Besides a horrifying opioid epidemic that is destroying many Nevadans’ lives, there are other drugs to worry about, including synthetic drugs.

One of these drugs is called Spice, also known as K-2, skunk, fake weed, genie, and blaze herbal incense.

K-2 looks like chopped-up herbs or dried plant material and is often disguised in little plastic packets. A while back, K-2 was sold as K-2 or Spice. But since K-2 has become known for having dangerous side effects, its name has been disguised. These days K-2 is sold under various odd labels, including BIZARRO, Godfather, and Geeked Up. Additionally, the packets have a small disclaimer that says, NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. Some labels even claim that the product is all-natural and acquired from plants. Besides herbal incense, K-2 is marketed as liquid incense, and users smoke or inhale K-2 in a vapor form or vape, which is more dangerous than smoking the drugs.

One website promoting K-2 asserts that K2 smokers have reported that they have become better people by smoking a little K2 every day. This statement not only affirms the concept that people need to smoke something to become improved human beings, but the website itself is very definitive in telling unsuspecting consumers how to smoke the stuff.

The website discusses the controversy surrounding K-2 as if overdoses and deaths from synthetic drugs are nothing short of horrifying. It goes on to say that their K-2 products are not made from illegal chemicals and that K-2 is completely all-natural and harmless.

The truth is that K-2 and other synthetic drugs are dangerous and can have fatal consequences. And the marketing behind these drugs is deceptive.

K-2 is a synthetic cannabinoid, falling under the artificial drug umbrella.

And what exactly are synthetic cannabinoids?

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, they are chemicals made in labs. Their chemicals are related to those found in the marijuana plant, hence the name synthetic cannabinoids. These chemicals are sprayed on plants. There’s nothing natural about synthetic drugs, except for the dried plants themselves.

Besides having a naïve idea that K-2 and Spice are completely natural, younger people buy these drugs because they are easy to obtain. The initial effects are similar to those found in THC.

These include a happy mood, relaxation, distorted awareness, and psychotic symptoms.

The symptoms of psychosis include seizures, dilated pupils, extreme agitation, anxiety, paranoia, confusion, and hallucinations. Some users who end up in the emergency room experience precipitous heart rates, violent behavior, suicidal ideations, vomiting, and death.

Besides K-2, other synthetic drugs include bath salts, or synthetic cathinones, which parallel the side effects of methamphetamines and cocaine. Bath salt side effects include increased libido, increased energy, extreme agitation, violent behavior, excited delirium, and panic attacks.

Users who experience excited delirium are prone to kidney failure, skeletal tissue failure, and dehydration.

According to the National Institute for Drug Abuse, bath salts are snorted, ingested, smoked, or swallowed. While marketed as a cheap alternative to cocaine, their effects can be ten times more powerful.

Bath salts are also advertised as potpourri, plant food, and jewelry cleaner. This drug looked like white or brown powder and sold in plastic or foil packages.

The intoxication of bath salts often causes death, and those who snort or inject it are at a higher risk of dying.

There are other synthetic drugs, including Molly, which give side effects similar to MDMA and ecstasy. Molly can cause panic attacks, seizures, and death. And then there is Mephedrone, which is an amphetamine, and whose effects, like bath salts, parallel those achieved by using cocaine.

In Las Vegas, many head shops sell synthetic drugs under the guise of different names.

According to a 2015 Las Vegas Sun, regulating these drugs is difficult.  In Nevada, drugs are regulated by their chemical makeup instead of their effects, which makes them difficult to regulate. Suppliers always seem to be one step ahead of the law. Once a certain formula becomes illegal and a supplier selling that formula gets caught, other suppliers catch the wind and rearrange formulas so that their products can be legally sold.

Keith Carter, the director of a Nevada drug enforcement task force, said that, in Nevada, most users are in their teens or early twenties. Part of the attraction to these drugs for younger people is the volatility. This fact is quite frightening because some people who are drawn to unpredictable situations have underlying co-occurring disorders that are not addressed.

And like other drugs, the price of a synthetic high includes addiction and the body developing a tolerance for the drug. And of course, when there is tolerance, a user needs more of the drug to get the high they want.

And that’s how death occurs.

The body can only take so many foreign and dangerous chemicals.

So what is the solution?

Evidence-based practices, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), can treat users who are addicted to synthetic drugs.

Treatment is important, also for those undergoing withdrawal symptoms from synthetic drugs.

At Cycles of Change Recovery Services, our Las Vegas office provides free treatment consultations.  In Las Vegas, we do mobile and phone assessments. Office assessments are offered by appointment only. And we provide transportation to our beautiful rehab in Palmdale. First, you might need a stay in our sub-acute detox facility in Quartz Hill, where you will be monitored around the clock by our experienced team of professionals. You will be provided with the appropriate level of care, as well as in-depth counseling.

