When you go into rehab, you have to remember to distinguish medications that are important to your health from drugs that you shouldn’t be taking. There is a belief among many people that you can never touch or take any kind of drug while in rehab, and that you have to avoid all drugs in the future or you’ve done something wrong. While it’s important to avoid all illegal drugs – and some of the legal ones that have addictive properties – you still may need to take prescribed medications. There are medications available to help treat certain kinds of addictions, and those may be given to you. Also, if you have a medical condition that you should be taking something for, you’ll be allowed to have that medicine.

People with high blood pressure, for example, shouldn’t stop taking their blood pressure medication because they’re a drug addict. The two are not the same. It’s a far different issue, and should be addressed as such. Some people don’t see that, though, so they end up not taking what they really need. That can make their health worse, instead of improving it. Of course, there are also people who would try to get ‘medications’ that they don’t really need, just so they can have them in rehab. These people are generally not committed to their recovery, and won’t do as well in rehab.

For those who are committed to getting better and improving the quality of their lives, it’s important that they focus on taking only the medications that are prescribed for them and that they truly need. All other medications must be avoided. If this is a problem, an inpatient program will often be a better choice because they will have the opportunity to have their situation more closely controlled, helping them to get better.