Addiction

What is Addiction Medication?

Addiction medicine is a medical subspecialty, concerned with the prevention, evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery of persons with the disease of addiction, of those with substance-related health conditions. This may include people who show unhealthy use of substances, including nicotine, alcohol, prescription medications, and other licit and illicit drugs.

Heart from colorful medication and pills above on grey wooden background.

Types of Addictions treated with Medicine?

At Salient Health Primary Care (SHPC) we support patients with a wide variety of addictions and substance use disorders. Some of the most common substance use disorders that are treated include opioid use disorder, alcohol use disorder, and tobacco use disorder. At Salient Health, we first diagnose the problem, assess/evaluate the severity, and discuss treatment options.

Opioid Use Disorder

There are several life saving and effective medications to treat opioid use disorder, prevent opioid withdrawal, reduce chance of relapse, and reduce risk of death. Some of the FDA-approved medication for opiate use disorder include :

  • Methadone
  • Suboxone (Buprenorphine/Naloxone)
  • Subutex (Buprenorphine)

Tobacco Abuse Disorder

The treatment of tobacco addiction include various types of therapies usually psychological treatments through different techniques to influence the addictive behavior. At Salient Health, we provide motivational dialogues to help the patient development his/her own best treatment routes.

Treatments may include:

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy
  • Nicotine replacement therapy
  • Pharmacotherapy, (i.e. Varenicline and Bupropion)
  • Group support therapy
  • Combinations of the above

Alcohol Use

The treatment of alcohol disorder my involve a period known as a “detox”. At Salient Health Primary Care (SHPC), we can help arrange those services to the appropriate facility if needed. After detoxification, the next step to recovery can began. Medications has shown to be quite effective for the treatment of alcohol use disorder.

Some of FDA-approved medications for alcohol use disorder include:

  • Naltrexone
  • Acamprosate
  • Disulfiram

At SHPC all treatment protocols will include mental stimulation, coordinated goal agreements , and behavior take home tasks.