If you’re struggling with opioid use or worried about someone you love, you’re not alone.
At Sabino Recovery in Tucson, we recognize that opioid use disorder is often tied to deeper pain—trauma, anxiety, depression, or experiences that haven’t been fully addressed—so we start with trauma and build an individualized residential treatment plan around you.
In our serene desert setting, you’ll receive 10 or more one-on-one sessions each week with therapists, medical providers, and integrative care specialists, with your plan reviewed daily and adjusted weekly as you heal.
Opioids are a class of drugs that act on receptors in your brain and spinal cord to block pain and create relief or euphoria, which is why they’re prescribed after surgery, injury, or for chronic pain. They also trigger dopamine release in the brain’s reward system, so over time your brain adapts and needs more of the drug to feel the same effects—this is tolerance and the first step toward dependence.
What makes opioids particularly challenging is that they affect both your body and your mind:
- Physical dependence means your body now relies on the drug to function, so stopping suddenly causes withdrawal.
- Psychological dependence means you’ve come to rely on opioids to manage emotions, stress, or unresolved trauma.
Both need to be addressed for lasting healing. Whether the opioid is prescribed (like oxycodone or hydrocodone) or illicit (like heroin or street fentanyl), it acts on the same brain receptors and can lead to opioid use disorder, and many people who develop addiction started with a legitimate prescription.
Types of Opioids: What You Need to Know
Understanding the opioid you or your loved one is using can help clarify risks and guide treatment. Each type has unique characteristics, but all share a high potential for dependence, addiction, and overdose when misused.
Fentanyl
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and is used in hospitals for severe pain, such as during surgery or cancer treatment. In the illicit drug supply, it is often present in very small but dangerous amounts, which greatly increases overdose risk—especially when people don’t realize it’s there.
Prescription Painkillers: Vicodin and Percocet
- Vicodin contains hydrocodone combined with acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol).
- Percocet contains oxycodone combined with acetaminophen.
Both are Schedule II medications with legitimate medical uses but a high potential for misuse and addiction. The acetaminophen they contain can cause serious liver damage when taken in higher doses than prescribed or combined with alcohol.
Oxycodone and OxyContin
Oxycodone is an immediate-release opioid, while OxyContin is an extended-release formulation designed to provide pain relief over many hours. When these medications are taken in larger amounts or in ways other than prescribed, the risk of respiratory depression and overdose rises sharply. Long-term use can also lead to hormonal changes, increased pain sensitivity, and organ strain.
Contact our Admissions Team Today
Recognizing the Warning Signs of Opioid Use Disorder
Physical Warning Signs
Your body shows clear signals when opioid use becomes problematic:
- Constricted pupils that don’t respond normally to light
- Drowsiness or “nodding off” at inappropriate times
- Slurred speech or difficulty articulating thoughts
- Loss of coordination and balance
- Itching or flushed skin without other explanation
- Chronic constipation
- Dry mouth and increased thirst
- Stomach cramps or nausea
- Changes in sleep patterns, including excessive sleeping
Behavioral Warning Signs
Changes in behavior often indicate that opioid use has become central to someone’s life:
- Doctor shopping—visiting multiple physicians to obtain prescriptions
- Running out of prescriptions early and seeking refills ahead of schedule
- Crushing, breaking, or altering pills before taking them
- Mixing opioids with alcohol or other substances
- Secretive behavior about medication use
- Neglecting responsibilities at work, school, or home
- Withdrawing from family activities and social connections
- Engaging in risky behaviors like driving while impaired
- Financial problems from spending money on drugs
- Legal issues related to obtaining or using opioids
Psychological Warning Signs
The mental and emotional impact of opioid use disorder is significant:
- Intense cravings that dominate your thoughts
- Mood swings between euphoria and irritability
- Increased anxiety, especially when running low on medication
- Depression that worsens over time
- Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
- Loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed
- Obsessive focus on obtaining and using opioids
- Continued use despite knowing it’s causing problems
- Inability to cut down or stop despite wanting to
What you’re experiencing makes sense given what you’ve been through. These signs don’t mean you’re weak or flawed—they indicate that your brain has adapted to the presence of opioids and needs support to heal.
