Drug Detox Rehab and Program

Opiate Detox

Opiate detox is a very painful experience that addicts are forced to experience many times in their lives. Opiate addiction is unlike many other Narcotics in that it has severe physical withdrawals. I went through this horrible detox myself many times. I tried so many different ways to deal with the withdrawals to make them less painful, but in the end I just had to quit taking the opiates completely. Many people will go to great extremes to keep themselves from experiencing these horrible withdrawals associated with opiate detox. One way that many attempt to beat this detox is by using some sort of replacement therapy such as methadone. When making this switch, most people don’t realize that the methadone is actually a worse addiction in that detox from this drug can actually risk an individual’s life. The methadone takes such an extreme toll on a person’s body and actually stores in the fat cells and bones of a person. This causes the withdrawal symptoms of Methadone to last two to three times longer than most other opiate withdrawals. There is only one benefit to Methadone, if you want to call it a benefit. This is that you can always obtain the drug legally without fail. You will have to be at the Methadone clinic every morning on a daily basis in order to get your daily dose. This can be a very big hassle, for someone who lives outside the city, which is where most methadone clinics are located.

Now there is a newer type of replacement therapy for individuals suffering with Opiate Detox called Suboxone. Again this is just basically switching addictions from one drug to another. A drug is a drug. Suboxone will, inevitably harm your body just as Heroin, Hydrocodone, or Morphine. The withdrawal symptoms that a person experiences from Suboxone aren’t as intense as some of the other opiates which is what make it so popular. People don’t consider the long term effects when deciding on replacement therapy for Opiates. They are only thinking of the horrible detox that they are going to face without some type of Opiate.

There is also the method used in Opiate Detox of tapering down gradually off of the drug. The long term success of this method is also quite low. Especially for individuals who purchase their opiates off of the streets. It takes self control that many addicts don’t have when they are struggling through the detox. However, this is definitely an accomplishable option for someone who is under the care and supervision of a doctor. Then they can be sure that the addict is actually tapering off slowly under their supervision, possibly in a hospital setting.

The last, and most successful method for opiate detox is inpatient treatment. Sometimes a person experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms will go through a medical detox before starting the actual program. Usually this is not necessary, and lots of rest and relation will suffice. As soon as the withdrawal symptoms are gone, the inpatient treatment centers will handle the mental effects that the opiates have on the person as well. This is what makes the inpatient treatment have such high success rates. Heroin is a mentally as well as well as a physically addictive drug. With out treatment for both issues, mental and physical, the addict will usually return to the drug eventually.