Drug addiction encompasses a wide and varied set of mental, physical, emotional and social issues that are difficult to address on your own. Treatment for drug addiction, however, cannot begin until you undergo drug detox and get the substances out of your system. A detox clinic like Suboxone clinics offers the medical care and experienced support you need to successfully detox and receive the suboxone treatment you need.
Addiction has been recognized as a medical disease by the American Medical Association for some time. Addiction is chronic in nature. It’s characterized by an obsessive and compulsive desire to keep using a substance regardless of the consequences.
But the consequences of drug addiction are physical, psychological, emotional and financial. They can lead to job loss, family breakups, and death. Actual changes in the brain occur after using drugs, sometimes in the short-term and definitely in the long run. These changes make drug detox and rehabilitation that much harder.
Role of a Detox Clinic
Inpatient or outpatient rehab helps addicts through the initial stages of withdrawal, which encompass the physical and mental aspects of the detoxification process. With the help of Suboxone doctors and counselors in detox clinic such as the best Suboxone clinics of Suboxone Treatment Clinic, you have a better chance at achieving long-term addiction recovery.
Through drug addiction treatment following drug detox, you can discover:
- The reasons why you turned to drugs
- What motivates you to seek recovery
- How to find and use the tools that can help you stay clean and sober
The Drug Detox Process
The detoxification process, commonly referred to simply as detox, is not treatment. It’s a physical necessity that must be undertaken before the recovery process and drug addiction treatment can begin. Drug detox is a period of time during which you undergo withdrawal from the physical dependence on a particular substance.
Most addiction treatment centers rely on medication to help you through the initial detox phase. Detoxing without medication assistance is possible with your doctor’s or primary care physician’s supervision. Opiate detox, for example, is possible without medication as it doesn’t lead to life-threatening withdrawal symptoms like prescription drug detox and alcohol withdrawal can.
Specific Withdrawal Options
Through a medically supervised drug detox clinic like Suboxone Treatment Clinic, you can receive medications that may help you go through withdrawals easier. These medications give you a fighting chance at recovery.
Specifically, drug detox for various substances may include:
Heroin detox
- Symptoms can include sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, anxiety and hallucinations. Common medications used to inhibit these side effects include methadone and suboxone, but both of those medications come with their own set of issues, including addiction. In May 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of lofexidine for heroin withdrawal, which has been successfully used in Europe since the 1990s as an integral part of heroin withdrawal treatment.
Opiates detox
- Like heroin withdrawal, stopping the use of opiates can be done without medication by gradually tapering off. Symptoms are similar to heroin detox, as heroin is one form of opiates. Suboxone, also known as buprenorphine, is an opiate that’s often used to help reduce the severity of opiate withdrawal symptoms so you can effectively begin opioid addiction treatment.
Methadone detox
- Methadone withdrawal can sometimes be worse than the opiate detox it was meant to help. Symptoms are similar to heroin detox, especially when it’s been abused in higher doses than prescribed. These symptoms can include respiratory failure and irregular heartbeat. The FDA-approved lofexidine is widely used in Europe for methadone treatment.
Suboxone detox
- Like methadone, you must eventually undergo some level of withdrawal from suboxone. It’s administered under the tongue so the chances of overdosing or misuse is reduced as it’s usually administered directly by a healthcare provider. Lofexidine also may prove to be a useful medication to help you with suboxone withdrawal symptoms that are similar to other opiates.
Cocaine detox
- The physical withdrawals from cocaine are not as acute as with opiates and prescription drugs, but the mental cravings can be worse. Cocaine stays in your system for up to 12 days, and while you may have chills, nerve pain and muscle aches, the anxiety, restlessness and fatigue can wear you down if you don’t have the support of a drug treatment team.
Xanax detox
- One of the most prescribed medications in the United States for anxiety, sleeplessness and panic disorders, Xanax withdrawal can also be one of the most brutal. Withdrawal symptoms begin in as little as two hours after your last dose and can last for up to four days. Headaches, heart palpitations, tremors and even seizures are possible outcomes, so it’s best to undergo medically supervised detox from Xanax.