Today’s Opiate Detox
Drugs are bad, we all know it – we’ve all heard. But so many people are feeling the need to turn to drugs to ease their pain or depression, and many others are becoming addicted to painkillers that were once prescribed to them for an injury or surgery in the past. More and more people have struggled for years with drug abuse and are now looking to do something about it.
Opiate drugs are very addicting and many people find themselves quickly becoming reliant on drugs such as morphine, heroin, or oxycodone. These drugs go right to the central nervous system and provide the body with a substitute for its endorphins. Eventually the body will stop making its own endorphins, which are the natural pain killers of the body and give a high when experiencing something pleasurable. Naturally, this is where the problem arises, because without the body making its own endorphins, it begins to rely heavily on opiates to get that feeling and avoid pain.
Opiate Withdrawal Symptoms
Withdrawing from opiates causes severe side effects, including nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, anxiety, restlessness, and pain in the joints and muscles. Because of the unpleasantness of the detox, it is a frightening thing for many addicts to think about. It might just be easier for some to keep taking the drug than to face the detox from it.
Methods
Detoxing from opiates is not life-threatening, but because it is difficult it takes someone committed to recovering to undergo it. There are many methods for opiate detox. Some people quit cold turkey or use naltrexone which blocks the opiate so it does not have any effect on the body. It takes only a matter of days for the most severe symptoms to subside. Others are able to gradually be weaned off by using another drug, like buprenorphine. The problem many people have found with a replacement drug like buprenorphine is that they soon begin to rely on the new drug, and many people are never able to be drug-free. It has been argued that with those that continue to use buprenorphine, at least this drug is manageable and an addict might be able to function in life better than while addicted to other opiates.
Recovery
After the detox from opiates is complete, the patient will eventually begin to feel better and now the focus will be on staying clean from these drugs. The body will no longer be dependent on the drug, but the mind will feel the need to use them again. A person that has gone through opiate detox should immediately enter a rehabilitation program to ensure they stay sober. Usually drug abuse becomes intertwined with a person’s lifestyle and to just take away the drug and not change the lifestyle does little for the patient. It may take years of regular counseling and support group meetings to keep a person from turning back to drugs.
Sources
Desperation to Overcome Addiction Leads to Unusual Solutions
4/14/2009
Pollard, Ruth In for the quick fix
4/10/2009
