CLEANSING: DRUG DRIVES OPIATES FROM CELLS

Here Is The Step-By-Step Process At Florida Detox:

Pre-admission: The day before they are detoxed, patients undergo a
medical evaluation that includes blood work and an EKG. Their mental
health also is evaluated, through testing and a consultation with a
staff psychologist, for underlying problems, such as depression and
attention deficit disorder, that could affect long-term recovery.

The psychologist helps create a post-detox plan, which might include
recommendations for counseling or a residential-treatment program.

Patients stop taking their addictive drug, such as OxyContin or
methadone, the following day.

Detox day: Patients enter Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital about 7 a.m.
The procedure takes place in patient rooms on the seventh floor.

Before the procedure: Patients are sedated with tranquilizerlike
medications and relax in bed, where they will undergo detoxification.
A nurse begins IVs in patients' arms through which detoxification
drugs will be administered.

Hour one: The doctor begins anesthesia, including insertion of a
breathing tube. The anesthesia is relatively light, similar to that
needed for a knee operation, but deep enough to keep the patients
unconscious. In addition to anesthesia, drugs are given to prevent the
surges of adrenaline common in withdrawal and stabilize blood pressure
and heart rate.

Hour two: A drug that "scrubs" cell receptors of opiates is added to
the medication cocktail. The drug competes with opiates for the same
cell receptors. Most opiates will be displaced in an hour.

Hours three through six: Patients remain under anesthesia and rest.
This keeps them from being conscious of withdrawal symptoms, such as
joint pain and muscle aches.

Post-procedure: Patients are groggy from sedation but up and walking
at 10 p.m. They are given medications to control pain, anxiety and
insomnia. Most check out within 24 hours but are asked to remain in
the area for at least four days to be monitored for withdrawal symptoms.

They are prescribed a medication called Naltrexone that affects
opiate-cell receptors and stops physical cravings for the addictive
drug.

Staff members from Florida Detox call patients after one month to
check for withdrawal symptoms. Patients are contacted again after six
months.

Susan H. Thompson is a staff writer at The Tampa Tribune.