The most important part of recovery is Faith and Courage. Many people have traveled this path before you, and many more will after you. There are multitudes of success stories, and yours can be one of them.
A Bit of Context
The history of Opium, as a recreational drug, dates back to 15th century China. By the 19th century Chinese migrants were operating successful opium dens in small B.C. villages. With it’s cheap production and foreign labour costs, these businesses became an easy source of revenue for the Canadian Government, with the first factories being officially taxed in 1871. By 1908 opium use here was drastically increasing, so Mackenzie King, the Minister of Labour, ratified The Opium Act, effectually making the import, manufacture, and sales of opium illegal.
Since opiates were still widely used in patent medicines, the government had to pass another act prohibiting the use of cocaine in pharmaceutical medicines. The Proprietary and Patent Medicine Act forced pharmaceutical companies to label any of their products that contained morphine, opium, or heroin. These new laws did not address the underlying cause for opium addiction, but did, instead, create a black-market niche for trafficking.
Where We Are Now
The psychology of addiction is complex and different for everyone. Generally, a preceding mental, emotional, or physical imbalance leads desperate patients to begin abusing drugs as a way of escaping from the pain.
One hundred thousand North American’s die every year from misuse of prescription drugs; thousands more die from over-the-counter interactions (like mixing acetaminophen and alcohol) resulting in irreparable kidney and liver damage. All addictive substances excite dopamine, a powerful reward-based neurotransmitter, in the brain. Over time dopamine and serotonin receptors get “down shifted” and the brain becomes more and more deficient, setting the stage for repeat habitual attempts to get another satisfactory hit.
Now, the dosage for the same original fix must increase over time. This is when chasing the proverbial dragon begins. The higher the dosage the more side effects it brings, and the deeper the damage to the liver and brain becomes. The National Institute on Drug Abuse speculates that those suffering from an opioid addiction commonly have other addictions, like alcoholism, and are twice as likely to suffer from at least one recognized mental health issue.
A big part of the current epidemic is that opioids are still readily prescribed in large quantities by Allopathic physicians. Of course, Illegal sources are readily available. In fact, there has been a staggering 53% increase of hospitalizations, due to opioid poisoning, in the past decade, with half of that (25%+) occurring in only the past few years.
The number of deaths involving fentanyl almost doubled between the beginning of 2016 and the beginning of 2017, totaling 900+ reported deaths this year alone. Although this is an alarming statistic that many would graze over in their Sunday morning newspaper, it is very real and tragic for those that have been tramatized by traumatic loss to addiction. The odds of drug interaction, between opioids and other prescription medications (especially sedatives like Valium and MAOs or other anti-depressants) is extremely high, because those that abuse such substances are not thinking clearly and have a skewed sense of discernment and discretion.
People in physical and emotional pain that are not aware of more Holistic options, can easily become dependent on prescribed opioids. If you’ve been on painkilling narcotics for a long time you will most likely need professional help to ween safely and re-balance your neurotransmitters.
The level of depression that can result in quitting cold turkey may lead to thoughts of suicide as the underlying dopamine and serotonin deficiencies could become much worse when these chemicals are removed from the system.
U.S. President Donald Trump declared a nationwide public health emergency in October of this year; what is now known as the opioid crisis – a pandemic that kills nearly 100 Americans a day and 2,800+ Canadians per year. The Public Health Emergency Fund currently contains just $57,000 US dollars, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Contrastingly, in 2015, the budget for the US military alone was $598 billion! This really helps to put the opioid crisis into perspective as it pertains to government spending.
Clearly, war is a much higher priority, in N.A., than helping the disenfranchised and diseased get clean and healthy.
Healing the Body from the Effects of Addiction
Prescription medications across the board alter gut function, and the health of microflora (beneficial bacteria that build the immune system). Often, it is environmental triggers, like heavy metals, food, and chemical sensitivities that lie at the heart of behavioral and emotional disorders. In fact, 90% of our serotonin production starts in the gut. Anything that disrupts the health of the microbiome (the colonies of healthy bacteria) depresses our ability to make serotonin and dopamine and often leads to anxiety and depression disorders, which are further medicated with anti-depressants, another ubiquitous prescription practice that is plaguing our societies.
