got there. It’s strange and unfortunate to think some people struggle hard to maintain a drug habit when it’s much easier (and cheaper) to learn natural methods… if only they were far more prevalent and well-known (and used.)

A generic version of a drug is a variation of a brand-name drug that has the exact same effectiveness, quality, safety, and strength, but at a much lower price. Under a different name, generic drugs can provide you and your family the medicines they need a a cheaper cost. Generics exist for many different types of medicine and are available at your regular pharmacy.

There are two main differences between a generic drug and a name-brand drug. First, the biggest difference and the best benefit lies in the drastic price difference. Second, your generic drugs may look a little different than its brand-name counterpart. Cheaper prescription drugs are a huge convenience to families who have been struggling with prescription medication costs, as well as for those who have been struggling with a chronic disease. A generic recently came out for the medicine I take, and being able to get it for a small fraction of the formerly high price is a huge relief. However, not every brand-name has a generic form. Generic forms are created when the patent for the brand-name drug has run out of time, so if your medication is generally pretty new, a generic may not be coming out for a while.

Many attribute the lower price of generics to a lower quality. This couldn’t be more wrong. Besides the cost, generics have minimal differences that very rarely affect the taker. The only differences reside in shape and color, which may minimally alter the release time and taste of your medicine, but they do not alter the effectiveness or strength of your medication. The only reason generic drugs are cheaper is because the research and advertising costs have already been paid for by the name-brand, allowing the generic to not have to spend money on advertising or marketing. Generic drugs are required by law to have the same chemical formula and the same active ingredients, but if you have side effects that you attribute to the generic form of your medication, be sure to talk to your doctor about it.

Surprisingly, if you have insurance that covers your prescription costs, buying the name-brand may actually be cheaper than the generic. Insurance companies talk to the manufacturers of medicines and negotiate for better prices for their customers and create a list of preferable medicines. Talk to your doctor and see if the generic version of your medicine is an option, and then call up your insurance company and ask which is a better value for you.

Performance enhancing drugs, as the name suggests, are typical drugs that can be taken for increasing one’s performance. These drugs are basically steroids taken by athletes and sportsperson who are genuine professionals. Also, certain other hormonal drugs, including human growth hormone stimulants might also be regarded as performance enhancing drugs.

These enhancers were first used by the Greeks in the ancient past and were ingested by participants of sporting events. But these drugs have however been recognized as a threat and since the 20th century, certain technologies have been developed for testing and screening athletes on a regular basis to find the presence of such drugs in their blood stream. These enhancers have been banned since then.

Performance enhancing drugs- the phrase, is just used to refer to certain anabolic steroids or their relevant precursors in general, but the world of anti-doping organizations have a broader description for these drugs. These typical enhancers have distinct classes as well-

Stimulants: These drugs are used by athletes to enhance their performance in their particular fields and also stimulate the bodies to give their best performance. Stimulants can also help in increasing awareness, alertness and aggressiveness and decreasing fatigue. Some of the commonly used stimulants are Amphetamines and Caffeine.

Lean Mass Builders: These typical performance enhancers are used to amplify or as well drive the growth and development of lean body mass and muscle. These can also help in reducing body fat. These belong to the category of anabolic steroids and the commonly used ones are beta-2 agonists and several other human hormones, such as human growth hormones.

Sedatives: These enhancers are also used by athletes engaged in sports such as archery that demands a steady hand and also a precise aim. Sedatives help in coping up with nervousness and distress. Marijuana, Beta Blockers and alcohol are some of the common examples.

Painkillers: These drugs are very common and are used on a regular basis by the common mass as well. Athletes prefer using these drugs to mask their pain in order to maintain their performance and ability to compete in unfavorable conditions. These drugs allow the blood pressure levels to soar up, thus supplying the body with ample quantity of vital oxygen to relief pain. Painkillers can be purchased over-the-counter and includes medicines such as NSAIDS (acetaminophen and ibuprofen) and also certain prescribed narcotics.

Masking Drugs: These are rare drugs and are taken in order to prevent other classes of drugs from being detected. These drugs can evolve really quickly almost similar to the methods of testing. Epitestosterone is the most commonly recognized making drug.

