Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

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Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

Casey Grover, MD, FACEP, FASAM

161 episodes

6 days ago

Cravings don’t wait for perfect conditions, so we need plans that work in real life. I sit down with coach Jason Lyle to unpack a grounded, nontraditional approach to addiction treatment that starts with the body and rewires the brain: cold water immersion, breath work, meditation, and yoga. This is recovery as nervous system training—practical tools that widen the gap between urge and action and put your prefrontal cortex back in the driver’s seat. Jason shares his path from ministry throug...

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All content for Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction is the property of Casey Grover, MD, FACEP, FASAM and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Cravings don’t wait for perfect conditions, so we need plans that work in real life. I sit down with coach Jason Lyle to unpack a grounded, nontraditional approach to addiction treatment that starts with the body and rewires the brain: cold water immersion, breath work, meditation, and yoga. This is recovery as nervous system training—practical tools that widen the gap between urge and action and put your prefrontal cortex back in the driver’s seat. Jason shares his path from ministry throug...

Show more...

Health & Fitness,

Episodes (20/161)

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

How Cold Immersion, Breath Work, Yoga, And Meditation Can Build Lasting Sobriety

Cravings don’t wait for perfect conditions, so we need plans that work in real life. I sit down with coach Jason Lyle to unpack a grounded, nontraditional approach to addiction treatment that starts with the body and rewires the brain: cold water immersion, breath work, meditation, and yoga. This is recovery as nervous system training—practical tools that widen the gap between urge and action and put your prefrontal cortex back in the driver’s seat. Jason shares his path from ministry throug...

6 days ago

37 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

Quaalude, Black Beauties, and More: A History of Misused Prescriptions

Vintage drug ads promised calm mornings, slimmer silhouettes, and instant relief from restless nights. We dig beneath the glossy slogans to unpack how Black Beauties, Quaaludes, Miltown, Barbiturates, and Purple Hearts shaped the path to today’s mediations—and what that history teaches us about safety, dependence, and withdrawal. With clear explanations of GABA, tolerance, and cross‑tapering, we connect old “uppers and downers” to modern clinical practice and the real risks people still face....

1 week ago

31 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

How to Build Emotional Resilience

Stress doesn’t wait for a convenient moment, so why should resilience training wait for a crisis? We sit down with Coach Kay, a PhD serving first responders, ER teams, and other high‑stress professionals, to unpack a practical roadmap for emotional resilience you can actually use. We connect the dots between addiction, overwhelm, and the brain’s survival circuitry, then break down simple steps to recruit the prefrontal cortex, label emotions accurately, and respond with intention instead of i...

2 weeks ago

46 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

Wonderful Person, Horrible Disease: What It's Like Being Married To Someone With Addiction

A physician-mom sits across from us and tells the truth: she loved a good, kind man whose alcoholism, fueled by unhealed PTSD, dismantled their family one crisis at a time. From quiet home drinking to ER runs, withdrawal hallucinations, and an ICU ventilator, her story captures the clinical realities of alcohol use disorder and the human cost families carry in silence. She walks through safety plans for her kids, a neighbor’s garage that became a refuge, and a courthouse morning where getting...

3 weeks ago

48 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

How to Help Someone With Addiction Who Isn't Ready to Change

What if the fastest way to help a loved one stop using isn’t pushing harder but stepping out of the “villain” role? We sit down with master addiction counselor and YouTuber Amber Hollingsworth to unpack a practical, compassionate framework that actually moves people from resistance to readiness. Amber explains why policing, nagging, and ultimatums create the perfect distraction from change—and how strategic empathy, active listening, and credibility open the door to real motivation. We break...

1 month ago

50 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

A Principal’s Playbook For School Drug Prevention

The bell rings, the doors open, and the real work begins: keeping kids safe while the drug market slips into their phones and pockets. We sit down with Principal Leland Hansen to unpack the day-to-day reality of school-based prevention, from vape pens hidden in hoodies to Snapchat dealers who change handles as fast as administrators can warn parents. Leland lays out a candid, practical playbook that pairs firm boundaries with a health-first response, including a six-week on-campus program for...

1 month ago

39 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

Why Substance Use Looks Different After 65

The most dangerous phrase in senior health might be “I’ve always handled it fine.” We dive into how aging reshapes the risks of alcohol, benzodiazepines, opioids, nicotine, and today’s ultra‑potent cannabis—and why familiar habits can turn hazardous after 65. Drawing on frontline cases and recent research, we unpack the baby boomer lived experience, from “mother’s little helper” to daily cocktail hours in senior communities, then connect it to the biology of aging: slower metabolism, reduced ...

1 month ago

35 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

A Bariatric Surgeon Schools Me On Food Addiction and Weight Loss Surgery

Food isn’t just fuel and obesity isn’t just willpower. We sat down with bariatric surgeon Dr. Mark Vierra to unpack what weight-loss surgery really changes, why genetics and hormones can overpower the best intentions, and how a careful program decides who needs a scalpel and who needs a different plan. From GLP‑1 surges and ghrelin drops to PYY’s “brake,” we walk through how surgery reshapes appetite signals and why even modest weight loss can dramatically improve diabetes and cardiovascular ...

1 month ago

1 hour 8 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

The Brain Science Behind Addiction

Your brain is ancient, but your world is not. We unpack how a hunter-gatherer reward system runs into modern dopamine superstimuli—engineered foods, infinite feeds, one-click buys, and potent drugs—and why that mismatch can spiral into addiction. Using clear language and vivid examples, we explain cravings, compulsion, and consequences through the lens of dopamine: how normal rewards help us survive, how substances hijack that circuitry, and how constant notifications keep the throttle stuck ...

