Fort Worth Area Drug Addiction Treatment
Dr. Fairweather’s primary sub-specialty is Addiction Medicine. She treats many forms of addiction on an outpatient basis, including alcohol, opiates (heroin, pain pills), stimulants (cocaine, methamphetamine), club drugs (GHB, MDMA [ecstasy]), and cannabis (marijuana).
Alcohol Addiction Treatment
For those patients who drink excessively, outpatient management by Dr. Fairweather mey be an appropriate treatment option. This outpatient management consists of psychiatric medications, including acute detoxification if necessary, as well as appropriate maintenance medications, and brief counseling. More extensive counseling is typically referred to a skilled chemical dependency counselor.
This outpatient alcohol detox program is, however, only for those patients deemed sufficiently medically stable by Dr. Fairweather. Patients not stable enough for Dr. Fairweather’s Ambulatory program will be referred to an inpatient facility for detoxification, then may return to Dr. Fairweather for maintenance treatment.
Confidential In-Office Treatment of Opiate, Pain Pill, and Heroin Addiction with Suboxone
With the availability of Suboxone, there is no longer any reason for opiate-dependent patients to suffer through opiate withdrawals or to have to stand in line daily at a methadone clinic. Opiate detox with Suboxone is a relatively simple, comfortable process that takes only a few hours and can be done in the comfort of your own home through the guidance of a qualified doctor such as Dr. Fairweather. Once you complete the detoxification process,you can be completely free from opiate withdrawals for the rest of your life, including the process whereby you are gradually weaned off of Suboxone, as long as you follow the advice of Dr. Fairweather throughout the course of your treatment.
Is Suboxone covered by insurance?
Suboxone is covered by most insurance plans, but for those without insurance coverage, Dr. Fairweather has a limited number of slots whereby patients can obtain the Suboxone free of charge from the manufacturer. Among those patients who must pay for their Suboxone, almost all of them state that the visits to Dr. Fairweather and the expense of the Suboxone are much less money than they were spending on opiates.
Ideally, for short-acting opiates (heroin, oxycodone, hydrocodone, etc.), you should arrive for your appointment 12 hours after taking your last opiate dose (but this is not necessary if you’re unable to do so because of withdrawal symptoms). For long-acting opiates (methadone*, long-acting oxycodone), you should try to arrive for your appointment within approximately 24 hours of your last dose of opiates.
*Methadone dose must be at or below 30 mg/day before outpatient opiate Detox can be performed.
How soon can I get an opiate detox appointment with Dr. Fairweather?
Opiate detox appointments are available within 72 hours, including weekends. Call Doctor Fairweather’s office at (817) 283-4300 and follow the prompts. Dr. Fairweather will return your call with a date and time for your appointment.
What types of people become addicted to Opiates,Pain Pills, or Heroin?
Many people who are prescribed Opiates (e.g. Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Norco) for legitimate reasons become physically addicted to the medications because of the nature of Opiates, which are good medications for some (those in whom pain is well-controlled and no increases in dose are needed), but to which many patients quickly develop a tolerance to their effects. Once a tolerance develops, many people begin taking higher and higher doses to accomplish the same degree of pain control. This can result in 2 outcomes: Increased pain due to the sensitization of pain pathways of the nervous system by overuse of opiates, inter-dose (between-dose) opiate withdrawals, which result in higher and higher doses, and desperate measures to attempt to obtain enough of the substance to just “maintain,” and not become very ill with withdrawals, which often entails obtaining the substance illegally. Another subset of opiate abusers are those who use heroin. Suboxone works well with all types of Opiate Addiction. In fact, it is one of the few medications Dr. Fairweather uses that patients consistently call “a miracle drug”.
One of Dr. Fairweather’s sub-specialties is addiction medicine, including using Suboxone for outpatient opiate Detox. Dr. Fairweather’s patient base of Opiate Addiction in need of Suboxone Detox consists of everyone from soccer moms, physicians, housewives, college students, businessmen and businesswomen, grandparents, and virtually every socioeconomic segment of the population.
Your treatment at our clinic will be thorough, respectful, non-judgmental, and private.