The term detoxification might sound simple, but the process of drug detox is very challenging. While drug rehabs often show commercials of spa-like treatment centers, the reality is very different. Withdrawing from any drug can be extremely hard not just physically, but also emotionally. Trying to detox from opioids cold turkey in a non-medical environment is not only putting your health at risk, but it can also exhaust your hopes for recovery. However, there are adequate medical drug treatments available and freedom from opioids begins in an inpatient detox. To understand the need for an inpatient detox, one has first to understand what opioid dependence is and how it changes your body.
How Opioids Affects your Body
When people use opioids on a daily basis, their metabolism changes, primary body functions are affected and so as their brain chemistry. The body relies on goal is to function. In essence, you become tolerant and dependent on the effects of the drug. Your heart, your blood vessels, your intestines, even your skin have come to expect a constant supply of opioids. While opioids less the effects of pain symptoms, the nerves and receptors actually become hypersensitive after long-term opioid use, a phenomenon called hyperalgesia. If you decide to discontinue your opioid use, the body responds violently to the absence of the drug- a drug withdrawal.
Opioid Withdrawal without Adequate Medical Support can be Harmful.
Getting through an opioid withdrawal without any medical support can be brutal. Withdrawal symptoms often follow a predictable time course. Drugs like oxycodone and morphine are short-acting, and the withdrawal symptoms usually start within 6 to 12 hours after the last dose. Unlike extended release medications such as fentanyl and methadone, which might take 24 to 30 hours for the withdrawal. Regardless of the half-life of an opioid drug, once the withdrawal starts, it will continue to intensify. Opioid withdrawal usually reaches a peak around the 48-hour mark.
Since opioids dehydrate your body, it also slows down the gastrointestinal tract. This malfunction leads to constipation and other GI dysregulations. When withdrawal starts, the digestive tract to speed up, leading to nausea, abdominal cramping, and vomiting. The continuous loss of body fluids can lead to dehydration, loss of potassium and even a cardiac event. Opioid withdrawal also affects the cardiorespiratory system which can cause the body to release hormones, increases blood pressure and heart rate. When these changes are not medically managed it can create riky health events. The risks are particularly high for people with underlying health conditions or over forty years of age.
A inpatient detox in a hospital provides 24-hour medical assistance, ongoing monitoring, and a higher success rate.
Cold Turkey Detox is Cruel and Dangerous.
Given the effects of a withdrawal, we believe that an opioid detox is its a medical condition. Considering that if you had the flu with severe nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, your doctor would probably admit you to a hospital. At the hospital, they would monitor you and provide treatment for your condition. Furthermore, you would receive powerful anti-nausea medication and intravenous fluids with electrolytes. The doctor would also check and manage vitals abnormalities and respiratory rate.
Now if you consider that people who are detoxing from opioids also experience symptoms of dehydration and significant disturbance to their vital organs, why are they not treated in the same way as with someone with the flu? Why don’t they deserve the same medical care than all other patients with a medical condition? Maybe now, you can understand why the stigma placed upon drug addiction is not just unproductive, but also extremely harmful.
Freedom from Opioids with Inpatient Detox Treatment
Given all the facts above, we believe an inpatient hospital environment offers the resources and supervision required for you to reach freedom from opioids in the safest, most comfortable and best possible way. Within a hospital, patients can receive treatments as needed by medical professionals. Additionally, adequate diagnosis and immediate assistance of issues are treated as they arise. Overall, inpatient detox provides the level of care necessary to effectively navigate through the challenging transition of drug dependence to sobriety.
The initial detoxification period can be very difficult for most patients. It is crucial to have adequate medical assistance to provide effective support.
What is the Best Opioid Treatment?
A successful drug detox not only prevents the unpleasant or dangerous effects of withdrawal but also helps patients achieve sobriety. The goal is to eliminate the drug from the body while resetting the physiological changes. Readjustment to an opioid-free life can be difficult for many reasons; when a complete detox is successful, the emotional work and behavior modifications can begin.
The Waismann Method® Opioid Treatment Center operates on a rather simple principle: Use of close medical supervision and the latest techniques to speed up the detox phase while resetting the body. Instead of experiencing the anxiety and pain of the withdrawal experience, patients essentially navigate through the withdrawal safely and faster. This process helps people come out the other side successfully and ready to begin their life free of sobriety.
We offer different options for inpatient detox. No one protocol is right for everyone. The drug of choice, dosage, length of time the person has been using, as well as the emotional and physical health, will determine the most appropriate treatment protocol. For more information and opioid treatment option that is right for you, call today 1-800-423-2482.
Published on July 19, 2018
Reviewed by Clare Waismann, CATC, Founder of Waismann Method® Advanced Treatment for Opiate Dependence
All topics for the Opiates.com blog are selected and written based on high standards of editorial quality, including cited sources. Articles are reviewed by Clare Waismann, CATC and founder of Waismann Method®, for accuracy, credibility and relevancy to the audience. Clare Waismann is an authority and expert on opioid dependence, opioid use disorder, substance dependence, detoxification treatments, detox recovery, and other topics covered on the Opiates.com blog. Some articles are additionally reviewed by one of Waismann Method®’s specialists, depending on their field of expertise. For additional information and disclaimers regarding third-party sources and content for informational purposes only, please see our Terms of Service.