After detox, you will enter one of our elegant gender-specific residences in Palmdale to undergo inpatient care. Our homes emanate classic Hollywood Hills allure in the pictorial Antelope Valley Desert.

Our clinical, evidence-based modalities treat substance abuse and co-occurring disorders, which are often the basis of chemical dependency. Our holistic approach treats mind, body, and spirit. And our comprehensive 12-step program will help you find tranquility.

Recovery will provide you with a new beginning.

And you are not alone. Many of us have been there ourselves.

We look forward to your call.

So maybe you have decided that you have had enough. You have bounced around 12-step meetings for the last few weeks, and somehow even though you are still drinking or using, you have come to grips with step one.

If only to yourself, you have admitted that you are an alcoholic and/or addict and that your life has become truly unmanageable. Or maybe you have talked to a few people at AA or NA meetings, and you tell them that you are ready to stop drinking or using, and they kindly buy you a Big Book and give you a meeting directory, along with a list of their phone numbers and tell you to keep coming back.

Or maybe you have decided to go to a local church and get the advice of a pastor. You tell him that you are an addict and that you need help. He gives you a Bible, mentions Celebrate Recovery, and then schedules weekly spiritual meetings with you. He also says that Christ will have your back.

But maybe the drinking and/or using goes on a bit longer, and then finally, there’s that night when you drink a gallon of cheap wine and pop a few Vicodin, and you get so sick that you end up throwing up all over the place, and collapsing on the floor. You realize, upon awakening, that the alcohol and the pills are not making things better. If anything, life has gotten a hell of a lot worse, and instead of getting giddy and happy and stupid, you feel like every time you drink or use, you want to die.

So you decide that you are completely done and will quit cold turkey, even though you have been drinking and using for the last decade.

So what’s next?

What is Acute Withdrawal?

It is welcome to acute withdrawal, or as it’s usually referred to, leave, which occurs immediately after an alcoholic or addict stops drinking or using.

By the way, withdrawal can be dangerous if a person decides to quit cold turkey.

Withdrawals from heavy alcohol drinking last between five and seven days and withdrawals from benzodiazepines (benzos) last between one and four weeks, or between three and five weeks if the person is tapering off.

Both benzos and alcohol withdrawals can cause severe symptoms, including delirium tremens (DT’s), seizures, hallucinations, and heart attacks.

Opioid withdrawals last between four and ten days unless the addict is on methadone, and in that case, leaves can last up to 21 days. Believe it or not, opioid withdrawals are very uncomfortable but not as dangerous as alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawals. On the other hand, if the addict was prone to mixing opioids with alcohol or tranquilizers, well, those withdrawals are going to be wrong, too.

But on average, acute withdrawals last about two weeks.

After initial withdrawals are over, a newly clean and sober individual usually goes into an emotional rollercoaster ride. Welcome to post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS).

Believe it or not, PAWS can last up to two years after a person stops drinking and/or using. Sometimes post-acute withdrawals peak at about six months.

Symptoms of Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS):

• Stress
• Depression
• Exhaustion
• A brain fog
• Memory loss
• Coordination problems
• Insomnia
• Cravings
• Guilt
• Anxiety
• Social anxiety disorder
• The onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder

Other people experience anhedonia, which is almost as bad as it sounds. Anhedonia is when people lose complete interest in life. They don’t want to do anything fun, including participating in hobbies, going out with friends, having sex, listening to music, or even going to the movies.

Anhedonia-type people often want to sleep all day and not get out of bed. And if they develop insomnia, which is another PAWS symptom, they stay up all night like vampires. The next morning, they crash, and the cycle begins all over again.

Other people experiencing post-acute withdrawal syndrome become serious exercise freaks or workaholics. In other words, instead of drugs and alcohol, they overdo it when it comes to working out or just working.

The Pink Cloud Syndrome in Recovery

And then we have the “pink cloud” people. They walk around at meetings with benevolent grins on their faces and share about how dandy life is. They are experiencing “pink cloud syndrome,” which is, once again, part of the emotional rollercoaster that addicts experience in early recovery. These individuals seem to be the lucky ones, but the truth is, their brain chemistry is stuck on happiness.

What goes up usually must come down, and when the pink cloud people crash, chances are they become agitated. At that point, they might relapse because, during their pink cloud period, they had stopped going to meetings and stopped doing the necessary work that newly clean and sober people must do to maintain their recovery.

Besides the pink cloud people, the others described here are also at risk for relapse. Those who are on the treadmill five hours a day or those who start working 80 hours a week, or those who are sick of being vampires might decide, in the end, that being clean and sober is just not worth the hassle of feeling the way that they do.

And what is the best solution here?