Diuretics: These drugs are used for expelling water out of athlete’s bodies. Wrestlers have been using these drugs for long in order to meet the weight restrictions. Some of the stimulants are believed to have secondary diuretic effects.

Performance enhancers are usually taken as oral pills, though some injections are also available to be intravenously injected.

With the improved technologies and development skills, the detection of performance enhancing drugs in an athlete’s blood stream has become almost impossible. But preventive measures are still being taken and hopefully someday the World Anti-Doping Agency will be able to bring this issue to an end.

I watched a very disturbing and enlightening video about drugs, the CIA, and American governmental corruption last night. The title is CONSPIRACY, THE SECRET HISTORY, SECRET HEARTBEAT OF AMERICA – The C.I.A. & Drugs. New Science Ideas is the producer. Every American should watch this video.

It seems people overseas know more about the CIA than most Americans. Of course there is a reason for this. Our media is censored in the name of “national security” matters. National security, as you will learn, is a subject that shows up in the weirdest places.

The drugging of America costs us more than $16 billion a year and has killed more people than the Vietnam war. Who profits and who is responsible? Follow the money.

Ironically when first lady Nancy Reagan was saying “Just say no to drugs.” the CIA and Barry Seal were bringing them in from Medellin, Colombia. The agency used the cocaine money once sold in the USA to buy and bring arms to the contras to Nicaragua. Oliver North was heavily involved in the fiasco.

Anyone in Mena, Arkansas who tried to expose this circle of corruption, including the head prosecutor, was threatened or killed. When two young men saw a drug drop by the train tracks in Arkansas, they were immediately knocked off. The cover-up ran throughout local and state government. President Clinton was the Governor of Arkansas at that time. He played along keeping quiet and afterward got lots of drug money donated to his presidential campaigns.

President Bush I was no less guilty as former director of the CIA. His watchful eye and reading of the CIA briefings, which he as a former President still reads daily, makes him equally liable during his tenure as Vice President. At least they got that word vice right?

The people who caused the cocaine epidemic that swept the nation during the 1980s wasn’t African Americans in the ghetto. Many of them in those days could barely cash a paycheck, much less smuggle drugs via planes into the country. When the USA has satellite technology capable of reading the writing on a golf ball, there should be no difficulty tracking down the likes of drug smugglers and Bin Laden. That is unless you are covertly working with them.

A three-year investigation into the life and times of Barry Seal, one of the most famous CIA agents and successful drug smugglers in America’s history, revealed the extent of governmental corruption throughout America.

When Mena, Arkansas was brought up during the Oliver North trial, suddenly everything went into closed quarters away from the public eye. Why? What does the government know that it doesn’t want the American people to know?

When international drug distribution organizations are integrated vertically throughout our government, there is room for concern. Dan Harmon was involved in the obstruction of justice locally n Saline County, Arkansas. He was indicted and found guilty on 5 of 11 charges. Sucking off the tit of shameful governmental secret operations, Harmon was never charged for murder in the two train deaths. After his release from prison, Harmon was promoted. I guess it pays to be connected and play along.

New Orleans attorney Sam Dalton poignantly said, “When the government involves itself in activities like the CIA and starts averting natural events and the natural course of history, that is where the government itself becomes the criminal. This whole thing is hiding in plain sight. If you want a scandal, investigate retired DEA agents net worth and put it together. If the American people don’t make the government start behaving soon, we’re going to reach the point of no return.”

With Barry Seal and the CIA working the drug trade, they found in the deep south some compliant and cooperative governors. Hence the list of later Presidents elected from the south.

The FBI went to the New Orleans police office and seized the trunk and walked out with it, when Barry Seal died. The state judge had to back up attorney Sam Dalton and hold the FBI in contempt of court to get what evidence it needed for discovery. Sam Dalton also wanted to subpoena the CIA, but was unable to do so.

Jaws isn’t over until the sheriff meets the shark. Mena, Arkansas proved to be the biggest drop point for drugs in the entire country, a $130 billion dollar industry. It’s rather easy apparently to finance a governmental covert operation, when all airport personnel are willing to play along. The secret wars of the CIA 1981-1987 is written about by Woodward. The Clintons were partners in power.

