Through the chronic use of opiates, our bodies recognize that we have plenty of our naturally produced endorphins on board and cease to manufacture them naturally. This allows the individual to build up a tolerance to the drug, contributing to their need to keep doing more to sustain that ’feeling good state.”
Individuals detoxing off opiates experience depression, irritability, exhaustion, anger, sleeplessness, hopelessness, etc. This happens to all opiate abusers when they cease taking opiates and is to be expected.
Some patients, especially those with short term addiction histories, will be able, after a few weeks or months of abstinence, to get their natural endorphins back into good working order again, and will begin to gradually improve. However, for many, the damage done is permanent.
For these patients, no amount of abstinence, group therapy, meetings, will power, or good intentions will undo the fact that their brains simply will no longer produce endorphins in a sufficient quantity to enable them to live a normal, happy life. This is where Medicated Assisted Treatment, Suboxone and Vivitrol, used in conjunction with a therapeutic program comes in.