This site has moved, please go to and bookmark: Opiate Substitution Treatment.

Opiate Addiction

About 5% of the U.S. population misuse opiates, including prescribed pain medications such as OxyContin.

Opiates include heroin, morphine, codeine, OxyContin, Dilaudid and methadone, among others. These drugs can cause physical dependence, which is characterized by a person’s compulsive quest for the drug and its use. With physical dependence the body adapts to the presence of the drug and suffers withdrawal symptoms when its use is reduced. These symptoms range from shaking, sweating, headaches, drug craving and nausea, to vomiting, abdominal cramping, diarrhea, insomnia, agitation and depression.

Therapeutic Health Services uses a variety of state-of-the art treatments to help clients suffering from opiate addiction. Clinically supervised methadone maintenance has proven to be one of the most effective treatments. Recent studies on buprenorphine show its effectiveness with both physical and mental withdrawal symptoms.