Expert: Jurriaan Plesman, Nutritional Psychotherapist - 4/3/2007

Question
My daughter is 18 yrs old and in recovery for opiate addiction where she was using oxycontin occasionally for 1 1/2 years and then everyday (80 mgs)for approximately 6 months (without our knowing).  She only weighs about 115 lbs.  She recently came to my wife and I and told us she wanted help to get off of it and that she hated herself because of the life she was living.  We immediately put her into a 30 day clinic for detox and therapy that uses the 12 step program and has very good success with recovery relative to other programs.  She has been there for two weeks and says she is very tired and can not enjoy anything right now.  Can you tell me how long that lasts and what we can do as a family to support her so she does not want to return to the drugs?  We visit her weekly and I leave phone messages in the clinic telling her how proud we are of her for doing this.  She says that she is discovering that she has self esteem and abandonment issues because of how her first boyfriend treated her.  We raised her in a loving Christian home and she has always been our priority. She began to withdraw from us when the drug use started but we thought it was just normal teenage need for independence.  I have read some of the articles on your web page concerning hypoglycemia.  Does treating that reduce the craving for drugs and approximately how long are the cravings most severe?  Also, would you recommend a drug to stop the cravings initially?  Right now she says she would never do the drugs again but I am sure that is the normal response.  As your articles teach, it is when they are most stressed that they begin drug seeking.  Thank you in advance for your response.

Answer
Dear Mark,
I can just imagine how you feel. That must be a real worry for your and your wife.

As a Nutritional Psychologists I believe that drug addition is more of a physical disease than a "mental" or religious illness.

Most drug addicts have been found to be hypoglycemic and therefore the first step is to go on a hypoglycemic diet.

As to cravings taking GLYCERINE will help to stop cravings.

Search our web site for GLYCERINE for more information.

Please read:

Drug Addiction is a Nutritional Disorder at:
http://forums.delphiforums.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=clinutrition&msg=183.1

_________________________________
Jurriaan Plesman, BA(Psych), Post Grad Dip Clin Nutr
Editor: HYPOGLYCEMIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA at
www.hypoglycemia.asn.au
Author: “Getting off the Hook” at
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