Addiction Recovery & Rehabilitation
Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Where is the best place to go for the best alcohol rehab has to offer, or the top Fort Lauderdale opioid treatment program? If you are searching for a drug rehab, Fort Lauderdale has many, but only one concierge addiction doctor provides the best possible addiction treatment in Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
Where is the best help for overcoming an addiction in this South Florida city? What is the best alcohol and substance abuse in Fort Lauderdale?
While there are many Florida rehabs here, the city happens to be home to the absolute best in confidential concierge addiction treatment programs, Dr. Leeds’ premium VIP concierge addiction treatment program.
Dr. Leeds provides a rehab alternative program that combines medical treatment with therapy, counseling, and coaching. When rehab does not work for you, there are still many options available, beyond rehab.
If you are looking for empathy, caring, and compassion, from a private doctor who listens to you, this is the place to be. Even if you are not in the area, you may have access to Dr. Leeds’ services via his addiction treatment Telehealth network.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Leeds was providing modern telemedicine services, serving the residents of the State of Florida. Today, many Florida addiction patients choose Dr. Leeds for their telemedicine doctor.
Dr. Leeds, in addition to addiction treatment services for opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder, also provides treatment for benzodiazepine withdrawal, using gradual tapering techniques, based on the famous Ashton Method.
For patients seeking top-rated, premium Suboxone therapy in Fort Lauderdale, or The Sinclair Method for gray area drinking, or high alcohol consumption, Dr. Leeds has exclusive programs to provide the help they are looking for.
If you are looking for quality, private medical care, coaching, counseling, and ideas for improved peak performance functioning, and better overall brain health, please contact our office.
Fort Lauderdale is a relatively young city by world standards. In the 1890s, it was simply known as the New River Settlement. Development began with the building of the Florida East Coast Railway.
Even today, residents and visitors can walk around the downtown historic district where there are old buildings from the turn of the 20th century. The historical buildings are all close to the railroad tracks, which are now traveled by Brightline passenger trains.
Eventually, the population boomed, and the Fort Lauderdale beaches became popular Spring Break destinations for college students. Today, the area is popular with tourist families, who enjoy visiting the beautiful beaches and resorts.
The city is now also known for yachting, with many marinas filled with large, luxurious yachts. These huge boats travel the New River, on their way to and from the Atlantic Ocean.
You can imagine how this sunny South Florida area also became popular for addiction treatment facilities. People suffering from active addiction have traveled from all over the U.S., drawn in by advertisements promising addiction recovery by the sea.
Who wouldn’t want to heal from an addiction, while sipping a non-alcoholic beverage on the warm sands of Fort Lauderdale Beach?
Florida rehabs promised a relaxing beachside recovery, with the sun glistening on the waves, the sounds of birds overhead mingle with the rush of the ocean surf on the sand.
Dr. Leeds , follows a comprehensive and holistic treatment approach that focuses on you, the patient. Our long-term scientifically based, medically proven treatments are designed to help you, or a loved one, to beat addiction.
OUR STORY
We are a well-established, successful medical practice serving patients in and around Miami and Miami-Dade County, as well as Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Boca Raton, Palm Beach Gardens, and all of Palm Beach County. We also serve areas surrounding Stuart and Port Saint Lucie. If you’re located locally, we’re ideally placed to give you easy access to treatment when you need an urgent appointment.
SERVICES AT GLANCE
Here are some of the services provided by Mark Leeds, D.O. in his Fort Lauderdale, Broward County office.
Drinking alcohol is a part of the Fort Lauderdale lifestyle for many people. There are many well-known bars and restaurants that are known for serving drinks throughout the day and evening.
It is easy for residents to let their drinking get out of control over time. One drink leads to another, and then another. Many people who live or vacation in the area consume too much alcohol.
Gray area drinking in South Florida is quite common. People who go on occasional drinking binges, but do not identify as alcoholics are known as gray area drinkers.
Whether you are a gray area drinker, or if you identify as a full-blown alcoholic, there is help available. Contact Dr. Leeds for more information on his revolutionary concierge alcohol treatment program.