Health Risks and Consequences of Opioid Use
Understanding the full scope of health risks helps clarify why professional treatment is so important. Opioid use affects nearly every system in your body, with consequences that range from uncomfortable to life-threatening.
Immediate and Short-Term Effects
Even in the short term, opioid use creates noticeable changes in how your body functions. You might experience euphoria and pain relief initially, but these come with drowsiness, confusion, nausea, and constipation. Respiratory depression—slowed breathing—can occur even at prescribed doses, which is why opioids are dangerous when combined with alcohol or sedatives.
Overdose Risk
Overdose is the most immediate danger with opioid use. When you take too much, your breathing slows to the point where your brain doesn’t receive enough oxygen. This can cause unconsciousness, brain damage, or death. Fentanyl’s extreme potency makes overdose risk particularly high, as the difference between a dose that creates euphoria and one that stops your breathing is very small.
Long-Term Physical Consequences
Prolonged opioid use affects your body in ways that can persist even after you stop using:
- Chronic constipation and digestive problems
- Hormonal imbalances affecting mood, energy, and sexual function
- Weakened immune system, making you more susceptible to illness
- Respiratory complications and breathing difficulties
- Organ damage, particularly to the liver when acetaminophen is involved
- Increased sensitivity to pain (hyperalgesia)
- Dental problems from dry mouth and neglect
Mental Health Impact
The psychological toll of opioid use disorder compounds over time. Depression and anxiety often worsen, creating a cycle where you use opioids to manage these feelings, which then intensifies them. Cognitive function can decline, affecting memory, decision-making, and concentration. The shame and isolation that often accompany addiction further damage mental health.
I am so happy that I chose Sabino to begin my recovery. I have suffered for years from depression, anxiety, panic disorder, and PTSD. The programs that are offered here at Sabino have been truly phenomenal in helping me recover. I also appreciated the professional staff that are here on duty 24/7, which helps create a safe environment. Sabino Recovery uses effective “one on one” methods that meet each person’s individual needs because they evaluate and have a better understanding of your personal traumatic experiences. Thanks Sabino, I am truly grateful to you and the sabino family.
Regina
When Residential Treatment Becomes Necessary
Deciding when to seek residential treatment can feel overwhelming. You might wonder if your situation is “serious enough” or if you should try to handle it on your own first. Here’s what we’ve learned from working with thousands of clients: if you’re asking whether you need help, you probably do.
Residential treatment becomes necessary when:
- You’ve tried to cut down or stop using opioids on your own but haven’t been able to maintain it
- Withdrawal symptoms are severe enough that they prevent you from stopping
- You’re experiencing health complications from opioid use
- Your daily life revolves around obtaining and using opioids
- Outpatient treatment hasn’t provided the support you need
- You’re using increasingly higher doses to achieve the same effect
- You’ve experienced an overdose or come close to one
- Co-occurring mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, or PTSD complicate your recovery
- Your home environment makes it difficult to focus on healing
- You need medical supervision during withdrawal
The advantage of residential treatment is that it removes you from the environment and triggers associated with opioid use. You’re in a safe space where medical professionals can monitor your withdrawal, adjust medications as needed, and provide immediate support when cravings or difficult emotions arise.
What to Expect During Opioid Withdrawal
One of the biggest barriers to seeking treatment is fear of withdrawal. We understand this fear because withdrawal is genuinely uncomfortable. But it’s also manageable with proper medical support, and it’s temporary. Knowing what to expect can reduce anxiety about this part of the process.
