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By: Renaissance Recovery

Clinically Reviewed by: Diana Vo, LMFT

Last Updated:

09/11/2021

Authored By: Joe Gilmore

Table of Contents

Opiate and opioid — two terms that are often used interchangeably, but do they mean the same thing, or is there some difference? If they are different, how do they differ? And, finally, what is a clear opiate definition? It’s best to understand the definition of these terms if you’re dealing with substance abuse involving opiates or opioids and are looking for an opiate addiction treatment rehab.

Opiate Definition

The opiate definition is sometimes difficult to explain. Both opiates and opioids bind to the opioid receptors in the brain, thus producing euphoria, which is an extremely happy feeling. People also report feeling relaxed and mentally alert afterward too. Both opiates and opioids work on the chemicals in your brain to trigger rewards so you want to keep doing them, thus making them addictive.

The differences between opiates and opioids are what they consist of and whether they are mixed with other chemicals or man-made substances.

What Are Opiates?

The opiate definition is as follows:

An opiate is made from the flowering opium poppy plant. This plant can be found in Southern Asia and is a natural substance. Some examples of an opiate drug are:

  • Heroin
  • Morphine
  • Codeine
  • Vicodin

Opioids, on the other hand, can contain drugs that are synthetic, semi-synthetic, or all-natural. Some examples of opioids include:

  • Fentanyl (synthetic substance)
  • Methadone (synthetic substance)
  • Vicodin (semi-synthetic)
  • OxyContin (semi-synthetic)

The difference between semi-synthetic and synthetic is that the synthetic substances consist of “man-made” substances and chemicals, while semi-synthetic substances include both man-made and those that are man-made and natural.

Whether you are taking opiates or opioids, they have similar effects. Some of these are as follows:

  • Euphoria (happy feeling)
  • Sick stomach
  • Dry mouth
  • Addiction
  • Drowsiness or lethargy
  • Feelings of high energy, followed by nodding off

These effects range in their severity depending on how much of the drug you do and how long you’ve been doing it. No matter how severe the effects are, you need a rehab treatment plan for healing.

Treatment For Opiate Addiction

If you discover that you are addicted to opiates, your best way forward is to seek detox treatment. During rehab treatment, you’ll have professional doctors, therapists, and licensed substance abuse counselors to guide you forward to a brighter future. There are a number of different therapies and treatment options for people, including cognitive-behavioral therapy aimed at rewiring the way the brain reacts to addiction, family therapies, holistic rehab, and more

Through therapy treatment, you can get to the root of your problem and find sobriety.

Find Freedom from Opiates At Renaissance Recovery

Find freedom at Renaissance Recovery with the assistance of our professionally trained clinicians. Our highly qualified and compassionate therapists use evidence-based therapies to help you find the inner healing you need. Through our personalized treatment programs, you will find help for whatever type of addiction you have. Our caring staff treats everyone with dignity and respect so you will feel comfortable in your new environment.

Discover our serene facility that promotes your peace of mind and inner healing. You will find tranquility as you move forward in this new path towards a brighter future.

We offer a wide variety of treatment programs that can help improve your situation things like intensive outpatient treatmentdual diagnosis treatment, and partial hospitalization programs have all been shown to be effective forms of addiction treatment.

Don’t let addiction take over the happiness in your life. Now that you know more about an opiate definition, you can find healing for all your addiction needs. Seek treatment at a quality addiction treatment center by contacting us. We’ll walk beside you every step of the way.866.330.9449

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Pat C

“I owe my life and my happiness to these people. October 8th, 2019 marked two years of sobriety for me, and prior to finding Renaissance I hadn’t had 24 hours sober in nearly 20 years.”

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Paige R

“They truly cared for me and the other people that I served with! From this group, I have made 8 new brothers and friends for life! We have continued on, after the program, to take care of each other”

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Courtney S

“Great staff who took the time to get to know me. They have a lot of experience in this field and have first hand experience with what I was going through. IOP is outstanding and really built up a ton of great relationships and found this program to be a ‘breath of fresh air’.”

Joseph Gilmore has been in the addiction industry for three years with experience working for facilities all across the country. Connect with Joe on LinkedIn.

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