To see the real culprits look around the periphery – not the smoking gun, but the bent twigs. Note the deaths, firings, threats, and attacks upon people in the know. Dan Lasater, a convicted drug dealer, was a big Clinton supporter. Jerry Parks, the head of than governor Clinton’s security detail, was killed in a hail of gunfire after telling associates he was a dead man one month after Vince Foster died. Arkansas criminal investigator Russell Welch got poisonous military grade anthrax sprayed in his face for his probe into the coverup.

Arkansas state coroner Bobby Malick (an Egyptian) played right along claiming he never made a mistake in 7000 autopsies. When the two young men who were killed on the train tracks for seeing a drug drop, Malick claimed it was a suicide. When the parents didn’t believe it, he decided to tell them the boys had high amounts of marijuana in their systems. However the 2nd autopsy revealed that stabbings had occurred along with a bruise to the face from what looked like the butt of a rifle. The boys lungs had 3 times the normal amount of blood in them, which indicated they were not killed by the impact of a train.

Sheriff Jim Stead, another participant in the coverup, called it a thorough investigation. The boy’s mother disagreed considering her son’s foot was left laying on the train tracks for 2 days. The green tarp seen by many after the impact of the train also brought into question a government cover-up.

Prosecutor Jean Duffey was one of the few would didn’t play along. She was threatened and eventually run out of town. She thought her life was in danger and moved to Houston, TX where she now teaches high school geometry. Duffey was appointed to head a federally funded drug task force in Arkansas. The day she was appointed Gary Arnold walked in and told her she was not to use the task force to investigate any public officials.

Duffey was put in charge of half-a-dozen under cover agents. They couldn’t get much above street level buying, but when they started connecting public officials to protecting the drug dealers Dan Harmon’s name came up immediately and most frequently. The train deaths became the most famous unsolved mystery in Arkansas history. It received national attention and 1,000 newspapers wrote about it. Possible witnesses however were turning up dead.

Drug drops from low flying airplanes, which local residents reported hearing many nights, were never investigated by any law enforcement agency in the district. The drugs were being dropped in the same vicinity where Kevin & Don had been murdered along the train tracks.

Prosecutor Jean Duffey was the object of a smear campaign. Basically she was getting too close to the 7th judicial district. Hence she was fired in order to cover their asses. In 1991, drug task force secret agent Scott Loellen quit, saying “There is just too much dirt behind the scenes.” He served Saline, Grant, and Hot Springs counties. He later bad mouthed the drug task force saying, “That district is immersed in a reign of corruption that has important and powerful connections to political, judicial, and law enforcement officials.”

As an under cover officer, Scott gathered evidence of illegal activity, but for some reason the drug task force chose to ignore him. He quit because of the firing of Jean Duffey, the drug task force administrator.

In June 1990, Dan Harmon became the district’s prosecutor elect. Harmon’s first news conference and interview was entirely used to discredit Jean Duffey, who was disposed of and forced to flee to Houston, TX as her life was in danger.

Prosecutor Dan Harmon was on the tracks the night the boys were murdered. State police also were not doing their job. The mothers of the deceased boys were promised convictions in the 1990 federal investigation, when suddenly Chuck Banks shut down the investigation in June of 1991.

Other bits and pieces of evidence linking it all together was the fact that in the 1980s a former top CIA official kept a 2nd home in Medellin, Colombia.

Some other juicy tidbits of information. Oliver North’s 1st national program office was at Laguna Airfield, where 1400 lbs of cocaine was found on the runway.

Southern Air Transport, owned and operated by the CIA, provided the agency a subcontractor for plausible deniability while they dealt in drugs and arms trade. The privatization of American intelligence is the way the agency works.

The British version of 60 minutes, The Big Story, showed the trail of drug smuggling and gun running that led to the door of the White House. It exposed the blundering government coverups spanning seven investigations and some long frustrating years. The show revealing the cocaine connection was immediately banned in the USA within hours of its release.