Our (cultural) habit of medicating our feelings discourages us from really learning about pain with curiosity rather than fear. We need to understand its deeper meaning for the balance of health and Life. Unfortunately, there are very few effective alternatives that are advocated in main-stream media, but this is improving.
The question is, will there be enough time?
You seal your fate with every decision you make. The time to get clean is right now! Not yesterday and not tomorrow. This is your Life and no one is going to do the heavy lifting for you. We all suffer and we all have to make the decision to take our individual power back.
I’ll repeat this, because it’s important to you: Getting clean from narcotics is not going to be easy. But you are stronger than you ever imagined, even though your mind tricks you into thinking your not. Remember that your nerves are fried, your gut is out of whack, and your brain is reeling. You are going to feel like death-warmed-over for a while, but it gets better quickly if you implement some powerful Holistic changes.
Have courage and ask your doctor for help, because withdrawal symptoms (such as anxiety, depression, restlessness, watering eyes, runny nose, nausea, sweating, muscle aches, etc.) may occur if you suddenly stop using your medication. After getting help to ween off painkillers you need to challenge yourself to seek out further Holistic support and learn exactly how your detox organs actually work.
Using supplements like Glutathione (the master antioxidant) and Curcumin, a powerful anti-inflammatory (from turmeric root) can support cellular healing. These compounds can actually help to rebuild your organ systems, decrease chronic pain and rebalance neurotransmitters. You might need chelation therapy for heavy metal toxicity. There are holistic practitioners that can test for this and help you detox properly. Many street drugs are tainted with heavy metals that wreak havoc in the energy factories (mitochondria) of each cell.
TIPS FOR HEALING BODY & MIND
Slow changes, over time, can reboot your body, mind and Spirit, and help to rebuild your organ systems gently. Detoxing too hard and too fast leads to healing reactions (like headaches, flu-like symptoms, lethargy, brain fog, anxiety, sleeplessness, etc.) and could deter you from this kind of treatment.
Higher levels of health and happiness can be achieved over time with concerted effort. More important than our bio-chemical healing, is our bio-electrical healing. Minerals, especially the electrolytes, are extremely important to replace on a daily basis.
Fulvic & Humic Acid supplements can restore healthy enzyme activity; nothing happens internally without the help of enzymes! Emotional instability is often due to deep mineral and vitamin deficiencies and an imbalance in the gut’s healthy bacterial colonies.
Good quality probiotics and organic fermented foods can help to repair this misunderstood human metabolic system. Blue-green algae, like Spirulina and AFA, feed the cells and help to clean house.
If you’re no longer using pharmaceuticals, then a powerful blend of lymphatic cleansing herbs (like St. Francis’ Laprinol combo) can be used to flush out the sewage pipes. Activated Charcoal is also extremely powerful in mopping up chemicals in the body, particularly in the digestive tract.
Effective detox herbs, like Milk Thistle, can ease the burden on the liver as well. Vinpocetine (a synthesized extraction from periwinkle), Bacopa and Gingko Biloba, can bring back some balance to a lagging mind and give a valuable injection of hope to those striving for long-term recovery.
A mindfulness practice, preferably daily, can help us to get grounded, tune in to our intuition and calm the critical self-talk and negative programming inside that is so often a part of the downhill slide during an advancing addiction problem.
The most important part of recovery is Faith and Courage. Many people have traveled this path before you, and many more will after you. There are multitudes of success stories, and yours can be one of them.
Accept that you will falter at times and it’s okay. Accept that you will make mistakes and it’s okay. What’s truly transformational is how fast you choose to recover, and get back on track toward healing.
Everyday is a new beginning and you must become a new version of yourself. As Dr. Joe Dispenza says, “neurons that fire together, wire together.” So how you think becomes who you are. Thoughts are things, and this has been scientifically proven. In order to heal from deep pain, you must first begin the journey of re-scripting the record that plays in your mind everyday. You must first understand, and then work to convince yourself, that you can do it, and that you are worth it… because you are!
And remember, you are not alone. Have the courage to ask for help and the Love will flow your way!
