A resident physician at the University of Louisville, Dr. Ali Farooqui is responsible for patient care in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. A board member of addiction recovery nonprofit Fresh Start for Kentucky, Inc., Dr. Ali Farooqui works to help patients struggling with addiction in the hospital as well as within the community.
Medications are tremendously useful in the treatment of addiction. The first role they play is to help patients deal with the withdrawal symptoms that accompany drug detox. Detox is usually the first part of addiction recovery. This period is usually accompanied by severe withdrawal symptoms which can including anxiety, sweating, nose bleeds, seizures, muscle aches, and depression. Medication can be used to relieve some of these withdrawal symptoms, helping patients stick to the detox program.
Furthermore, medication is used in addiction treatment to prevent relapse. Some medications are prescribed for patients with opioid addictions as an alternative to abstinence. These pharmaceutical drugs mirror the effects of opioids in the human body, relieving the drug cravings without causing the feeling of being high. Other pharmaceutical drugs are prescribed to block alcohol and drugs from creating the same high effect when ingested by patients, promoting long term abstinence.
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