If you’re considering treatment for your addiction, you’ve come to the right place. Making the first step to get help is crucial. When you have dependency issues with substances such as opiates, it’s only natural that you’re concerned about withdrawing and the effects of detoxing.
To minimize discomfort, it’s best to be in an inpatient treatment center that provides medical oversight. Having a doctor watch over you during detox is imperative. To help ease the discomfort you feel during this time, many medications can help.
Medications Used to Assist During Detox
Several medications provide various benefits during the detox process. Some drugs help you taper or wean yourself slowly, while others are meant to make the withdrawal symptoms disappear so that your body learns to live without the drug of choice. Some medications are meant to prevent you from relapsing.
Each situation is different, so a doctor might use several meds to help you through each phase. Here are some of the most used drugs today.
1. Suboxone
If you’ve researched drugs used during detox, suboxone is probably one that came up first. As an opioid antagonist, this medication combines buprenorphine and naloxone to ease the symptoms associated with withdrawal. Without this medication, many people who suffer from opioid addiction wouldn’t be able to live drug-free.
Naloxone is a medication that’s often used to help with tapering, and buprenorphine helps to prevent the abuse of drugs. So together, they’re a powerful combination that works on your opioid receptors to help you taper and avoid cravings for more.
2. Benzodiazepines
It might seem bizarre to see benzodiazepines on the list, primarily since these medications are known for their dependency issues. However, every medicine has its place when used correctly. The key is to avoid being on this medication for too long.
The medical community found that using certain benzos like ativan and valium can help to ease alcohol withdrawal symptoms you might experience. Regarding the potential for seizures or delirium that can occur during opioid detox, it’s strongly recommended to use long-acting benzo like klonopin or valium. There are numerous drugs under the category of benzodiazepines, but the most used ones are:
•Ativan – lorazepam
•Valium – diazepam
•Librium – chlordiazepoxide
•Klonopin – clonazepam
Though you will most likely hear about these medications being prescribed for those with anxiety disorders, they are very effective in detox to help with the weaning process.
3. Clonidine
Clonidine is a medication used to treat hypertension. It helps to keep the heart in good condition and ease symptoms like tachycardia. Like most medications, some off-label uses have also proved beneficial. One such benefit is to help detox from opiate or alcohol-related addictions.
It’s common for a person going through the withdrawal phase to experience the following symptoms:
- Aches
- Cramping
- Flu-like feelings
- Anxiety and panic
- Sweating
- Heart racing – tachycardia
Doctors found that using clonidine can help to ease these symptoms, especially those that affect the heart. Another benefit of this drug is that it’s also been known to help people stop smoking. It’s common for folks to change from one addiction to another, and smoking seems to be the acceptable alternative. However, it will only bring a different kind of trouble.
Understanding Medical Detox
While medications are helping during the detox process, other things are utilized that are also beneficial. Group and talk therapy can help you discuss how you’re feeling with others going through the same thing. Other meds, specifically those that help with nausea, are also helpful.
Many times, it’s discovered that there’s an underlying mental illness fueling the fires of addiction, so antidepressants can be of some assistance. Currently, there is nothing pharmaceutical that the FDA approves to help someone withdraw from methamphetamines, marijuana, or cocaine. Thankfully, the symptoms can be managed.
Going through the detox process is nothing anyone wants to experience, but it’s a necessary first step on the road to sobriety. Whether you choose to go into an inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation program is up to you, but getting your foot in the door and getting help is essential. Many comprehensive drug and alcohol detox centers can help you find yourself again.
Recovery is about so much more than detoxing, though it’s an important part. It would help if you learned how to live without those drugs. Coping with the pain is a big part of what you learn in therapy. Are you ready to take this critical step? Call us today at 833.970.2054 to see what options are available to you.