The Fort Lauderdale lifestyle can be stressful. Everything in the area is expensive. Food, rent, gas. Getting a job and working with coworkers and the public can add to the stress.
And, if you are a hard working member of the community, sometimes it can seem as if everyone else in the area is wealthy and living a carefree lifestyle. There are mansions and yachts everywhere.
Yet, you might be surprised to learn that the upper 1% does not have life as easy as you might believe. While the rich and famous may not have to worry about how to pay their bills for the month, they have a whole set of other challenges that can create massive stress.
So why don’t people simply learn to meditate and be mindful of the present moment? Why do they allow stress to get to them? That is a good question.
Doctors, and their patients, have been conditioned by the healthcare industrial complex to believe that there are medical treatments for anything and everything. Patients are looking for an immediate, effective treatment for their anxiety, and doctors are able to prescribe medications, such as benzodiazepines.
If benzos, such as Xanax, Valium, Ativan, Klonopin, and others can make the South Florida lifestyle more tolerable, why are people concerned about getting off of these medications? While they can be effective for a while, there may be long-term benzodiazepine adverse reactions that occur over time.
Or, a person may simply decide that they no longer want to depend on a medication to manage anxiety-related conditions, such as panic attacks and social anxiety disorder. Perhaps they have decided to make the effort to use non-medical relaxation techniques, and to avoid situations that exacerbate their anxiety.
Fortunately, there are medical solutions to quitting benzos for good. A starting point for many patients is to read the Ashton Manual and learn about the Ashton Method for quitting benzodiazepines.
While the Ashton Method provides solid information and guidelines, patients will want to work with an experienced doctor who can guide them through, using customized treatment plans for the individual patient. Dr. Leeds is a concierge physician with experience in tapering patients off of benzodiazepines.
Substance abuse due to a substance use disorder is a medical condition that can be treated by an experienced doctor.
There are medical treatments that can be effective in reducing stimulant cravings, including crystal meth, cocaine, crack, and others.
Opioid and opiate addiction are treatable conditions. Medication-assisted treatments have excellent outcomes.
Benzodiazepine dependence can be treated with medical attention. For more information on benzo dependence treatment in Miami, please contact our office.
Addiction treatment services are not what they should be. Rehab facilities often treat their patients, or clients, with a lack of respect.
In many addiction treatment programs, there is too much finger pointing, and not enough listening. If doctors and counselors would simply listen, they might hear the cry for help.
Addiction patients want to get better. Yes, their addiction has taken control of their actions to some extent, but they are still in there, waiting for the assistance of medical professionals.
If you live in Fort Lauderdale, and you are looking for an effective addiction treatment program, with a doctor who listens to his patients, you are in luck. Dr. Leeds sees patients in the area, and he uses the latest, evidence-based, scientifically proven methods to treat alcohol and substance abuse in Fort Lauderdale.
In the addiction world, everything seems to be backwards and upside-down. The most prestigious rehabs in the world are telling their clients to pray for healing and ask a higher power to remove their drug cravings and obsessions.
For opioid-addicted patients, there is medication to help stop drug cravings. Medical treatment can restore peace of mind and clarity of thought.
While there is nothing wrong with having a higher power, and praying for help, medical science does have proven solutions for certain types of addiction.
A concierge addiction treatment service, such as Dr. Leeds’ office, can help you get the help you need to start living your life again, free of brain fog, obsessions, and sickness. Call Dr. Leeds to get started with concierge care, where the focus is on you and helping you to get well.
What exactly is Subutex? Why would patients have a need for this opioid addiction treatment medication?
Subutex is what is known as a buprenorphine mono-product. In pharmaceutical-speak, a monoproduct contains only a single medication. Most prescription medications fit into this category, where only one active ingredient is present in the prescription drug.
Subutex contains only buprenorphine, unlike Suboxone, which also contains the drug, naloxone.
Buprenorphine is a unique opioid drug with special properties that make it suited to help patients to overcome opioid addiction.
Why does Suboxone contain the additional ingredient, naloxone, and Subutex does not? Naloxone (when added to prescription opioids) is what is known in the industry as an “abuse deterrent.”
