Help for Cocaine Recovery in Metro Atlanta
Dr. Darvin Hege provides local, out-patient, treatment in the metro Atlanta area. He uses the best medications available to help minimize cocaine craving and
withdrawal. These are properly researched medicines. These medicines combined
with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) have the highest recovery rates
available.
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Disulfuram - This medicine helps minimize cocaine cravings
and significantly increases abstinence and recovery rates in studies over the
first three months. Dr. Hege has been prescribing this medication to treat alcohol
abuse for thirty years.
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N-acetyl-cysteine - This is a nutritional supplement that has
been found to help initial withdrawal symptoms, such as depression,
tiredness and sleepiness, for the first three weeks of abstinence from cocaine.
Preliminary research shows it to be more effective than placebo.
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Modinifil, baclofen, naltrexone, and Topomax have been shown to
be helpful for some patients in preliminary studies. Dr. Hege has ten years
experience using naltrexone for other indications.
CBT is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This is a type of talk
therapy that is focused on helping the cocaine abuser correct distorted thinking
about cocaine behaviors that are high risk for causing relapse and recognizing
mood states that make one vulnerable to relapse. CBT can be done in conjunction
with the medications prescribed for you. It can be done in
twenty minute sessions or you can be referred to a therapist in Dr. Hege's network for
longer one-hour therapy sessions for more intensive intervention.
Dr. Hege is an addictionist, certified by ASAM (American Society of
Addiction Medicine), and a psychiatrist, board-certified by ABPN (American Board
of Psychiatry and Neurology). In 24 years of experience as a full-time private
practitioner, Dr. Hege has treated many patients with a primary or secondary substance
abuse problem.
Initial assessment includes evaluating for any psychiatric
condition which may be caused by the cocaine problem or that may have existed
before the cocaine problem and contributed to the development of cocaine
dependence. Commonly found disorders include depression, anxiety (panic
disorder, social anxiety, PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, and OCD), ADHD,
and bipolar disorder. Relief of these conditions with medication or other
therapies increases the chances of getting clean and staying clean. As a
psychiatrist, Dr. Hege is skilled and experienced in managing the medications to
relieve these conditions.
Depression is often a part of the "crash" and usually dissipates
rapidly during the post-acute withdrawal phase, i.e., within one week of stopping
cocaine. However, a significant group of people who get dependent on cocaine
have a primary pre-existing depression. They may have found that cocaine offers
them some temporary relief of depression. If this depression is not treated
effectively with non-addictive antidepressants, you are more likely to relapse
on cocaine.
Anxiety disorders are frequently caused by cocaine, classically
panic disorder. Many patients report their
first panic attack after their first use of cocaine. Frequently, even though
they used no more cocaine, they still could not get their recurring panic
attacks to stop. We have many effective medications to stop the cycle of panic
attacks and the anticipatory anxiety of having another panic attack.
Social anxiety, GAD (generalized anxiety disorder), PTSD (
post-traumatic stress disorder), OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) may be
temporarily relieved as a result of cocaine usage that inflates self confidence, optimism, and
enhanced self-esteem. However, this is frequently followed by extended and
irreversible worsening of the anxiety symptoms. This frequently leads to
increasingly more frequent and higher doses of cocaine to ward off intolerable
nervousness and fear.
People with bipolar disorder have much higher rates of cocaine
abuse related to more thrill-seeking behavior during the highs and search for
relief from depression during the lows. We have many good medicines to assist in
mood-stabilizing the bipolar swings. Medicine may be critical for people with
this condition to have a fighting chance to remain abstinent from the cocaine.
People with ADHD may try to self- medicate with cocaine to
improve focus, hyperactivity, anxiety, and mental performance. Impulsivity and
difficulty learning from experience are common symptoms of ADHD. This
contributes to early loss of control of cocaine and development of dependence.
There are numerous safe, non-addictive medications to relieve the ADD symptoms
which increase the chances of kicking the cocaine habit.
For help with your cocaine recovery efforst in the metro Atlanta area
call Dr.
Hege today
for the expertise and relief you need!
Self-Pay Patients--Mention this website for 10%
off your first visit!
Darvin Hege MD, PC
2150 Peachford Road, Suite P
Atlanta, GA 30338-6521
770-458-0007
Map and Directions To Dr. Darvin Hege
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