The first few months of recovery are the most difficult—and the most fragile—time. For many addicts, inpatient treatment goes quickly—it’s difficult and intense, and everything is changing very quickly. Many people who picture rehab think that this is the hardest part, or that this is all drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs consist of. Addicts, however, know better—or they find out quickly enough. Once the drug or the alcohol is out of the addict’s system and they’ve gone through withdrawal, the real challenge begins.

Addicts build their lives around their addictions, slowly cutting out everything that’s not related so that they can focus on being full-time addicts. They stop seeing the friends who don’t like to get smashed; they hang out more with the “party” friends or the people who can get them high. They may end relationships or have them ended when they treat their partners as less important than the drug. They may lose their jobs or their housing because of their addictions, and end up staying with other users or even end up in a crack house or on the streets. Addicts put their addictions first—that’s what it means to be addicted. So the challenge, once you take away the drug, is simply: what takes its place? When you take away the drug, you take away the center of the addict’s life. You pull not just the rug but the floor out from under then. They lose not just the drug but their friends, their lovers, their activities, their routines, their housing. In the fragile few months at the beginning of recovery, they face the question of how to either recover in the same environment that nurtured the addiction, or find a whole new life to live.

This isn’t easy, and that’s why Archstone Recovery of the Palm Beaches, conveniently located in Lantana, Florida, started the extended care program. It provides a “soft landing”—a place to live while learning how to live as a sober person. You’ll live communally with others who are in the same situation. You’ll be free to leave and to attend work or school, but you’ll also participate in outpatient treatment and learn new habits and life skills that will allow you to function in your new life back in the real world. Archstone Recovery’s unique programs will give you the tools you need to not just get clean, but stay clean. If you live in or around Florida, Archstone Recovery’s extended care programs can help you with the transition. Call today.

Inhalants are an unusual class of drugs, because they’re not really drugs at all—they’re household chemicals that, when inhaled, get the user temporarily high, usually for a short period of time. It isn’t a long-lasting or very effective high, but its attractions are that inhalants are usually cheap, can often be found around the house, and are easy to obtain. For this reason, they’re popular among teenagers and are often a “gateway drug” for kids who can’t afford or don’t know how to get their hands on pot or other drugs. Common inhalants include paint, paint thinner, air conditioning coolant, aerosol chemicals, and the small nitrous oxide chargers used to power whipped cream makers, usually known by their brand name, “Whip-Its,” or as “poppers” or “snappers.” Inhaling them is called “huffing.”

Inhalant highs generally include a numbness and a “slowing down” of time. The high is usually quite short—generally just a few minutes—and so users will go back and huff the same chemical again and again in an attempt to prolong the high. This is, not to put too fine a point on it, a really bad idea. Inhalants are highly toxic chemicals, and getting high on them can cause severe brain damage or death—even from just one session. Workers who handle these materials use face masks for good reason.

If your teen is addicted to huffing inhalants, it’s important to get him or her professional help right away. Repeated huffing can cause serious damage to the brain and lungs. Archstone Recovery can help. With a safe, serene location in Lantana, Florida, your child can get the help her or she needs in an environment that’s well away from peer pressure. Archstone Recovery offers top-rated medical care, caring therapists who use scientifically proven treatment methods, and a variety of program options to get your teen clean. If you’re concerned about teen inhalant addiction, and live in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, or any area, Archstone Recovery of the Palm Beaches can help. Please call Archstone Recovery today and help get your teen’s life back on track.

If you’re looking for drug rehabilitation programs for crack cocaine addiction, you probably already have an idea of how hard it is to quit using crack. The truth is that a lot of addicts end up relapsing. Withdrawal from crack cocaine is terrifying and painful, and without medical supervision it’s dangerous and very hard to get through. Even after withdrawal is over, it’s hard to get on your feet. Even if you detox in a hospital or a drug and alcohol rehab facility, what happens after you get clean?

For many recovering addicts, this is the hardest part. You’ve gotten the crack out of your system, but you’re still craving it. You’ve been an addict for years—it’s been so long, and so intense, that you’ve forgotten how else to live. What did you do with your time before crack? What will you do with it now? And as if that weren’t enough—where will you live? If you’re recovering from a serious addiction, you may not have a safe, stable place to go. Living with active crack users isn’t going to work. You may not even have a place to live at all—and if you’re left trying to find something on your own, and all of your friends and contacts are users, it’s all too easy to slip back into that life. So what do you do? What happens next?