Physical Withdrawal Symptoms
Opioid withdrawal often feels similar to a severe flu. You might experience:
- Muscle aches and joint pain
- Fever, chills, and sweating
- Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
- Rapid heart rate and elevated blood pressure
- Restlessness and inability to get comfortable
- Insomnia despite exhaustion
- Dilated pupils and sensitivity to light
These symptoms typically begin 6–12 hours after your last dose of short-acting opioids like heroin or oxycodone, or 24–48 hours after long-acting opioids like methadone. They peak around day 2–3 and gradually improve over the following week.
Psychological Withdrawal Symptoms
The mental and emotional aspects of withdrawal can be more challenging than the physical symptoms:
- Intense cravings for opioids
- Anxiety and panic
- Depression and hopelessness
- Irritability and mood swings
- Difficulty concentrating
- Feeling emotionally raw or overwhelmed
These psychological symptoms often last longer than physical withdrawal and can persist for weeks or months as your brain chemistry rebalances.
Medical Supervision Makes the Difference
At Sabino Recovery, you won’t go through withdrawal alone or without support. Our medical team uses evidence-based approaches to manage symptoms, which may include medications that ease discomfort, reduce cravings, and help stabilize your brain chemistry. We monitor your vital signs, adjust treatment as needed, and offer medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with options such as buprenorphine or naltrexone when appropriate—not to substitute one addiction for another, but to support your brain’s healing while you address the underlying causes of your opioid use.
Our Trauma-First Approach to Opioid Addiction Treatment
What makes Sabino Recovery different is our understanding that opioid addiction rarely exists in isolation. In our experience, about 70% of clients report PTSD symptoms when they arrive, and many have histories of childhood trauma or relationship trauma and other painful experiences that were never fully addressed—opioids became a way to manage that pain. This is why we start with trauma: when we help you process and heal the experiences that drove your opioid use, you’re less likely to return to it and can build a foundation for lasting, meaningful change instead of just managing symptoms.
Truly Individualized Care
We don’t use treatment tracks or one-size-fits-all programs. From your first day, we co-create a plan based on your history, needs, and goals, with 10 or more one-on-one sessions each week—over 50 during a typical 35-day stay. Your care team reviews your plan daily and adjusts it weekly so that if something isn’t working, we change it, and if a therapy is helping, we can lean into it; this flexible approach ensures your treatment continually evolves with you.
Integrative Medicine: Naturopathic and Allopathic Together
We combine naturopathic and allopathic (Western) medicine so your care can support every part of you. Our multidisciplinary team—naturopathic practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists, and other specialists—works together to blend gentle mind-body treatments with expert psychiatric support. Tools like QEEG brain mapping help us see how your brain is functioning and guide personalized recommendations, such as neurofeedback to retrain patterns or medications to support your brain chemistry while it heals.
Evidence-Based Therapies You Can Choose From
You’ll work with your therapist to select from therapies that resonate with you and address your specific needs. Options include:
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) for processing trauma
- Somatic Experiencing to release trauma held in your body
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to change thought patterns
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for emotional regulation
- NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) for developmental trauma
- Internal Family Systems (IFS) to work with different parts of yourself
- Brainspotting to access and process deep trauma
Beyond traditional therapy, you can choose from integrative therapies like equine therapy, trauma-informed yoga, acupuncture, massage, cold-water plunge therapy, and adventure therapy. These aren’t extras—they’re evidence-based approaches that support nervous system regulation and healing.
Family Integration
Healing is relational, which is why we invite families into the process through our 3.5-day Family Program. These aren’t lectures about addiction—they’re experiential workshops where families rebuild trust, improve communication, and develop understanding in a safe environment. We help families see how trauma and addiction have affected everyone, and we provide tools for healthier connection moving forward.
Life After Treatment: Continuing Care and Support
Leaving residential treatment doesn’t mean you’re on your own. Our Continuing Care program ensures you have the support and resources you need as you reintegrate into daily life.