Reducing the Risk of Relapse

The solution is that you need to get the right help. Going into the proper residential treatment facility, which often offers detox, is the best thing to do. And that decision might not only save your life but also will put you on the right track in recovery.

During intake, you will undergo a comprehensive assessment, which will determine if you need detox or not. During detox, some addicts are prescribed medication-assisted treatment, which eases the symptoms of withdrawal. Once you go into a good residential treatment facility, you will receive individual and group therapy, nutritional counseling, exercise, trauma-focused therapy, and attend 12-step meetings. The beauty of going into comprehensive drug rehab is that you will have licensed drug and alcohol counselors, psychologists, and medical doctors who will help you get better and feel better.

If you were having any other medical problems, wouldn’t you go to a qualified doctor who could help you? If you needed heart surgery, chances are you would go to a cardiologist, right? If you needed dental work, hopefully, you would book an appointment with a dentist.

Well, guess what. Alcoholism and drug addiction is a disease. It requires the help of licensed professionals.

When you receive the proper inpatient care and your transition back into society, you will be better equipped to handle Post-acute withdrawal syndrome. And by having an aftercare program, which probably includes going to meetings, you will learn essential recovery tools that will make you feel grounded. While a pink cloud might be fleeting, serenity will become a permanent part of your psyche.

Prescription medications may not seem like much of a risk. After all, your doctor prescribed this treatment to help you with an issue. Benzodiazepines like Xanax, Valium, Ativan, Klonopin, and others can relieve anxiety, insomnia, social anxiety disorders, and even alcohol withdrawals.

However, even following your doctor’s orders carefully can put you at risk for dependence or addiction. Let’s take a look at some of the effects benzodiazepines can have on the body.

How Do Benzodiazepines Work?

Benzodiazepines (sometimes called benzos or downers) are designed to depress the central nervous system. By calming nerve impulses, they can reduce anxiety. However, a rush of endorphins, much like those released with the use of opioids and other powerfully addictive drugs, also takes place. These good feelings can cause a person to seek out this state more often than his prescription dictates. Long-term use builds tolerance, which can also lead to experimenting with higher doses.

Benzo Addiction & Tolerance

What makes benzos so addictive in the first place has to do with something called “half-life.” In simple terms, the “half-life” of drugs like benzodiazepines refers to the amount of time it takes for the body to eliminate 50% of the medication’s starting dosage. For example, Xanax typically has an elimination half-life of 9-16 hours. So, for a healthy person, that means the substance should be entirely out of their bodies after about four days.

The problem arises when people begin to take more than the recommended dosage or take the medication more frequently than prescribed. This behavior has a compounding effect on eliminating half-life and can quickly increase the user’s tolerance, leading to more and more medication needed to achieve the same effect.

“While the effects of benzodiazepine addiction on the body are severe and even life-threatening, the impact of addiction on a person’s life can be just as devastating. Job loss. Problems at home. Legal trouble – the list goes on. Unfortunately, these are the types of negative consequences many people experience before taking that critical first step toward recovery,” Director of Operations: Georgi Manker Stokes, CATC.

Benzodiazepine Side Effects

In addition to the intended effects, people using benzodiazepines may also experience:

• Changes in appetite
• Constipation
• Disorientation
• Drowsiness
• Fatigue
• Lowered sex drive
• Nausea and vomiting
• Weight gain

More severe side effects can develop—particularly with long-term use of six months or longer. These can include:

• Addiction
• Dangerously low blood pressure
• Drastic changes in heart rate
• Fainting
• Forgetting things or how to complete tasks
• Increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s
• Seizures
• Suicidal thoughts
• Trouble breathing

Withdrawal Symptoms Associated with Benzodiazepines

Because benzodiazepines are chemically altering your brain every time you use them, giving them up can be quite challenging. Those who try to quit cold turkey have a high rate of relapse. A doctor or treatment program may recommend slowly weaning yourself off the medication to reduce the severity of withdrawal symptoms.

Typically, longer periods of use can bring more intense withdrawals when trying to quit. You might encounter some or all of the following:

• Changes in perception
• Dry heaving or vomiting
• Headaches
• Heart palpitations
• Increased anxiety or instances of panic attacks
• Psychosis
• Seizures
• Sore or stiff muscles
• Sweating
• Tremors

Get Help Quitting Benzodiazepines at Cycles of Change in Palmdale, California

Withdrawals from benzodiazepines usually start within 24 hours and can last anywhere from days to months. In some severe cases, an individual may experience some of the symptoms years after stopping.

If you need help battling the disease of addiction, Cycles of Change can help. From the initial detoxification process and innovative therapies to treatment that helps heal the entire family, we are committed to helping your recovery become a reality. Take the first steps towards reclaiming control of your life and talk to one of our specialists today.