If you’re wondering where to go after crack cocaine addiction, we invite you to learn more about the Extended Care program at Archstone Recovery of the Palm Beaches. Located in Lantana, Florida, convenient to the Palm Beaches and the Miami/Dade region, Archstone Recovery offers a range of treatment programs, including both inpatient and extended care. The extended care facility is a pleasant, state-of-the-art housing facility where people in the same situation live together while attended outpatient treatment and recovery sessions. You can live there while working or attending school, and your treatment will include help finding safe housing and developing (or re-developing) life skills to help you stay clean and build a better life. If you’re looking for a safe place to protect your still-fragile recovery from crack cocaine addiction, and live in or around Miami, contact Archstone Recovery today.

At Archstone Recovery, we see a lot. We help people from every background deal with drug and alcohol addictions of all kinds, so it’s hard to shock us. And I can tell you that without a doubt, methamphetamine addiction (also known as crank addiction) has some of the ugliest consequences we see. I don’t just mean that in terms of how it wrecks people’s lives—I mean what it does to their bodies, inside and out. Meth takes a hard toll on the body. It’s one of the few drugs that actually leaves physical signs—if someone does enough meth, you can tell from across the room. Here are some signs that will tell you someone may be using meth:

• Meth ages you. By inhibiting the blood vessels’ ability to repair damage, meth abuse can age the skin— it loses elasticity, sores take longer to heal, and skin rashes and acne appear, making people look decades older in just a year or two of drug use.
• Meth destroys your teeth. This phenomenon is often called “meth mouth”—crank dries out the salivary glands, which are the body’s natural way of protecting the teeth from acid. Combined with meth addicts’ tendency not to care too much about dental hygiene and a tendency to grind the teeth while high, the result is that cracked, broken, black teeth are common among meth addicts.
• Meth makes you lose weight—but not in a healthy way. People who abuse meth become gaunt and almost ghostly—two years of meth use can make an addict look like he or she has survived ten years of war and famine.

The county sheriff’s office of Multnomah County, Oregon created a project that illustrates the effects by using mug shots taken before and after meth use. The project, Faces of Meth, is striking and can be viewed here (http://www.facesofmeth.us/main.htm).

If you’re worried that someone you love is addicted to methamphetamine, it’s important to help him or her get help right away. Meth addiction is serious and requires professional intervention. Archstone Recovery of the Palm Beaches can help. Archstone Recovery’s team of specialists understands the special needs and challenges of recovery from meth addiction. Archstone Recovery’s calm, serene, secure drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility in Lantana, Florida is an ideal place for crank addicts to begin to rebuild their lives again. If you are a resident of, New Jersey, Maryland, Georgia, Tennessee or any other state, call us today to begin your recovery. Call Archstone Recovery today.

Methamphetamine, a stimulant drug also known as crank, crystal, and just meth, is one of the most widespread and fastest-growing drugs in the United States today. Meth addicts come from all races and both sexes; they live in rural areas, cities, and suburbs; they are young and old, rich and poor, gay and straight. Meth initially got a reputation as a “rural” drug because it is often “cooked” (created in makeshift chemistry labs) in isolated areas. (Places where meth has been cooked are often so badly contaminated with toxic chemicals that they pollute the groundwater—an environmental issue to add to meth’s public health crisis.)

Meth’s popularity largely stems from its unique effect on the brain—particularly with regard to dopamine, the brain’s “euphoria” chemical. “Methamphetamine produces the mother of all dopamine releases,” Dr. Richard Rawson, associate director of UCLA’s Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, told PBS’s Frontline. Meth releases more than ten times the amount of dopamine you’d get from an orgasm, and four times as much as cocaine users experience. This enormous release is enough to hook just about anyone, and its one reason why quitting meth can be so difficult.

