Addiction
Psychiatry serving Redondo Beach, Los Angeles, CA
and the surrounding areas
Deciding to overcome addiction is a personal decision that each person has to make for themselves. It can be difficult to overcome addiction on your own, and it helps to have a supportive community and experienced, compassionate, and judgment-free providers on your side. The psychiatrists at Regeneration Psychiatry can work with you to make a plan for overcoming addiction, including medications to manage withdrawal and reduce cravings, participating in rehab programs, making use of self-help groups and other community resources, and managing other mental health conditions that may be contributing to substance use. Don’t wait to get help, call the office in Redondo Beach, California, or request an appointment online today.
When you take any addictive substance, whether alcohol, opioids, stimulants, or others, it triggers the release of brain chemicals. These chemicals can improve your mood, ease pain, and cause pleasurable feelings.
Eventually, these substances change the way nerves in your brain communicate. These brain changes can cause dependence and tolerance. This can lead to uncontrollable cravings and urges to use the substance, and having to use more of the substance to get the same results.
If you stop using the substance, withdrawal symptoms can develop. Withdrawal can be extremely uncomfortable, and in some cases, dangerous. Withdrawal can make it even harder to stop using a substance.
In addition to uncontrollable cravings and withdrawal symptoms, addictions cause changes in your behavior. You may:
If you’re struggling with addiction, the team of expert psychiatrists at Regeneration Psychiatry can help.
Psychosocial interventions, which can include psychotherapy, rehab programs, and 12-step and other kinds of self-help groups, are the mainstay of addiction treatment. But medications may also have an important role to play in overcoming addiction.
Regeneration Psychiatry offers medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for people struggling with opioid, alcohol, and nicotine use. There are FDA-approved medications to treat these addictions, and medications that can ease withdrawal from these substances.
There are also medications that may potentially help with and that can be prescribed off-label for the treatment of other addictions, such as to methamphetamines.
If you need MAT for an opioid addiction, your provider may prescribe Suboxone®, which contains buprenorphine, which helps to stop cravings, manage withdrawal, block opioids, and normalize your brain chemistry.
You take your first Suboxone dose in the office while you’re in moderate withdrawal. Your psychiatrist monitors your response to the medication, making sure you don’t have unwanted symptoms and you have the right dose.
Then they prescribe enough Suboxone for you to take at home until your next appointment.
After your withdrawal symptoms and cravings stop, you enter a maintenance phase. You can keep taking Suboxone as long as needed to be sure you’re well on the road to recovery. Your provider may also taper down Suboxone and prescribe a different medication to support your ongoing recovery.
Regeneration Psychiatry also refers you to substance use resources in the community, including support groups and rehabilitation programs.
If you’re ready to overcome an addiction, call Regeneration Psychiatry or book an appointment online today.