Opioids are relied on throughout the medical industry to help those who are recovering from terrible injuries, surgery, or even chronic pain conditions. The problem isn’t in the fact that opioids exist; it’s that they’re so often abused.
There are different kinds of opioids, yes. There are natural ones, semisynthetic ones, like hydrocodone (commonly known as Vicodin), and fully synthetic (fentanyl). While semi-synthetic opioids don’t have as high a risk as synthetic options, they are still the second leading cause of opioid-related overdose deaths in the United States.
You need to take Vicodin abuse seriously. It’s a powerful tool in pain management strategies, but it can quickly become an addiction – even without you noticing it.
A Vicodin addiction can be extremely hard to break away from on your own as well. There are so many factors that play into Vicodin addiction treatment, yes, but one of the most critical is the fact that Vicodin is used to help manage pain. If you live with chronic pain, then it can feel like your options are either Vicodin or a life of agony.
This is not the case. There are options. You can live a life where you have a robust pain management strategy in place that does not put your health, or even your life, at risk from chronic Vicodin abuse.
You also don’t need to overcome your opioid use disorder all on your own. You can have specialists work with you and help you every step of the way to increase your chances of long-term recovery. You can get medical professional treatment, therapy sessions, and even holistic sessions with top coaches working by your side to help you recover.
When you choose Magnolia Ranch Recovery, you can have all that and more. Our treatment facility is on a stunning 38-acre ranch just 75 miles outside Nashville, Tennessee. With us, you’ll receive personalized care and extensive therapy options, and you can recover in peace in the beautiful Tennessee countryside.
What is Vicodin?
Vicodin is the brand name for a painkiller that contains a combination of hydrocodone (an opioid) and paracetamol (a non-opioid painkiller). You’re typically prescribed Vicodin after a serious injury, major surgery, or severe chronic pain.
Vicodin prescription pain relievers also come in several forms. They’re available as tablets or liquids and sold under the same brand name.
Vicodin, like other opioid prescription drugs, works by attaching to the opioid receptors in the brain, spinal cord, and gastrointestinal tract. This binding does two major things:
It blocks pain signals from your body to your brain
It causes a euphoric high
Both reactions can be highly addictive, which is why the leading cause of overdose deaths in the United States today is prescription painkillers.
Other Names for Vicodin
Vicodin is a brand name for painkillers that contain hydrocodone. On the street, however, it goes by other names, including:
Vikes
Norco
Hydro
Chronic Vicodin Abuse Symptoms
Chronically using Vicodin puts a considerable strain on the body, which is why you can’t simply leave your Vicodin addiction unchecked. Vicodin abuse can lead to:
Liver damage: Vicodin significantly strains your liver due to the acetaminophen inside it. Over time, this causes damage and can even lead to acute liver failure.
Respiratory depression: Opioid use disorder comes with a significant risk of respiratory depression. This means you will likely develop breathing difficulties or even stop breathing altogether.
Gastrointestinal issues: Hydrocodone can slow down the digestive system. This can lead to nausea, constipation, and bloating. Over time, those chronic conditions can lead to painful bowel obstructions.
Insomnia: Chronic Vicodin use can disrupt your sleep patterns and even cause insomnia. Insomnia, in turn, can make it difficult to focus, make you irritable, and even impact your memory.
Decrease in immune response: A long-term Vicodin addiction can reduce how effective your immune system is at fighting off disease. Those with a Vicodin addiction are at a higher risk of contracting infections and diseases, especially if they share drug paraphernalia.
Your Vicodin abuse won’t just impact your health, either. Abusing Vicodin can lead to strained or broken relationships, can cause you to lose your job, and can lead you to financial or legal troubles.
Signs of a Vicodin Overdose
Every Vicodin addiction comes with the risk of overdose. The worst part is that the risk of overdosing only increases with time since your body builds up tolerance.
An overdose happens when your body cannot metabolize the Vicodin fast enough. In that instance, the Vicodin will end up depressing your central nervous system, which can cause you to stop breathing. If you aren’t saved in time, you could die. Even if you do survive, the lack of oxygen can cause lasting brain damage.
If you’ve recently had an overdose scare, now is the time to get Vicodin addiction treatment from one of the leading Vicodin addiction treatment centers in the country. We offer partial hospitalization programs and have medical professionals monitor you 24/7, safeguarding your health and kickstarting recovery.
Challenges with Quitting Vicodin
Quitting a Vicodin addiction is far from easy. Several factors make it challenging to quit Vicodin on your own, so don’t feel bad if you’ve tried before and failed. It takes comprehensive treatment approaches and a fully dedicated team to give you the best chance at long-term recovery.
We can help because we understand precisely how complicated addiction is. That’s why our Vicodin addiction treatment is so successful – we work on helping you mentally, emotionally, and physically overcome your Vicodin addiction.
Difficult Withdrawal Symptoms
Abusing Vicodin long enough to become addicted also means you are likely to experience withdrawal symptoms. Vicodin withdrawal symptoms aren’t usually dangerous, but there can be complications due to the internal damage caused by prolonged Vicodin abuse.
