[ez-toc]If you or a loved one has opioid use disorder (OUD) and you’re seeking treatment for heroin addiction or opioid addiction at a methadone clinic in Red Bank, NJ, it’s important to know that there are treatment facilities near you that offer the best treatment available: medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), such as methadone.
Evidence-based treatment is essential for people seeking a methadone clinic in Red Bank, NJ, because over a million people have died as a result of the Opioid Crisis in the United States – including members of the Red Bank community.
What is a Methadone Clinic?
A methadone clinic is an addiction treatment facility – also known as an Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) – that offers medication-assisted treatment with methadone. In the U.S., heroin treatment centers like the methadone clinic we operate in Red Bank, NJ – Middletown Medical – meet all the requirements established by federal, state, and local regulating agencies to dispense medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).
About the Medication in Methadone Clinics in Red Bank, NJ
Methadone is a full opioid agonist, meaning it attaches to opioid receptors in the brain, but it doesn’t cause euphoria and elevated mood associated with opioid intoxication. Because it occupies opioid receptors completely, it prevents other opioids such as heroin or fentanyl – from acting on the brain.
Methadone is one of three medications called medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of opioid addiction, heroin addiction, and addiction to other opioids, such as prescription pain relievers like oxycontin. MOUDs are the foundation of medication-assisted treatment, which treatment evidence shows is the best treatment available for opioid addiction.
Harm Reduction in New Jersey
Our methadone Clinic in Red Bank, NJ, is one part of a larger approach to the opioid crisis in the U.S. known as harm reduction. This systematic method for heroin treatment and opioid addiction treatment received funding the State of New Jersey when lawmakers passed four new laws to address the opioid overdose crisis.
Here’s how New Jersey Senator Joe Vitale explains the value of harm reduction:
“The principles of harm reduction are simple. We must accept that there is drug use in our communities. Some ways of using drugs are more dangerous than other ways. We need to meet people where they are, rather than forcing on them some preconceived notion of what their life should look like.”
Since methadone is itself an opioid, many people criticize MAT with methadone for substituting one addiction for another. That’s the type of resistance Senato Vitale addresses in the statement above. Because of the wide variety of people who use drugs and the various ways they’ll accept treatment, it’s important to understand that hardcore abstinence – which would exclude MAT – is not the only solution to the opioid crisis.
In fact, evidence shows that treatment for prescription opioid or heroin addiction at a methadone clinic helps people by:
- Preventing the ability of opioids to act on the brain
- Resetting brain chemistry back to a typical baseline
- Preventing the pleasure/euphoria associated with opioids
- Reducing the amount and severity of cravings
- Decreasing opioid withdrawal symptoms
Also, evidence shows methadone treatment can:
- Improve treatment adherence
- Reduce drug use
- Reduce illegal activity
- Help improve work and academic performance
- Help improve relationships
- Reduce overdose rates
- Save lives
Evidence-based treatment for addiction treatment is available – but what do you look for if you think a friend or loved one is addicted to heroin or opioids?
Warning Signs of Heroin Addiction, Opioid Use Disorder
If you’re concerned that you or a family member needs addiction treatment at a methadone clinic in Red Bank, it’s important to understand what to look for. People who need heroin treatment or opioid addiction treatment will show two types of warning signs: physical and behavioral.
Physical Warning Signs Include:
- Nausea
- Tremors in hands or limbs
- Slow breathing
- Constricted pupils
- Incoherent speech
- Uncharacteristic gain or loss of weight
- Bloodshot eyes
- Poor physical coordination
- Evidence of syringe use on body, specifically inner arm or feet
Behavioral Warning Signs Include:
- Spending excess time seeking opioids
- Trying but failing to stop using opioids
- Mood swings
- Withdrawal from friends and family
- Lying to family about money
- Stealing to finance drug use
- Changes in character or personality
- Decline in work performance
- Decline in school performance
- Anger/irritability
- Problems concentrating
- Difficulty meeting responsibilities
When these warning signs are present, the best course of action is to arrange a professional assessment for opioid use disorder administered by a qualified treatment provider. Based on the results, a provider can recommend treatment at a methadone clinic in Red Bank, NJ.
Treatment for Addiction at Pinnacle Treatment Centers
Receiving support at a Pinnacle methadone clinic is about more than taking methadone. At Middletown Medical, our methadone clinic in Red Bank, NJ, we use an integrated approach to treatment. After a full biopsychosocial evaluation, our clinical team designs an individualized plan, tailored to meet the needs of each individual patient.
Treatment plans at our clinic in Red Bank include:
- Therapy and counseling:
- This may be one-on-one, in groups, or with family members
- Medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD):
- Depending on the individual, a plan may include methadone, Suboxone®, or naltrexone
- Training to change daily habits from unhealthy to healthy:
- Help with diet, exercise, stress reduction, and sleep hygiene
- Helpful workshops on how to manage the recovery process:
- Relapse prevention, relationship support, conflict resolution, setting boundaries in relationships
- Complementary modalities:
- We help patients with practices like mindfulness, meditation, or yoga
- 12-Step/Peer support:
- During treatment, we connect patients with peer support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), or SMART Recovery
- Case Management:
- Throughout treatment we help patients access various resources, such as social support programs for medical treatment, food instability, housing instability, and vocational/education support
A foundational principle of harm reduction is to meet people where they are and offer treatment in a manner they can accept.
Treatment Locators for Red Bank, NJ
If you or a loved one needs addiction treatment at a methadone clinic in Red Bank, NJ please call us at Middletown Medical. If our clinic in Red Bank is not appropriate, we encourage you to take advantage of the following treatment locators:
- In New Jersey: Addiction Treatment Providers -Treatment Directory Application (rutgers.edu)
- In New Jersy, for uninsured patients: 1-844 ReachNJ.GOV at (844) 732-2465
- IME Addiction Access Center: call (844) 276-2777 for 24/7/365 referral support
- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency (SAMHSA) online treatment locator
The Opioid Overdose Crisis in Monmouth County, NJ
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that in 2001 in the U.S., close to 20,00 people died of drug overdose – 19,394, to be precise. In 2022, over 100,000 people died of drug overdose – a startling figure of 108,388. That’s an increase of over 450 percent. Data from the New Jersey Opioid Dashboard and the NJ Cares Opioid-Related Data resource page show that the opioid crisis reached Monmouth County, too.
Overdose Fatalities, Opioids, Monmouth County 2018-2023
- 2018: 215
- 2019: 187
- 2020: 186
- 2021: 174
- 2022: 151
- 2023: 135
When we see those numbers, we have two reactions. The first is that even one overdose fatality is one too many. The second is that those numbers are falling, year-over-year. That means our harm reduction efforts are improving the lives of people in New Jersey – one day, one month, and one year at a time.
About The Author