During the days of the Oliver North trial, some 500 documents were shredded over 3 days. All our enemies knew it, but North wanted to conceal and keep it from Congress. Even surfers in Nicaragua named a surf spot after him do to the agency’s base there. As for Mena, Arkansas, it was home to Operation Black Eagle, the most massive covert operation in U.S. history.

1101 Mena St. is the local to the secret history of our life and times as a nation trafficking in drugs and arms. It is a small obscure town in western Arkansas, with a population around 5,000 people. With no tower and monitoring of flights, Barry Seal found Mena to be the perfect place to fly in and out without being recorded. Barry brought up to $5 billion of cocaine into the USA during the 1980s. Mena was where he based his cargo airline and parked his one of three C123 planes that made trips to Colombia and Nicaragua.

The mere mention of Mena has been sending chills down the spines of government propaganda officials for years. It’s nice to see the Democrats and Republicans work together on something. The doping of America is truly a bipartisan coverup.

When it comes to diseases and medication, there are as many good and bad results as there are people and prescriptions. That said, because I work with people with diabetes I have been researching these meds and I don't like what I've found.

Possible the most prestigious-albeit not without conflicts of interest-medical journals is The Journal of the American Medical Association. In a recent issue celebrating advances in medicine over the past 200 years, an article on diabetes was included. The author celebrates the discovery of insulin and at the same time laments the fact that "little progress has been made toward conquering the disease during the past 200 years, and we are arguably worse off now than we were in 1812." The population with diabetes is 75% higher now than it was 20 years ago. For those who are on medication for diabetes, who coach people to health and reversing diabetes, or who are paying attention to what's happening in the world of our brethren and sistern it's easy to see that whatever we are currently doing is not getting people well.

In fact many diabetics and pre-diabetics become trapped on a track of ever increasing doses of meds that have side effects including increased risk of cardiovascular disease, weak and brittle bones, and weight gain.

The cardiovascular risk was proven in a prominent study, called Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD). It was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of various medication regimens in reducing heart attacks, strokes, and death from cardiovascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. One arm of the study tested the widely held assumption that more aggressive lowering of blood sugar would provide greater protection against heart disease. In fact this assumption proved to be dead wrong. The study was halted 18 months early. Dr. Julian Whitaker wrote in his newsletter, "Intensive blood sugar lowering treatment proved to be so harmful that the researchers halted this arm of the study 18 months early to prevent this aggressive drug use from killing even more people."

You don't see that on the warning label. Yet heart disease of all stripes is the most common secondary condition for diabetics.

Diabetes drugs either lower / suppress insulin or lower blood sugar. Some drugs both lower blood sugar and push the pancreas to produce more insulin. Think about how this might affect the pancreas. How long can you push someone to do their work faster and for longer before they quit or die? It's becoming more common now for people with Type-2 diabetes present with Type-1. Why? The islet cells of the pancreas are taxed to the point of exhaustion.

And think about this. If you need insulin to get blood sugar into cells where it can be used for energy but you lower the amount in the body of a person with high sugar, how will the body cope with all that extra sugar? Diabetes by the way, according to metabolic expert Ron Rosedale, Diabetes is not a blood sugar disease . So, drugs that focus on the symptom of elevated blood sugar, rather than addressing the underlying cause, are doomed to fail in most cases. "Type 2 diabetes is a disease caused by insulin resistance and faulty leptin signaling (leptin is a hormone produced in your fat cells), both of which are regulated through your diet ." Says Rosedale.

I casually threw weight gain in up there in the side effects category. Did you know that? If a drug increases insulin-the storage hormone-there will be more fat storage. Some of these pills also cause water retention. This can affect blood pressure as well a weight.

Is there any good news for diabetics?

Of course, and it's easier than remembering which meds to take when and monitoring side effects. Make changes in your lifestyle habits and ignore the conventional recommendations on this.

Eating small meals throughout the day may not work for those with insulin resistance or too little insulin. Any foods that spike blood sugar should be taken out of the diet at least until you get well. This includes white, wheat, rice, soy, and other flour products with the exception of coconut flour or nut flours. Take a break from sugar of all kinds for 7 days and see what happens to your fasting blood sugar number.