That’s why our detox program is conducted under medical supervision. Not only can we help ease withdrawal symptoms or give you alternative ways to manage your pain (if applicable), but our healthcare professionals are also on-site 24/7 in case of emergencies.
For most, however, Vicodin withdrawal signs and symptoms will only include:
Heartrate increase
Mood swings
Vomiting
Nausea
Diarrhea
Insomnia
Muscle pain
Joint pain
Anxiety
Pain Management Complications
The more significant issue when it comes to prescription drug addiction is the fact that getting sober doesn’t stop the pain. The pain is always there. For those who end up with a Vicodin addiction because they’re in chronic pain, this can be extremely worrisome.
We will not leave you in severe chronic pain. We will instead give you appropriate treatment and help you build a new pain management strategy that combines multiple methods – not just painkillers – to help you manage your pain without developing another drug addiction.
Physical and Psychological Dependence
The brain loves to be happy, so naturally, it’s obsessed with that euphoric feeling many experience when taking Vicodin. This obsession is not necessarily conscious. Your brain will physically crave more and more and more.
You may also feel emotionally better when you take Vicodin. For example, if your chronic pain condition makes you irritable and then, in turn, you get frustrated with yourself, you can end up in a genuinely dark loop. You may then feel like you need Vicodin to be a better person.
While both dependencies are a challenge to manage, they are not impossible. We will help you manage and even beat your Vicodin addiction effectively both during our residential treatment programs and out there in your regular life.
Signs It’s Time to Get Help With Your Vicodin Addiction
There are several signs and symptoms that you need to watch out for to know it’s time to get help with your Vicodin addiction.
You cannot focus without Vicodin. When you try to stop taking it, all you can think about is when you can get your next dose.
You tried to cut down or stop your Vicodin use but were unable to for any reason.
You use Vicodin even when there are consequences.
You use Vicodin even after others have expressed their concerns over your Vicodin abuse.
You’ve stopped caring about your hobbies or interests and instead prefer to take Vicodin.
If you try to stop taking Vicodin, you experience withdrawal symptoms
You need to take higher doses of Vicodin to get the same results as before.
You’ve put yourself in risky situations to acquire Vicodin.
You are in financial or legal trouble because of your Vicodin abuse.
If any of those signs and symptoms apply to you, or if you’ve put yourself at risk to get more Vicodin, then there’s a chance that you have a Vicodin addiction. You don’t need to wait until you’re willing to take untested drugs that always have the risk of being cut with other dangerous substances before you seek out help from a reputable Vicodin addiction rehab center, however. You can seek it out whenever you need it.
When the Vicodin Runs Out: The Dangers of Drug-Seeking Behavior
The real danger with a Vicodin addiction – or any prescription addiction – is that they are still controlled. This means you only really have access to what you are prescribed.
If you run out and need more, you’ll need another prescription painkiller, which means a doctor must sign off on it. There have been a lot of awareness campaigns about the dangers of opioid abuse, so it’s becoming harder for patients to get prescription painkillers even when they have a genuine need for them.
This leads some to turn to illicit or risky sources. Some people may “doctor shop,” where they go to another doctor to get a prescription and another rather than the same doctor. Others may turn to illegal sources. Others may steal a loved one’s prescriptions.
Getting opioids from drug dealers, however, is by far the most dangerous. Putting aside the physical dangers that come from acquiring the drugs, you also do not have a guarantee that the drugs you buy are clean.
Clean drugs are not mixed with anything else. Opioids, however, are commonly combined with other substances to make them more potent, cheaper, or both.
You may think you’re buying hydrocodone in replacement for Vicodin, for example, and end up buying something mixed with a lethal dose of Fentanyl.
Vicodin Substance Abuse Statistics: You’re Not Alone
Opioid medications are dangerous. They’re helpful in the short term, but when used chronically, they can damage your organs and make you more at risk of an overdose.
Yes, some opioids are riskier than others. Synthetic opioids like Fentanyl were responsible for over 70,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2022 alone.
That doesn’t mean the other types of opioids are risk-free. Semi-synthetics like Vicodin were responsible for over 11,000 drug overdose deaths in the same year. To put that into perspective, heroin, the illegal narcotic, was only responsible for 5,871 deaths in 2022.
The body builds up a tolerance to opioids fast, which in turn worsens your opioid dependency, pushing you to take higher doses more frequently. This alone can turn into an opioid use disorder before you know it, simply because you need more just to get the same results as you did when you first started.
Too much Vicodin, and you run the risk of having your lungs stop working on you, or your organs failing, or any number of physical symptoms that put your life at risk.
You cannot continue with Vicodin abuse, but you aren’t alone in your opioid use disorder recovery process, either. We offer comprehensive treatment to help you overcome your Vicodin addiction to help you reach sobriety and maintain it.
We’re an All-in-One Vicodin Rehab in Tennessee
Enrolling in a dedicated treatment center is one of the most effective ways to make real progress toward long-term recovery. You can do this yourself, or if you suspect your loved one has a Vicodin addiction, you can stage an early intervention.
