STAGE 1: Medications During Detox
Addiction treatment begins in earnest during detox. During drug withdrawal and the subsequent stages in recovery, the body needs to remove the substance remaining in the body, to get back to normal. The earliest symptoms of withdrawal can occur within the first few hours of the last dose taken and may last for a week or more, depending on the history of use. So, what symptoms are common?
During the early stage of opioid or opiates withdrawal, symptoms may include anxiety, sweating, restlessness, runny nose, rapid heartbeat, insomnia, muscle aches, and more. The later symptoms – which normally appear after a day, or so – may include vomiting, nausea, seizures, rapid heart, diarrhea, high blood pressure, and more.
Although an unassisted withdrawal process may not be life threatening, the challenge in bearing the discomfort, and other symptoms, often lead the person to relapse. To help them in getting through the withdrawal process, supervised medical detox is sometimes required.
Medications Can Reduce The Effect Of Withdrawal
There are many kinds of drug used to reduce the effect of the withdrawal. Here are some of the most common medications used in treatment of opioid addiction: ...
----------------
[CURATED CONTENT: Written by Pip Baddock, January 26, 2018 - originally published on AddictionBlog . org]