Methamphetamine is deeply physically addictive. Users who try to quit “cold turkey” either fail or put themselves in danger, given the severe effects meth withdrawal can have. That’s why, if you or someone you love has hit rock bottom and is ready to get clean, it’s important to contact a drug rehabilitation facility like Archstone Recovery of the Palm Beaches. Archstone Recovery is an accredited full-service drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility located in sunny Lantana, Florida. Archstone Recovery offers a range of service options, including detox, partial hospitalization, outpatient, transitional, and extended care programs. Where ever you live, whether it’s Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina or any East Coast state, Archstone Recovery can help you take the first step toward recovering from meth addiction. Call Archstone Recovery today.

GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid or sodium oxybate) is a depressant drug popular in clubs and at raves, particularly among teenagers. The brand medication, Xyrem, is used to treat patients with narcolepsy; however, “home-brewed” versions of the drug created in makeshift laboratories are not uncommon. These are particularly dangerous because their quality and strength vary, making it difficult for users to know the dosage they are getting. GHB creates a relaxed, euphoric state in users, who often don’t remember it after the fact—amnesia is part of the experience. This means that GHB, like Rohypnol (“roofies”) is often used as a “date rape” drug, slipped into the victim’s drink.

But GHB is also used recreationally, normally dissolved into liquid, and its use has been on the rise among teenagers. Its side effects can include skin rashes and irritation, liver damage, seizures, vomiting, and trouble breathing. It can also produce hallucinations in some users, and a few experience extreme stimulation instead of the usual relaxing depressant effects. Its damaging effects can be magnified if it is taken in combination with alcohol (and it usually is). Overdoses can lead to coma and death. GHB is physically addictive, and GHB addicts who try to quit “cold turkey” overnight can experience extreme withdrawal symptoms, including psychosis.

If you or your teen are using GHB, it’s important, for your own safety and the safety of your loved ones, to stop as soon as possible, and to do so under medical supervision—withdrawal just isn’t safe to go through alone. Archstone Recovery can help. At Archstone Recovery, we understand what it means to detox from highly addictive drugs, and our doctors and therapists specialize in helping patients get through the withdrawal period and learn how to deal with and overcome their addiction using proven methods. Archstone Recovery offers several treatment options, including partial hospitalization, outpatient, transitional, and extended care programs. If you are a resident of Florida, North or South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee or any other state, call us today to help your teen begin recovery from GHB addiction.

Although it is illegal, Rohypnol (often known as “roofies”) is a popular and common drug, particularly on college campuses. Rohypnol is widely known as a “date rape drug”; it is a sedative that usually causes amnesia for two to eight hours, and predatory rapists often slip it into women’s drinks, then offer to take the “drunk” woman home. The drug has recently been altered to appear blue when added to drinks to try to combat this abuse. However, Rohypnol is also often used and abused voluntarily. Although it’s illegal in the U.S., Rohypnol is a legal prescription sleeping pill in more than 60 countries. Like most sleeping pills, it makes you woozy and gives you a “high” feeling—and also like most sleeping pills, it is dangerously easy to develop a dependency and to overdose on it.

Rohypnol addicts usually don’t remember their actions while using the drug—that’s part of the amnesia effect, and users who have self-esteem issues or mental health problems often enjoy the feeling of “escaping” from their memories. Abuse of Rohypnol can easily lead to physical addiction and drug-seeking behavior, where the user will do just about anything to gain access to more of the drug. Quitting cold turkey can cause serious withdrawal symptoms, including numbness of the arms and legs and even hallucinations and shock.

Because withdrawal is a serious, dangerous medical condition, it’s important to seek professional help before you attempt to quit using Rohypnol. Archstone Recovery of the Palm Beaches can help. Archstone Recovery’s specialized medical staff understands Rohypnol addiction and will help you through withdrawal and after, with a twelve-step approach that will help you to rebuild your life and recover from addiction. Archstone Recovery’s top-rated drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility in Lantana, Florida offers several options for Rohypnol addiction recovery, including detox, outpatient, partial hospitalization, and extended care programs. Where ever you live, whether it’s North Carolina, Tennessee or any of the New England states, Archstone Recovery can help you with your addiction and get you closer to recovery. If you’re ready to stop using Rohypnol and start living life again, contact Archstone Recovery today.

In the past two decades, diagnoses of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) have skyrocketed as people have become more aware of these disorders and their symptoms. Drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall have become widely prescribed and have helped millions of children, teens, and adults manage their behavior and lives. Unfortunately, these drugs also have a high potential for abuse. Adderall is now one of the most widely abused prescription drugs among teens and college students.