The only reason why drug companies add naloxone to opioid drugs is to prevent patients from trying to shoot up their prescribed opioid medication, using a syringe and needle. While this practice is rare, especially with Subutex or Suboxone, the industry believes that it is important to make an effort to prevent it.
Fortunately, adding naloxone to buprenorphine does not present any problems for most patients. Yet, in some cases, it can be a problem.
For example, if a woman becomes pregnant, it is generally recommended that she take Subutex over Suboxone. Another example is a patient who has an adverse reaction to naloxone.
If a patient cannot tolerate the buprenorphine/naloxone combination of Suboxone, then Subutex may be a suitable alternative.
Also, in many of the Fort Lauderdale and South Florida detox centers, Subutex is the drug of choice for detoxing their clients off of opioids, usually in a one or two-week program.
Suboxone is the gold standard of opioid addiction treatment. While there is a pill form, most people know Suboxone as a dissolving film, or strip.
The brand, Suboxone, has been around for about two decades now. The main active ingredient, buprenorphine, is a unique opioid molecule that was approved for medical use about forty years ago. It was first synthesized in the 1960s.
The important point is that Suboxone is a safe, well-understood prescription medication that saves lives. People who take Suboxone are able to think clearly without drug cravings or withdrawal sickness.
If you would like to quit taking opioids, including heroin, fentanyl, or pain pills, such as oxycodone, you can quit with Suboxone. Suboxone is used as part of a medication-assisted treatment plan to help people quit opioids and move on with their lives.
Please contact us today if you are interested in getting started with treatment for quitting drug use or reducing alcohol use. If you are looking for help for yourself or a loved one, we are here for you.
In-house drug and alcohol rehab means residential treatment. In a residential program, the patients live in the facility.
Sometimes treatment lasts a week or two. More commonly, inpatient rehab lasts for a month or more. Some programs run for a minimum of 5 months.
Fort Lauderdale has many in-house drug and alcohol rehab programs. Some are converted beachside hotels, and some are associated with local hospitals.
While inpatient, residential rehab is the best option for some patients, many people are able to get the best possible addiction treatment at a private doctor’s office. Experienced addiction treatment doctors are able to prescribe effective, proven medical therapy.
In-house rehabs, on the other hand, are stuck in the past, relying on spiritual traditions from the Alcoholics Anonymous program to treat medical conditions.
As you can imagine, we cannot pray away heart disease or cancer. Likewise, we cannot pray away substance use disorders.
If you are attending rehab, be sure to ask what kinds of medical treatment they provide, in addition to asking you to draw a picture of your higher power and say prayers in group meeting every evening.
In most cases, seeing a caring, thoughtful doctor, who listens to what you have to say, and provides effective medical therapy, is superior to attending rehab. Call Dr. Leeds today for more information on his in-house rehab-alternative programs.
Again, due to the NIMBY issue, you are unlikely to find available sober living homes or halfway houses in the area. However, there are many halfway houses in Broward County, so you can access sober living from Weston with a short drive.
What is a sober living home? For people who are completing a rehab program, they are often not quite ready to go back to their previous living arrangements. The sober home provides a transitional home-alternative.
Most sober homes, or halfway houses, have two residents per room. There are homes that only allow one gender, and then there are homes that allow both men and women.
Medical treatment for opioid addiction and medical therapy for excessive alcohol consumption works so well that, in many cases, rehab and sober living are not necessary. However, it is good to know that it is available when needed.
Low Dose Naltrexone is not usually used to treat addiction, but it is related in the sense that naltrexone is mainly thought of as an addiction treatment drug. Naltrexone is usually prescribed in the range of 25mg to 100mg, with 50mg daily being the most commonly used dosage for opioid or alcohol addiction treatment.
Yet, naltrexone can be effective for treating pain syndromes due to autoimmune disorders and other conditions, when it is prescribed at very low dosages. Low dose naltrexone, or LDN, is usually prescribed in the range of 0.5mg to 6mg.
For more information on LDN and how it may help you, please call Dr. Leeds.
Methadone has long been known as the original gold standard of treatment for opioid use disorder. Methadone maintenance has been available since the 1960s, starting in New York City.
Now, in the 2020s, methadone treatment is available in most major cities in the US, including Fort Lauderdale.