I guarantee it will improve in just 7 days or less. Watch the amount of food you eat at one time but don't go hungry. Ensure you are eating plenty of healthy fats, clean protein, and as many non-starchy vegetables as you want. Include some fruit with a meal or some fat. Other than green apples don't eat fruit on its own as a snack. We are aiming for blood sugar balance throughout the day so insulin can do its job and the system can return to stasis.

The final major league magic bullet is exercise. Just ten minutes of walking after a meal helps use up circulating blood sugar. The more you move the more you help your whole hormonal system return to normal.

Bring awareness to your choices throughout the day. Eat slowly, savor each flavor, color and texture. Notice when you are getting full. All of this takes support but won't it be worth is when Big Pharma isn't gambling with your health while lining their pockets?

Doctors from all over the world who include an open mind in their practice will tell you that diabetes is close to 100% reversible.

No one ever got sick from a lack of prescription medication and when it comes to disease, for the most part, they don't get well either.

Choose life even when it's harder than taking a pill. You'll feel a whole lot better in the long run and you might even get a longer run.

STORAGE is the process of keeping drugs at home. Drugs are chemicals that react to external stimulants such as heat, moisture, light, dust, etc. In many cases, such reaction leads only to superficial changes, such as discoloration. In many other cases, the reaction may affect the drug more seriously, leading to reduction or elimination of its efficacy and/or potency. There are cases of drugs that, thus affected, not only exert no healing effect but also cause adverse effects on the patient’s health,

Storage therefore must not be taken lightly. This is even more important in the storage of anti-depressant drugs such as Lexapro because if its healing property is lost or diminished, the patient, given his or her psychological/mental condition, may altogether refuse to take any medication and allow his or her condition to deteriorate to suicidal tendencies, if not suicide itself.

Label instructions: It is always a good practice to read storage instructions printed on the container or strips in which the medicine comes. Many liquid medicines are required to be used within a certain number of days after opening the container, after which their potency is reduced or lost. Reading instructions on the label is therefore the first thing one should do on purchasing a medicine. In fact, these instructions are enough to store medicines properly and one does not usually require further advice on it.

Storage of Lexapro: Lexapro is the latest anti-depressant drug belonging to the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) group of drugs. It is used in the treatment of depression and generalized anxiety disorders. The following are the storage instructions for Lexapro, which must be strictly adhere to:

• Store at room temperature between 59 and 86 degrees F (15 and 30 degrees C)
• Store away from heat, direct light, and moisture. Keep the capsule or tablet away from the bathroom, kitchen sink, and other damp places. Heat or moisture can cause the medicine to break down or crack
• Keep out of reach of children (this is applicable to all medicines)

To conclude, do not take storage of drugs lightly. Improper storage can reduce or even eliminate potency of the drug and this can dilute the patient’s confidence in the treatment he or she is receiving. In the case of patients with psychosomatic illnesses, this dilution of confidence can seriously impair chances of recovery and can even lead to suicide.

Not too long ago, the only drug available for a headache was a couple of aspirin. Today there are a number of drugs designed specifically for the treatment of migraine and other chronic headaches. Many popular drugs used today to treat severe headaches were originally used to treat other problems such as high blood pressure and wrinkles. There are two categories of drugs used for headache treatment, those that relieve the pain, and those designed to prevent the headache from occurring. The use of drugs for headache relief is constantly changing.

Neurologists will usually choose a treatment plan based on the frequency and severity of the headaches. Those patients who suffer from two or more severe headaches per week, get no relieve from pain medication, or are using large quantities of pain relievers, are placed on a preventative plan. One of the big issues with current medications is that their side effects can be very serious. Certain medication cannot be used with children while others cannot be taken by women who are pregnant or breast feeding.

