Substance Abuse

Successfully recovering from substance abuse can be a challenge, but a customized, research-based treatment plan can help. At Trilogy Behavioral Health Services, knowledgeable nurse practitioner Nikki Myles, NP, and the team of experienced substance abuse professionals use proven approaches to help patients overcome addiction. The two main offices are in Germantown and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with additional telehealth-based offices in Reno, Nevada; Sheridan, Wyoming; Oro Valley, Arizona; St. Petersburg, Florida; Boulder, Colorado; and Portland, Oregon. Click the online scheduler or call the nearest office today. 

What are the signs of substance abuse?

Whether it’s alcohol use, opioid use, or the use of another drug, substance abuse can affect your life in increasingly disruptive ways. There are many signs that substance use is becoming substance abuse, such as: 

• Increasing your consumption
• Having powerful urges to use the substance that you can’t ignore
• Needing to use more and more to get the desired effects
• Using more of the substance than intended
• Trying to ration your use
• Missing work or underperforming in your job due to substance use
• Relationship difficulties due to your substance use
• Sleep habit changes
• Weight changes
• Neglecting your physical health or appearance
• Continued substance use despite its harmful consequences
• Financial difficulties due to substance use

Substance abuse can touch every part of your life. The negative effects of substance use can intensify and become increasingly difficult to manage until you get help. 

How is opioid substance abuse treated?

The Trilogy Behavioral Health Services team takes a research-based approach to substance abuse treatment. They treat opioid addiction by focusing on the brain chemistry involved in this disorder. 

Two-part medications are often effective for opioid use disorder. For example, one drug commonly prescribed to people struggling with opioid abuse includes two ingredients, which are: 

Buprenorphine

Buprenorphine is an opioid medication, but it has less powerful effects than most opioids. Still, it’s able to satisfy the body’s craving for opioids and makes your brain think it got a full dose of opioid medication. This, in turn, prevents the unpleasant physical side effects, like stomach cramps and nausea, that often accompany opioid withdrawal. 

Naloxone

Naloxone prevents opioid receptors from activating in the brain. This essentially prevents the euphoric effects that opioids have. 

The combination of these two medications helps you transition off your opioid medication comfortably. It allows you to focus on the factors involved in your addiction through psychotherapy (the team coordinates with psychotherapy professionals in your area).

How is alcohol substance abuse treated? 

As with opioid use, there are effective medications to treat alcohol use disorder. For example,  drugs that rebalance brain chemicals or decrease alcohol cravings. Patients struggling with alcohol abuse also benefit greatly from psychotherapy. 

The Trilogy Behavioral Health Services team fully evaluates your needs and recommends the right path for your recovery. To start your healing and recovery journey, call the office nearest you or click online booking now.