Drug Detox
Opioid addictions are a chronic medical condition that creates hardwired chemical changes in your brain.
These changes can make you more susceptible to addictive habits and tendencies, which take much more than willpower to break free from.
This is due to the fact that when the brain is deprived of what it is addicted to, it can experience pain and produce anxiety-related symptoms to the rest of the body due to a lack of chemicals is it is now dependent on.
These symptoms are caused by chemical dependencies that the brain develops when addicted to a substance. It may be a long-term process, but medications and counseling can improve your chances of success.
There are two types of addiction that both require unique methods of treatment; addiction to medicinal drugs, and addiction to opioids. While these can sometimes be related if the drug in question is based on opioids, there are still unique factors between medicinal and non-medicinal addictions, mainly the severity of the addiction.
Dependence and Detox
Opioid addiction leads to real chemical changes in certain areas of your brain. Prescription drug addictions alter the circuits responsible for mood and reward behavior and cause them to be completely rewired, affecting other body systems as well. In addition, long-term prescription drug abuse affects almost all of these systems negatively and masks them from being able to function completely. When you cut off the opioid supply, you will get withdrawal symptoms such as:
- Large pupils
- Yawning
- Stomach pain
- Chills and goosebumps
- Nausea and vomiting
- Body aches
- Agitation
Opioid withdrawal can last for hours or up to several weeks, and it just depends on how long and how heavy the addiction was. After the intense initial symptoms subside, some physical and mental discomfort may linger for weeks, which is why it is important to seek professional help and support. Whether you are experiencing addiction from a medical case (which is usually less severe) or from personal opioid addiction, the treatment is the same. The only difference between the two cases is the difficulty and severity of symptoms associated with the process of the detox. You will undergo a careful regimen of medications that reduce addictive symptoms as well as a gentle tapering off of the addictive substance.
Treating Drug Addiction (Opioid and Nonopioid)
There are medications that can help you through opioid withdrawal and prevent symptoms, and at the very least reduce them and the associated pain.
After the initial detox, you will be at the highest risk for relapse and experience the most severe symptoms.
Experts say psychological and social factors are the main drivers that could push you back to using, and without expert help and guidance you run a much higher risk of relapse.
Successful, lifelong therapy to stay opioid-free usually involves long-term medication with counseling and therapy programs. Going through our drug detox program can help you to make it through treatment without being in constant pain, and focus on bettering yourself and not the pain you are trying to beat.
Addiction is a serious disease, and treatment with our drug detox programs can make it an easier experience with results that will stick.