Opiate Detox
An opiate detox is a blanket term that describes the physical process of ridding your body of opioid-based drugs. These drugs include street drugs like heroin and morphine as well as prescription painkillers like Vicodin, Oxycontin, Dilaudid and more. Detoxification off of these drugs can be painful and even dangerous if they are done without medical supervision. Withdrawal symptoms kick in within a few hours of the last dose, creating an intense physical illness that is hard to deal with alone. The best opiate detox is done with professional care.
Opiate Detox Can Help Save Your Life
The purpose of detoxing off of opiates is simple: breaking physical addiction to the drug. A physical addiction is often accompanied by an overwhelming psychological addiction, which can be destructive to every aspect of your life: family, work, friends, health. Your entire focus is on the next dose of your drug of choice. The primary goal of an opiate detox is to flush the drug out of your system completely so that your body is no longer dependent upon it or expecting that a base amount will be continually replenished. Without an opiate detox, you cannot start an opiate treatment and expect to be successful.
Do You Need Opiate Detox?
There are different kinds of opiate detox. The first major division among detox options is the choice between an impatient or outpatient program. Outpatient programs usually offer a medical detox but little in the way of support for the psychological aspects of addiction. For those who are harboring a very short-term or low-dose addiction to opiate drugs or are addicted to non-opioid-based drugs, these programs may be all you need. For most, however, it is not easy to get through what can be a difficult experience without relapsing. Opiate detox without medical supervision is like having a terrible case of the flu. You feel achy with pain in your bones and muscles. You have diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, shaking and intense irritability. Your focus is still on the drug even through you’re not taking it. You can’t sleep but you’re overly tired. It’s a miserable feeling.
An opiate detox with medical supervision, on the other hand, provides you with medication when necessary to eliminate withdrawal symptoms. You are surrounded by people who understand what you are going through and staff who are always available to support you as you work through it.