Adderall is a stimulant, a combination of dextroamphetamine and amphetamine. If “amphetamine” sounds familiar, that’s because it’s common to many stimulants—think of speed, or meth—short for methamphetamine. In fact, when it is abused, the effects of Adderall are similar to the effects of methamphetamine, including sleeplessness, paranoia, overexcitement, and anxiety. Taking pills orally as prescribed limits the dose, but many teens crush up the pills and snort them to get all of the effect at once. This can be both dangerous and addictive—in fact, Adderall addiction has many similarities with meth addiction. Patients who become addicted can experience withdrawal symptoms and are in danger of overdosing, which can be fatal.

If your teen is addicted to Adderall, it’s important for him or her to get professional help as soon as possible. Recovery from teen Adderall addiction is best accomplished in a secure, serene location away from peer pressure. Archstone Recovery of the Palm Beaches, located in lovely coastal Lantana, Florida, offers an ideal atmosphere for teens to stay away from the drug, go through withdrawal symptoms with proper supervision and treatment, and learn how to combat their addiction, get clean, and stay clean. Using scientifically proven treatment modalities and a time-tested twelve-step approach, Archstone Recovery will give your teen the tools he or she needs for real, lasting drug and alcohol addiction recovery. Where ever you live, whether it’s North Carolina, South Carolina or any of the New England states, Archstone Recovery can help you with your addiction and get you closer to recovery. Call us today.

In the past decade, prescription drugs have eclipsed most street drugs to become the most-abused controlled substances in the United States. One of the most popular of these is OxyContin—a drug so abused that many pharmacies, citing frequent robberies and thefts, have simply refused to keep it in stock for their own safety. OxyContin is the brand name for a tablet containing oxycodone, an opioid pain reliever. Oxycodone is usually prescribed for cancer patients and people with chronic pain. OxyContin tablets are made in a way that uses a time-release method so that the pain reliever is released slowly over the course of the day, allowing the patient to take fewer pills. When people abuse OxyContin, they crush up the tablets and snort them to bypass the time-release mechanism and get all of the rush at once.

Unfortunately, taking this dose of oxycodone all at once can be very dangerous, and OxyContin abusers are at a particularly high risk of overdosing. This is one reason why prescription drug addicts account for more than half of drug overdose deaths. As if that weren’t enough, OxyContin is also extremely addictive—like most opioids. Withdrawal symptoms can start as soon as six hours after the addict’s last dose, and people who have experienced both often liken OxyContin withdrawal to heroin withdrawal—it’s that bad.

If you are addicted to OxyContin, you are in grave need of professional help right away. Please—call Archstone Recovery today. Archstone Recovery of the Palm Beaches is a state-of-the-art drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility in beautiful Lantana, Florida that offers a range of treatment options, including detox, partial hospitalization, outpatient, and extended care programs. Withdrawal can be an extremely dangerous state, and it requires the best medical and psychological care. If you’re ready to get clean, take the first step and contact Archstone Recovery.

Quitting smoking is a great challenge. Quitting may be one of the hardest things you will ever do—but, as you are probably aware, it is also one of the best things you can do for your health. Whether you’ve been smoking for one year or fifty, it is possible to quit. Scientific studies have shown that even long-term smokers show immediate and significant improvement in lung function and other measures of health when they quit smoking. In other words: it’s never too late.

There are many methods to quit smoking. Most people go “cold turkey,” quitting without support, and many of them relapse again and again. Even using nicotine gum isn’t always effective. A 2008 study in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention found that the most effective smoking cessation method was group behavioral therapy. Quitting is much more effective and sustainable when it’s a team effort with professional support.

If you’re in South Florida and looking for a truly effective way to quit smoking cigarettes for good, contact Archstone Recovery. Archstone Recovery’s outpatient nicotine addiction program uses proven modalities with scientific support, combined with the strength and support of other nicotine addicts and our top-rated staff. Archstone Recovery’s state-of-the-art treatment facility is located in Lantana, Florida, convenient to the Palm Beaches and the greater Miami/Dade area. If you want to quit with the best, take a significant step toward recovery and contact Archstone Recovery today.