2 months ago

32 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

Gas Station Heroin and the Loopholes Fueling “Legal Highs” In America

A brightly colored box at a smoke shop should not hit like an opioid, yet that’s the business model behind “gas station heroin.” We dive into how tianeptine—a foreign antidepressant with mu‑opioid activity—landed on American countertops as a “dietary supplement,” and why that mirrors a broader playbook: repackage potent psychoactives, exploit loopholes, pivot fast when bans arrive, and let consumers pay the price. Joined by Matthew Lowe, executive director of the Global Kratom Coalition, we t...

2 months ago

52 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

What It’s Really Like To Practice Addiction Medicine

Have you ever wondered what it's like to practice Addiction Medicine? In this episode I speak about what we do in Addiction Medicine - both generally as well as how we do things in our practice on the Central Coast of California. I share how our clinic treats substance use with low‑barrier access, kind care, peer support, and long‑acting injectables while partnering with therapists to address trauma and ADHD that often drive relapse. I also review two cases that reveal how PTSD an...

2 months ago

34 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

Busting Myths, Building Trust: Communicating with Patients

Dr. Casey Grover welcomes Dr. Sarah Nasir, an addiction medicine specialist, for an insightful conversation about effectively communicating with patients and addressing common myths in addiction treatment. • Personal journeys into addiction medicine that transformed both doctors' understanding of substance use disorders • The science behind medication-assisted treatment and why it's not "trading one addiction for another" • How the body adapts to chronic opioid use through three key mechanis...

2 months ago

49 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

Dual Diagnosis: Why Treating One Without the Other Never Works

Mental health conditions and addiction are deeply intertwined, creating complex treatment challenges that require addressing both simultaneously. Dr. Mark Hrymoc, an addiction psychiatrist, shares insights on effectively treating dual diagnosis patients through parallel treatment plans that address both substance use and underlying mental health conditions. • Dual diagnosis (co-occurring disorders) describes patients with both mental health conditions and substance use disorders • Many patie...

3 months ago

47 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

Weight Loss Surgery Doesn't Treat Food Addiction

Dr. Casey Grover shares his personal struggle with food addiction and binge eating while exploring the science behind why certain foods trigger addictive behaviors in the brain. He examines how the food industry deliberately engineers products to maximize pleasure and consumption through carefully calibrated combinations of sugar, fat, and salt. • Food addiction involves an intense dopamine response to certain foods that varies between individuals based on genetic predisposition • The food i...

3 months ago

30 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

Stigma 4: When Heroes Need Help

This episode is the fourth and final episode of a four part series on stigma. This episode is done in collaboration with Central Coast Overdose Prevention (CCODP) and was made possible by California Overdose Prevention Network Accelerator funding from the Public Health Institute's Center for Health Leadership and Impact. First responders face unique mental health challenges due to the high-stress nature of their work, but stigma often prevents them from seeking help when they're struggling. D...

3 months ago

44 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

Stigma 3: Mom vs. Addiction - The battle she never signed up for

This episode is the third episode of a four part series on stigma. This episode is done in collaboration with Central Coast Overdose Prevention (CCODP) and was made possible by California Overdose Prevention Network Accelerator funding from the Public Health Institute's Center for Health Leadership and Impact. In this episode, Wendy Solorio shares her raw, emotional journey as a mother supporting her daughter Gabrielle through addiction and into recovery, highlighting the often-overlooked imp...

3 months ago

43 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

Stigma 2: Stigma Hurts, Compassion Heals

This episode is the second episode of a four part series on stigma. This episode is done in collaboration with Central Coast Overdose Prevention (CCODP) and was made possible by California Overdose Prevention Network Accelerator funding from the Public Health Institute's Center for Health Leadership and Impact. In this episode, Gabrielle shares her powerful journey from fentanyl addiction to recovery, highlighting the unexpected moment of compassion from a correctional officer that changed ev...

3 months ago

43 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

Stigma 1: The Other Side of Addiction - Finding Light After Darkness

This episode is the first episode of a four part series on stigma. This episode is done in collaboration with Central Coast Overdose Prevention (CCODP) and was made possible by California Overdose Prevention Network Accelerator funding from the Public Health Institute's Center for Health Leadership and Impact. In this episode, Ana Alamo shares her powerful journey from addiction to recovery, revealing how her personal struggles now help her connect with clients as a peer support specialist. ...

4 months ago

34 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

Benzodiazepines - Pills That Sedate but Don't Rehabilitate

Dr. Casey Grover explores the challenging world of benzodiazepines, explaining why these commonly prescribed medications can create more problems than they solve for patients struggling with anxiety and other conditions. • Benzodiazepines work like alcohol in pill form, enhancing the brain's natural "downer" chemical GABA • Long-term use leads to tolerance, dependence, and potentially Benzodiazepine-Induced Neurological Dysfunction (BIND) • The four most commonly prescribed benzos are diazep...

4 months ago

34 minutes

Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

When your brain can't let go: Understanding the PTSD-addiction connection

This is a joint episode between the Addiction Medicine Made Easy Podcast and the Kratom Sobriety Podcast Check out the Kratom Sobriety Podcast: https://kratomsobriety.com/ Trauma and addiction are deeply intertwined, with unresolved PTSD often driving substance use as people attempt to manage overwhelming emotions and physical sensations. • Understanding PTSD beyond combat veterans—recognizing both "big T" traumas and accumulated "little t" stressors • Dr. Grover shares his personal jou...

4 months ago

1 hour 11 minutes