What is Opiate Detox Recovery Like?
Opiate detox recovery is not an easy task for anybody to go through and it can be extremely painful for some people. Opiates are highly addictive and effect a person both mentally and physically, which means when a person decides to come clean of an opiate, they will have both mental and physical withdrawal symptoms.
Opiate addiction is a dangerous epidemic in America. There are various drugs in the class of opiates, including heroin and morphine or prescription painkillers such as Vicodin and Oxycontin.
About Opiates
Opiates are intense pain killers that block the pain sensors in the brain plus depress a person’s respiratory system and nervous system. The effects of opiates put people in a sedative state that allows them to feel no pain and to feel completely relaxed. Opiates derive from the poppy plant and the abuse of opiates affects millions of Americans every year.
Opiate Detox Recovery
Numerous people fear quitting their opiate addiction due to the withdrawal symptoms and most everybody will have them, some more severe than others. The length and the strength of the withdrawal symptoms will be determined by the individual’s level of addiction.
Common withdrawal symptoms for opiates are, insomnia, cold sweats, vomiting, stomach cramping, diarrhea, runny nose, tearing eyes, muscle aches throughout the body, fast changes in mood, and anxiety.
The physical withdrawal symptoms typically are the worst within the first three days and usually last for a week. The psychological withdrawal symptoms, such as anxiety and insomnia, tend to last for a few months on average. Opiate detox recovery is a stressful process but in the long run it is worth it because opiate dependency tends to destroy a person’s life and will slowly cause their body damage that may end up being permanent. Opiates can cause respiratory failure, high blood pressure, cardiac arrest, coma and death. Once a person becomes addicted to an opiate they will continue to take more of the opiate in order to stay high as their dependency increases, this can lead to an overdose of the drug.
Most rehabilitation centers will have remedies to ease the withdrawal symptoms for a person detoxing from opiates and they will have medically supervised staff there to help an individual go through the process of detoxing.
If a person is highly addicted to opiates and has formed a strong drug dependency it is in their best interest to seek out help when they decide they want to stop taking the drug. Rehab centers offer numerous programs and support to help people come clean of opiates, but if a person does not want to go to a rehab they should at least consult with a medical professional or call a drug abuse hotline in order to receive advice on what they should expect as well as what they can do to make the detoxing process less stressful for them.