Pain-relieving medications are the first drugs of treatment. These drugs are usually taken at the start of a headache. There are a few major categories used. First are the Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These are the common over the counter drugs like Ibuprofen(Advil, Motrin), Acetominophen(Tylenol) or Naprosyn(Aleeve), or Aspirin(Bufferin, Bayer). These drugs are useful with the everyday common headache. A number of manafacturers market combinations of drugs like these specifically for migraine headache. Excedrin Migraine is an example of such a drug. It contains Acetaminophen, Aspirin, and Caffeine and seems to be effective on slightly more severe pain. The biggest problem with the NSAID’s is that if they are taken to often they can cause ulcers of the stomach, bleeding in the intestines, kidney and liver damage.

The next class of drugs are known as the Triptans- Sumatriptan (Imitrex) was the very first drug designed specifically for migraines. Imitrex binds to the neurotransmitter receptors, resulting in the blood vessels of the head constricting. One of the nice things about Sumatriptan is that it can be used in nasal, oral or injectable form. However, Sumatriptan can have some serious side effects including heart attack or stroke. Although these side effects are rare, people who have a history of heart disease, angina, high blood pressure, ischemic bowel disease or a heart attack or stroke should not take Sumatriptan. Other people who should not take Sumatriptan are those taking MAO inhibitors and certain antidepressants.

Sumatriptan will only treat a headache that has already begun. It will not prevent headaches or reduce the number of attacks. Since the introduction of Sumatriptan, a number of similar drugs have become available. These include Rizatriptan (Maxalt), Naratriptan (Amerge), Zolmitriptan (Zomig), Almotriptan (Axert), Frovatriptan (Frova) and Etriptan (Relpax). These newer agents provide pain relief within two hours for most people, have fewer side effects and cause fewer recurring headaches. Side effects of triptans include nausea, dizziness, and muscle weakness and, rarely, stroke and heart attack.

The next class of drugs are the Ergots. Drugs such as ergotamine (Ergomar) and dihydroergotamine (D.H.E. 45) and dihydroergotamine nasal spray (Migranal) help relieve pain. These drugs may have more side effects than the Triptans do.. Medications for nausea are often used with other headache treatment drugs. The drug Metoclopramide (Reglan) is useful for relieving the nausea and vomiting associated with migraines, but not the migraine pain itself. It also improves gastric emptying, which leads to better absorption and more rapid action of many oral drugs. It’s most effective when taken early in the course of a migraine or even during the aura before the headache begins. The drugs prochlorperazine (Compazine), chlorpromazine (Thorazine), promethazine (Phenergan) and hydroxyzine (Vistaril) also may relieve nausea, but don’t affect gastric emptying. Part 2 of this article will discuss more current drugs used for headache treatment.

Do you ever find your ballpoint pens missing? What happened to those large plastic pop bottles that you thought you threw into the recycling bin? Why are so many spoons missing from your cutlery drawer in the kitchen?

Have any of your kitchen or bathroom faucets lost their filters? What about your window screens? Do they have any missing chunks? Do you ever walk into the bathroom and become overwhelmed by the scent of heavily-sprayed perfume?

Kids are amazingly resourceful when it comes to creating methods of ingesting drugs. They don’t need to go to a “head shop” to find these tools. Everything they need can be found in the home. As parents, you really need to be aware of these signs.

Have you ever gone to the fridge to find an entire cake gutted from the inside? Have you ever found incredible amounts of junk food missing from your pantry?

Has money ever gone missing from your wallet or purse? Do your other children ever complain that stuff is missing from their rooms? Do you ever walk around your home and notice certain things that just make you go, “Huh?”

Chances are that you are NOT losing your mind. If you have any concern that your child may be abusing drugs, please pay attention to these very common household signs.

Everyday household stuff can easily be used for making drug paraphernalia. More expensive items like bicycles, musical instruments and iPods can be sold or hawked to pay their dealers.

What is my son or daughter using the pens, pop bottles and mesh filters for?

Kids frequently use these items to make bongs. Bongs are pipes used as a method to inhale marijuana and/or hashish through a water filter. Some kids think this is a purer way to filter out the harmful carcinogens that marijuana and hashish contain. Some of them consider this to be a healthier “high.”

There are hundreds of thousands of places via a Google search on the internet where they can learn how to build these homemade pipes.

As a substitute for pop bottles, they will use the glass from hurricane lamps, large jars, soda cans and just about anything else that can provide a “chamber.”

