Reno Tahoe Recovery - Personalized , Discreet Outpatient Addiction Treatment in Reno, Nevada
AboutUs
Who: Charlene Letchford, MD
- Board Certified Internal Medicine
- 15 years' experience Hospital Medicine including Alcohol Detox
- 15 years' experience Primary Care Medicine
- Currently completing Fellowship in Addiction Medicine Board Eligible Fall 2024
Education:
HCA/Southern Hills Hospital; Las Vegas, NV –
Fellowship Addiction Medicine: Current
Summa Health / Akron City Hospital; Akron, OH –
Internal Medicine Residency: 1991 – 1994
Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine –
Doctor of Medicine 1991
What type Of facility is RTR?
Reno Tahoe recovery provides medical office-based outpatient MAT for alcohol and opioid addiction. We are not an inpatient (residential) facility. If you are seeking inpatient care, we can recommend facilities that provide such services.
What is MAT?
MAT refers to Medication Assisted Treatment of Addictive disorders.
Addiction is a disease, just like diabetes or hypertension. While some people may be able to manage these diseases with lifestyle changes alone, the truth is- most cannot, and medication is necessary to control the disease.
If you have had difficulty attaining or maintaining sobriety after rehab or with mutual support groups, MAT may be just the thing you need to help achieve and maintain your recovery to get your life back on track.
Aren’t I “just trading one drug for another?”
Buprenorphine is an opioid, however, it binds differently to the opioid receptors in such a way that it limits any euphoria (reward) while substantially reducing or eliminating cravings. People on the proper dose of Buprenorphine feel “normal”. They can move on with their lives, work, and take care of their families. Rather than needing more and more drugs to satisfy cravings and prevent withdrawal symptoms. People on Buprenorphine generally stay on the dose that stabilizes them for a while, then often can drop down to lower dosing and maintain on that. So, you are trading- from a drug that makes it difficult to exist- to one that makes you feel and live normally again. Buprenorphine can be given either as an oral dose (tablets or films) or a monthly injection. Read more about Buprenorphine myths and facts.
Naltrexone is used to reduce cravings in both Opioid Use Disorders as well as Alcohol Use Disorders. It is NOT an opioid. It can be given as a daily tablet or a monthly injection. Some patients who successfully taper off buprenorphine will choose to transition to Naltrexone to maintain recovery.
Other medications may sometimes be needed to help manage your disease. We can discuss other medications if it seems you need additional help maintaining recovery.
What we prescribe:
Buprenorphine/Naloxone, Naltrexone, Sublocade, Vivitrol, Acamprosate and when necessary,
psychiatric medication (with limitations) for co-occurring disorders
What we do NOT prescribe:
Opioids other than those listed above. (We do not practice pain management)
(ie: morphine, hydromorphone, hydrocodone, codeine, oxycodone, oxymorphone, fentanyl, methadone)
Sedatives/ Hypnotics
(ie: alprazolam, diazepam*, clonazepam, Lorazepam*, Chlordiazepoxide*, Zolpidem, Temazepam, Eszopiclone, Zaleplon)
*Except short term for Alcohol detoxification
Stimulants
(ie: methylphenidate, dexamphetamine)
With rare exceptions, it is not recommended that our patients be on these medications
(from other providers) while trying to achieve recovery.