Fort Lauderdale hospitals have long had an issue with handling opioid and opiate withdrawal. It is important to separate the effects of physical dependence on opioids from the condition of opioid addiction.
Nearly all people who take prescribed opioids for an extended period, for example, for chronic pain, will develop a physical dependence. What this means is that when the opioid is discontinued suddenly, the person experiences unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.
Unfortunately, many healthcare workers, including doctors and nurses, are unfamiliar with opioid withdrawal symptoms, and how they do not necessarily indicate an addiction problem. These hospital healthcare workers also may have significant prejudices against people who take opioids, even when prescribed for medical conditions.
So, what happens when a person is admitted to the hospital and the doctor decides not to allow the patient to continue on prescribed opioid medication? The patient starts shaking with unbearable opioid withdrawal symptoms, begging to have their medication regimen restored.
As a result, the judgmental doctor or nurse quickly labels this patient as a “junkie,” and orders a psych consult. The circus of misunderstandings quickly devolves into what might make for a bad sitcom episode, except it is not at all funny.
A patient who went into the hospital for an entirely unrelated issue, possibly for COVID treatment, finds themselves admitted to the psych ward. Our patient, who was doing fine on their prescribed medication, is now doped up on psych drugs, locked up for at least several days.
Suboxone patients must beware this barbaric treatment as well. Suboxone is highly effective for treating opioid addiction and opioid dependence, yet it also has a physical withdrawal syndrome when the patient stops taking it suddenly.
What does a Suboxone patient do when they find themselves in this situation, admitted to the hospital, but the hospital does not want the patient to get their prescribed Suboxone? The solution is to call the suboxone doctor in Fort Lauderdale and have them straighten it out.
A Suboxone prescribing doctor can call the hospital and make it clear to the attending doctors and nurses that the patient must get their Suboxone administered during the hospital stay. Suboxone patients are not addicted to Suboxone, but taking away Suboxone suddenly will lead to an unpleasant reaction.
What if the issue occurs at night or on a weekend? Of course, having a doctor who can be reached at any time is important.
Dr. Leeds is available 24/7 to his patients when they have urgent issues that require attention. He is there for you when you need him.
Another issue relating to opioid withdrawal is how to properly treat the withdrawal symptoms. There is a medication that is FDA approved for treating opioid and opiate withdrawal.
This medication is known by the brand name, Lucemyra. Lucemyra can help patients who are coming off of opioids to better tolerate the physical withdrawal symptoms.
Lucemyra can also help with withdrawal symptoms relating to quitting Suboxone. When a patient has taken Suboxone for one or more years, and they are ready to start tapering off of it, Lucemyra may help to make the withdrawal symptoms more tolerable.
What are some solutions for Fort Lauderdale residents who are physically dependent on oxycodone and they want to stop taking it? There are several medical options available to them.
Some people who take oxycodone take it as prescribed by a doctor for chronic pain. If a patient is oxycodone dependent, and they are trying to stop taking oxycodone, their doctor may prescribe a medication approved to help with the withdrawal symptoms.
As described above, Lucemyra is one such medication. An alternate medication, clonidine, that is related to Lucemyra may be used off-label for treating opioid withdrawal symptoms.
For patients who are addicted to oxycodone, getting the little blue pills from street dealers, their withdrawal can be treated with medications such as buprenorphine or methadone. These medication assisted treatment drugs are far safer than the fentanyl-laced fake oxycodone pills on the streets.
Additionally, buprenorphine is excellent for long-term detox treatment. Patients can overcome opioid withdrawal and opioid addiction symptoms, such as opioid cravings, and they can resume normal functioning in life, giving their brain a chance to heal and improve over time.
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Are there good VIP drug rehabilitation and treatment centers in the city of Fort Lauderdale, and the surrounding communities of Broward County? Of course there are!
However, to find the good drug rehab programs, you may want to learn how to read some of the ads that come up in searches for rehab help. Unfortunately, there are many substandard treatment programs that are very good at marketing themselves as exclusive and VIP.
Many people have traveled to the area, responding to a rehab ad that promised visits to the beach, luxurious accommodations, cable television, internet, and even pet friendly and couples friendly housing.