Before you leave, we work with you to create a detailed continuing care plan. This might include:
- Connection to outpatient therapy in your area
- Medication management if you’re using MAT
- Enrollment in a partial hospitalization program (PHP) or intensive outpatient program (IOP) if you need more structure than weekly therapy
- Support group recommendations
- Strategies for managing triggers and cravings
- Plans for rebuilding relationships and routines
We stay connected with you after you leave. Many clients find that having someone to check in with during the transition makes a significant difference in maintaining their progress.
Understanding Levels of Care
Treatment doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing. There’s a continuum of care designed to meet you where you are:
- Residential treatment provides 24/7 support in a structured environment, ideal when you need intensive care and medical supervision.
- Partial hospitalization programs (PHP) offer treatment during the day while you return home at night.
- Intensive outpatient programs (IOP) provide several hours of treatment per week while you maintain work or school.
- Outpatient therapy offers weekly or bi-weekly sessions for ongoing support.
The right level of care depends on your specific situation, and it can change over time. Many people step down through these levels as they build stability and confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions About Opioid Treatment
Vicodin contains hydrocodone plus acetaminophen. Percocet contains oxycodone plus acetaminophen. OxyContin is an extended-release oxycodone without acetaminophen. All three are opioids that can lead to addiction, but the acetaminophen in Vicodin and Percocet adds liver damage risk, and OxyContin’s extended-release formulation makes it particularly dangerous when crushed or broken.
Fentanyl is 50–100 times more potent than morphine, making it extremely dangerous. The margin between a dose that creates euphoria and one that causes overdose is very small. Street fentanyl is often mixed into other drugs without users knowing, which has driven the recent increase in overdose deaths.
Yes. Prescription opioids carry the same overdose risk as illicit opioids, especially when taken in higher doses than prescribed, combined with alcohol or sedatives, or used in ways other than intended (crushing, snorting, injecting). The fact that a medication is prescribed doesn’t make it safe when misused.
Physical withdrawal symptoms typically peak around day 2–3 and improve significantly within a week. However, psychological symptoms like cravings, anxiety, and depression can persist for weeks or months. Medical supervision and medication-assisted treatment can significantly reduce the severity and duration of withdrawal symptoms.
Possibly. Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) using medications like buprenorphine or naltrexone can be an important part of your recovery. These medications help stabilize your brain chemistry, reduce cravings, and prevent relapse while you work on the underlying causes of your opioid use. Your medical team will discuss whether MAT is appropriate for your situation.
Previous treatment experiences don’t predict future outcomes, especially if that treatment didn’t address trauma or provide truly individualized care. Many of our clients have been through other programs before coming to Sabino Recovery. What makes the difference is addressing root causes rather than just symptoms, and receiving care that’s genuinely tailored to your unique needs.
Nationally Recognized & Accredited
Shara Turner, LPC, MSC, NCC, NARM
Shara brings to Sabino Recovery a unique perspective and skill set as she spent the majority of her earlier career in public health working with individuals dually diagnosed with a variety of substance use and mental health disorders, complex trauma, and extreme environmental and social inadequacies. The challenges faced in this arena have provided her with a strong base of practice in assessment, treatment, and case management.
Begin Your Healing Journey at Sabino Recovery
Opioid addiction is challenging, but healing is possible when you address the root causes beneath the symptoms. At Sabino Recovery, we know opioid use often begins as a way to manage physical or emotional pain, so we start with trauma. On our 140-acre desert campus in the Tucson foothills, you’ll receive 10+ one-on-one sessions each week, with your treatment plan reviewed daily and adjusted weekly. Our boutique model means you’re seen, heard, and treated as an individual—not a number.
Recovery is hard work, but you don’t have to do it alone. Our trauma-informed clinical and medical team walks with you through every step of treatment. At intake, about 70% of clients report PTSD symptoms; after treatment, that drops to 26%. Depression decreases from 79% to 16%, and anxiety from 74% to 20%. You deserve care that honors why you started using opioids, not just the fact that you did—contact Sabino Recovery to learn more about our opioid addiction treatment program and begin your healing.