What happened to all of my spoons and candles?

Spoons and candles can be used in a variety of different ways to ingest drugs. Sometimes, hashish oil is heated in an everyday teaspoon over a lit candle and inhaled (through the hollow tube of a pen.) Spoons are also used for mixing and injecting stronger drugs like methamphetamine (meth, ice), but sadly, by the time your child reaches that stage, you will likely be aware of it already.

I could have sworn I had a pair of diamond earrings in my jewellery box.

Nothing in your house is sacred when you have a child heavily influenced by drugs. Yes, they will steal from their own mother. Check your valuables every once in a while. If stuff starts to disappear, start asking questions.

What happened to that cake I had in the fridge? It looks like a pack of animals got at it.

No, that wasn’t a pack of animals. It was likely your son or daughter coming down from a high, desperately needing a fix of sugar. They didn’t use a fork. They used their hands. They also prepared and consumed three packages of Kraft macaroni and cheese all at once.

I left my purse on the kitchen counter and now $50 is missing.

You’re not imagining this. Even in your own household, you are vulnerable to theft from the child who is addicted to drugs. Your other children are also extremely vulnerable. They may not want to tell you, but they may suspect their brother or sister is stealing from them.

Often, there are no obvious red flags to alert us that our children have already started down the path to drug hell. As parents, we have to look at the subtleties.

Look around you. Look around your house. If something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t. Keep track of your stuff. Don’t listen to the “dog ate my homework” story.

For the sake of your beloved child and yourself, don’t ignore these common household signs of possible drug abuse. Your child may already be feeling out of control.

Use these early opportunities to take a stand. If you really don’t feel right about something that’s going on right under your roof, trust your gut instinct and address it now.

Your son’s or daughter’s life may depend on it.

Knowing the Consequences Will Help You Stay Away

You have probably heard that drugs create a lot of trouble. They can damage the brain, the heart, and other important organs. Drug abusers lose their adequacy and ability to concentrate. They often find it hard to think clearly and make wise decisions. If you know how much you can benefit from a drug-free life, you will not even touch drugs.

Here are some benefits of being drug-free:

1. First of all, you will live a healthier and longer life. Drug abuse leads to extreme weight loss and malnutrition that can affect both your health and family life.
2. You will enjoy financial freedom. You can spend all your earnings the right way rather than spending it all on buying drugs or alcohol. Financial freedom offers a lot of benefits and is one of the important advantages of being drug-free.
3. You will have the opportunity to live a respectable life in society. If you are an addict, your indifferent behavior and personality changes could make you a real burden for others and nobody will respect you, not even your friends.
4. If you are drug-free, you can reduce the risk of sudden death as many drugs can lead to a cardiac arrest or heart attack. Haven’t we all heard about road accidents caused by people under the influence?
5. You can be a better parent and a good role model for your kids. If you are addicted to drugs, they might dominate your whole life and tear your family apart.
6. You can live a fear-free life. Addicts will do all sorts of wrong things like lying, cheating, and stealing money. Because of all this, they are always afraid of other people.
7. Another advantage is that you can save your career. Addicts cannot concentrate on their work and have a problem with assignments, deadlines and so on. If you are sincere and dedicated, you will have better job prospects and earn more money.
8. By avoiding drugs, you can improve your appearance – you will look young and energetic. Drug abusers do not get the required nutrients. Your complex may change and your skin may shrink – that will make you look and feel quite old.
9. Friendship can survive with reliable behavior, mutual care and respect. None of these will be there if you’re an addict.
10. Creating awareness on drug addiction is very important. Due to lack of awareness, many people have no idea about the dimensions of this problem and hence our duty to help people understand how dangerous this habit actually is. Organize an awareness campaign in your neighborhood and show everyone the benefits of being drug-free. Surprise the attendees with a customized giveaway gift. There is an enormous collection of products available online. Because of their unique and easily-customizable nature, silicone rubber wristbands are the best choice. These products are available in various types, colors, fonts, sizes and styles. You can easily print awareness messages and distribute them during your campaign.

Think about it!