Addiction treatment centers work because they offer the support needed to make it through the detox process successfully. They then connect patients with the therapy and skill-building experts that they need first to understand the emotional and psychological symptoms of their addiction – that dependency that has nothing to do with chemical changes in the brain – and build lasting coping skills for the outside world.
Get Treated in a Safe and Supportive Environment in the Countryside
Our treatment center in Pulaski, Tennessee, offers all that the best rehab centers provide – and more.
Here, you can go through the recovery process on a beautiful and peaceful 38-acre farm. Our patients can soak in the fresh air and stunning country views. They can walk, spend time with our horses, and recover peacefully.
Benefit from a Highly Individualized Professional Treatment
We also offer one of the most individualized treatment programs rehab centers can offer. Each of our patients has access to individual and group counseling, can see their therapist up to two to three times daily, and undergoes counseling, skills-building, and holistic healing sessions.
Vicodin addiction treatment centers like ours focus on helping you first understand your Vicodin addiction and then work with you to build up the essential skills to help you retake your life.
Our Vicodin Addiction Treatment Program Format: Setting You Up For Success
At our Tennessee treatment facility, we offer three main treatment options. For those who need around-the-clock substance abuse treatment, we provide residential rehabilitation, where you’ll stay at our ranch treatment facility for a minimum of 28 days.
We also offer intensive outpatient programs for Vicodin addiction treatment at our treatment facility. Depending on your needs, this can be the next step after your inpatient residency or the first step.
We also offer more casual outpatient programs.
We’ll help connect you to the best treatment options for your needs. To help you fully understand what treatment programs are available, we’ll always run a complimentary private health insurance coverage check and discuss any financial aid options so you know what’s available upfront.
Our Vicodin addiction treatment programs can be as intensive or as casual as you need them to be, allowing you to benefit from one or all of our treatment facility offerings:
Start with a Vicodin Detox in Tennessee
Many rehab centers start with a detox, and ours is no different in that regard. The reason why we’ll begin with detox is to help you quickly flush the drugs out of your system, manage your withdrawal symptoms safely, from the nausea to the mood swings, and help you reach day one of your sobriety.
Our Medical Detox Program
One of the first steps you’ll take as part of our admissions process is to detox entirely from Vicodin. It can take around a week for you to fully detox from Vicodin, during which time there will be withdrawal symptoms.
You’ll go through this detox with medical supervision to make sure there are no complications during your detox. We can even help you stay as comfortable as possible.
Medication Assisted Treatment
Many who are addicted to painkillers worry that quitting their painkiller will mean they have to live with their chronic pain without any assistance. Chronic or severe pain can be devastating, which is why we offer medication-assisted treatment.
We will help you find another pain management solution that doesn’t include Vicodin abuse. We will also help you learn how you can avoid developing a physical dependence on painkillers in the future, allowing you to continue to find relief for your chronic pain without another addiction.
Evidence-Based Therapy Sessions
We also offer a variety of evidence-based treatment programs at our treatment facility to help you fully understand your Vicodin addiction. In a supportive environment, you’ll work with our therapy team to understand what mental health issues contribute to your addiction, why you turn towards Vicodin abuse first instead of as a last resort, and so much more.
We’ll also help you build the skills you need to avoid another stint in Vicodin rehab. We use tools like cognitive behavioral therapy or dialectical behavior therapy to help you identify the thought processes that lead to substance abuse.
Therapy sessions are done in a safe and supportive environment. They’re designed to help you rationalize your substance abuse disorder, build up skills, and create a lasting relapse prevention strategy.
You’ll have access to individual mental health sessions, group therapy, family therapy, and more. We’ll use the best methods for you, even if your health insurance can only cover one weekly session in an outpatient program.
You always have options with us here at Magnolia Ranch Recovery.
Our Holistic Opioid Addiction Recovery Skills Building
Vicodin abuse and a chronic Vicodin addiction can hurt you socially and personally in ways you may not even be aware of. Many isolate themselves from their relationships or even cause rifts among loved ones. Others put their responsibilities and livelihoods on the line, chasing those physical symptoms of euphoria.
That’s why we offer several holistic mental health sessions, such as art therapy, equine-assisted therapy, music therapy, and more, to help you learn new ways to express yourself and process your emotions.
We also offer several holistic life skill-building courses to help you regain your independence.
Start Your Comprehensive Vicodin Addiction Treatment in Tennessee at Magnolia Ranch Recovery
All you need to get started is to call our helpful, friendly team. We’ll help you understand your options and just how a highly personalized addiction treatment plan can help you or your loved one recover from their Vicodin addiction in the long term.
We’re centrally located in Tennessee to make it as easy as possible for Tennessee residents to get the treatment they need. You don’t even need to drive to us. We can organize ground transportation up to 4.5 hours away to bring you to us.
All that’s left is to take that big first step and make the call. We’ll guide you through everything else.
