Substance Abuse Traditional Treatment

Abuse Medications

No single treatment is right for everyone. Counseling, on an individual or group basis, is the most common form of drug abuse treatment. This may include inpatient treatment in order to detoxify and closely monitor the substance abuser.

Methadone - The best known drug used to help people addicted to heroin or other opioids. It helps without causing the high associated with the drug addiction.

Buprenorphine - In a class of medications called opioid partial agonist-antagonists, this is a drug used to treat opioid addiction.

Naltrexone - This is also an effective medication for some opioid-addicted people and some alcoholics.

Acamprosate - Also known by the brand name Campral, acamprosate treats alcohol abuse by restoring the chemical balance in the brain that would otherwise be unbalanced in an alcoholic.

Disulfiram - A drug used to treat chronic alcoholism by producing an acute sensitivity to alcohol. Trade names for disulfiram are Antabuse and Antabus, depending on the country that you reside in.

Topiramate - This anticonvulsant drug is used to treat epilepsy, migraines and bipolar disorder. But it’s also used to cease smoking.

Nicotine replacement products - Nicotine addiction can be fought with a nicotine replacement product, such as patches, gum, or lozenges; or with an oral medication

Bupropion - This drug works by reducing the severity of nicotine cravings and the withdrawal symptoms associated with smoking.

Varenicline - Used as an alternative to nicotine replacement therapies. Trademarked under the name Chantix in the U.S. and Champix in Europe, varenicline attaches to the same nicotine receptors as nicotine usually does. Nicotine is then unable to cause dopamine release, which means pleasure is not associated with smoking.