If you’ve ever tried quitting your substance of choice by going “cold turkey”, you probably find the prospect of detoxing intimidating. Detoxing without professional assistance is never pleasant. More importantly, it’s rarely safe to do. During detox, the brain and body send out widespread distress signals. Once your body has become accustomed to functioning with a specific drug, it may not know how to function without it. Also known as physical withdrawal symptoms, these distress signals can make it incredibly painful and difficult to abstain. Detoxing also entails intense cravings for the substance that you’re attempting to quit.
Lacking the right support, many people give up on their recoveries within just a matter of days or hours. Detoxing in a professional rehab facility is far different. To start, detox services are performed on closed, secure campuses. When people arrive, they’re immediately removed from any outside temptations or stressors that might otherwise derail their efforts. They also receive immediate and highly targeted support. Detox programs streamline their care to suit the needs of each person. They include:
- Mental health support
- Hydration and nutritional support
- Medications and other interventions or therapies for alleviating physical symptoms
In medically assisted detox, patients are also given sleep support. This helps combat common sleep-related troubles such as vivid and disturbing dreams, insomnia, and broken, low-quality sleep. When the body is properly supported during detox, it has a much easier time healing itself. Thus, not only is medically assisted detox far safer and much easier than detoxing alone, but it can also be significantly shorter as well.
What to Expect After Arriving at a Detox Center
The support services that medically assisted detox includes start the very minute you arrive. You won’t have to spend long hours sitting in a waiting room while you deal with symptoms like nausea, sweating, or heightened anxiety. The professionals who run these programs understand the urgency of their patients’ needs. As such, they begin making medical and mental health interventions as soon as people step in. Detox services begin with full medical and mental health assessments.
These examinations are used to inform patient care so that each client can be given a customized and needs-specific treatment plan. Depending upon the substance you’ve been using, how heavily you’ve been abusing your substance of choice, and the length of your addiction, your detox plan may be largely focused on supported abstinence. With supported abstinence, people are encouraged to simply stop using their drugs of choice without relying on replacement medications. This is a common choice for cocaine, methamphetamine, and other stimulants. Certain drugs have such a powerful impact on the brain, its functioning, and its natural chemistry that people are placed on weaning programs instead. With these, increasingly smaller doses of a person’s preferred substances are given over time until no more of the substance is needed at all.
This might be the right detox method for you if you’ve been abusing benzodiazepine drugs or other prescription medications. Withdrawal medications offer another safe and effective way to stop abusing illicit substances, alcohol, and prescription medications. These medications mimic the effects of the drugs that people are quitting, but they lack addictive properties. Moreover, although they keep the body calm and prevent the development of severe withdrawal symptoms, they don’t create the same heightened feelings of euphoria that other substances provide.
Withdrawal medications may be used in your detox plan if you’re withdrawing from heavy alcohol use, opioid abuse, or benzodiazepines. Throughout the earliest stages of your detox, you’ll receive around-the-clock monitoring. Onsite medical teams will check your heart rate, blood pressure, and mood balance among other things. If uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms develop, you’ll have access to a variety of medical and natural interventions that you can use to obtain relief. When you’re ready, many detox programs allow their patients to seamlessly transition into inpatient rehab services. With a clear head and a healthier body, you’ll have the ability to focus on things like stress management training, cognitive behavioral therapy, group therapy, and other onsite activities.
Although detoxing always represents the very beginning of the recovery process, continued addiction treatment sets the stage for long-term success. If you’re ready to learn more about medically managed detox or if you want to find a medically managed detox program near you, call us today at 833-846-5669.