A stock photo of a sandy beach, along with a beach vacation-sounding name, does not necessarily indicate that a rehab is providing effective addiction treatment. In fact, there are many corrupt, store front rehabs, running their business out of a run-down strip mall.
While people may imagine Florida is all beaches and sunny relaxation, the truth is that we also have many of these strange strip malls that advertise pawn shops, gun shops, smoke shops, and any other kind of shop that you probably would not want to take your children to visit.
Of course, South Florida does have high quality addiction treatment programs as well. There are hospital-based programs, such as the excellent program run by the Memorial Healthcare System in South Broward.
And, for top notch VIP treatment, if you are looking for treatment for opioid dependence, Dr. Leeds offers an excellent addiction treatment program with privacy and convenience, that does not require checking into a local rehab.
Mindfulness, and mindful meditation can make all the difference in helping with addiction recovery. All too often, we fall into old habits, finding it difficult to make positive changes in our lives.
Being mindful of the present moment, how we are feeling, and what we are thinking, can help us to use our objective awareness to learn more about ourselves and what makes us tick. Change is always possible.
If you live in Florida, and you are thinking about improving your mindfulness and learning about meditation, why not join a meditation group? Or, as an alternative, join a yoga class.
Since we live in a subtropical region with beautiful beaches, you may find some excellent yoga classes that meet out on the beach in the early morning. Sunrise on the east coast, at the beach, is incredibly beautiful.
It is very much worth it to wake up early to attend a morning meditation or yoga class on the beach. Of course, it is not practical for everyone to make it out to the beach in the morning for such classes.
Going to a meditation center is also helpful, working with a local guru who can help you and your classmates to focus on breathing, is an excellent idea. While you may be skeptical of mindfulness helping you to improve your life, I recommend giving it a chance first.
In fact, there are mindfulness exercises that you can practice right now, right where you are. You can stop what you are doing, close your eyes, and focus on a particular sound in your environment.
Listen to the sound for a minute, considering all aspects of the sound, including variations in pitch, rhythm, timbre, and anything else that catches your interest. Allow thoughts and feelings to come along, but stay focused on your sound.
Taking breaks throughout the day to meditate for a few minutes is important. By doing so, you can reconnect with your existence in the world and enjoy the simple, relaxing state of just breathing and focusing your awareness.
Sometimes life can seem to be overwhelming, but, if you have your health, and you have food and a place to live, things are not all that bad. Consider keeping a daily gratitude list of things you are grateful for in life. This is a proven technique for supporting addiction recovery success.
If you would like to work with a doctor who would be happy to discuss mindfulness and meditation, along with proven and effective medical therapies, please call Dr. Leeds today. Addiction can be quite a challenge to overcome, but it is possible.
The best way to get started is to ask for help. Our program has helped many people to recover from addictions to opioids and alcohol, as well as dependence on benzodiazepines. Whatever the addiction you are facing, please call today to see how we may be able to help.
Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), or opioid addiction, can be treated with a variety of methods. Experts agree that the best treatments with the highest long-term success rate, make use of medications that help to reduce opioid withdrawal sickness and opioid cravings. Buprenorphine is the gold standard in this class.
Suboxone treatment works best when continued for an extended period of time. This type of treatment is known as maintenance. Suboxone maintenance relies on the unique properties of buprenorphine, the main ingredient in Suboxone. Over the course of one year of treatment, the brain has time to adequately heal.
Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), or alcoholism, is best treated with medication-assisted treatment, using an opioid blocking drug, such as naltrexone. The Sinclair Method is one way to implement naltrexone treatment for alcohol addiction or gray area drinking. It works by taking a naltrexone tablet one hour before having a drink.
Benzodiazepines are sedatives that doctors prescribe for anxiety disorders. While they may be effective short-term, patients who take benzos long-term find it difficult to stop taking them. In many cases, the best course of action is to gradually taper, meaning to reduce the dosage slowly over time.
Family Practice Physician 3290 NE 33rd Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308
info@drleeds.com
Monday – Friday
10 am – 2 pm
By Appointment
Opioid Detox Therapy
Concierge Medical Services
Family Medicine
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