Drug and Alcohol Detox: The Initial Step Toward Sobriety

The first important part of overcoming addiction is often detoxification. Generally, detox is the first step in creating a cleaner and healthier life for anyone living with drug or alcohol addiction.

You’ll discover here why detox is necessary, what to expect during it, how it functions, and what steps follow. When people know what detox means, they can decide on the right support and figure out how to get it.

What is Detoxification?

Detoxification is about flushing drugs or alcohol from the body. It helps bring the body’s chemistry back to normal after prolonged drug or alcohol use. With detox, the physical reliance on drugs stops, which allows for effective emotional and mental health treatment.

Receiving professional care during an alcohol or drug detox controls your withdrawal symptoms and prevents anything serious from happening. At Orlando Treatment Solutions, we ensure that it doesn’t become risky or uncomfortable for the patient.

How Long Does Detox Take?

How long detox takes depends on different elements.

• The material utilized
• How often and how long you use it
• The quantity of the materials found in your body
• Young age, light weight and normal health
• Those who have one mental illness often have another health condition too.

For a general idea, the following is a helpful timeline:

• A person needs between 3 to 7 days to detox from alcohol.
• Heroin and oxycodone, for example; a range of 4 to 10 days
• Try to abstain from stimulants for 1 to 2 weeks when counseling services begin.
• Benzodiazepines take about 2 to 4 weeks to taper off, so it needs to be done slowly.

Even though the hardest phase of detox only goes on for a few days or weeks, full recovery involves ongoing effort.

How Detox Happens

Detox has three different stages of treatment.

1. Evaluation

People who arrive at a detox center are evaluated both physically and mentally. Workers on the substance abuse team consider the person’s drug use past, test for drugs and detect any mental health challenges. Using the information, a unique detox plan is made for each client.

2. Stabilization

In this part of the treatment, doctors are responsible for helping patients manage withdrawal and prevent trouble. Having your pet take medicine is done when necessary. For example, quitting alcohol can result in shaking, seizures, or hallucinations. Benzos are sometimes given to keep patients from developing these effects.

3. Ready For My Diagnosis

Just letting the body recover from drugs isn’t enough for addiction treatment. After detox ends, people move on to more treatment like inpatient rehabilitation or outpatient advice. Once in Orlando Treatment Solutions, those who have gone through detox are placed in structured programs for further healing.

Frequent Signs You May Feel During Detox

Trying to come off drugs or alcohol can lead to many different symptoms. Factors such as the drug and how much and for how long it was used play a big role in determining severity.

Common signs of withdrawal are:

• People may experience anxiety or depression
• Feeling hot and sweaty or cold
• Feeling nauseous or ending up vomiting
• Headaches
• Insomnia
• Muscle aches
• Cravings
• Mood swings
• Particularly with alcohol or benzodiazepine-related usage

Since withdrawal can lead to severe, physically and emotionally difficult symptoms, medical staff must watch over the detox process. A safe and helpful environment is provided by a licensed facility during this time.

Detoxify Your Diet

All drugs have different effects on your body. Let’s see how drug detox is handled for different substances:

Alcohol Detox

Since alcohol withdrawal can be hazardous, medical supervision is very important. Tremors, anxiety, sweating and seizures are common symptoms of withdrawal and they often appear at least six hours after your last drink. The dangerous effects of Delirium Tremens mean that supervised detox is necessary.

Opioid Detox

Quitting the use of heroin, fentanyl or prescription painkillers can cause users to have muscle discomfort, have diarrhea, be unable to sleep and vomit. Though not often dangerous to health, these symptoms usually cause much pain and lead to relapse. Health specialists may use medications such as buprenorphine or methadone to help.

Stimulant Detox

Most times, cocaine or meth detox is mainly linked to problems with mental health and may cause tiredness, depression and suicidal feelings. Taking care of your body and mind with plenty of hydration, capturing rest and therapy, when possible, can help with recovery.

Benzodiazepine Detox

People using benzodiazepines for anxiety or sleep should slowly reduce their dosage to avoid having seizures or psychosis. If someone wants to do this type of detox, they must be medically monitored.

Risks of Detoxing Without Help

Fear, embarrassment or not being able to find a treatment center causes some people to try detox at home. If you use electrolytes on your own, it can result in harm or even be fatal without proper guidance.

Some of the possible dangers of being on your own during detox are:

• Seizures
• Dehydration
• Having hallucinations or psychosis
• Cardiac issues
• People sometimes relapse and take too much of the drug
• Suicidal thoughts

Since there is usually no medical, emotional or structured help at home, home detox is not often successful. Clients attending Orlando Treatment Solutions are cared for around the clock in a warm and supportive setting.

Life After Detox

Detox is an important step, but there is much more to come after. You should then find a rehab program that helps to understand the reasons for addiction and teaches you to stay sober for life.

Options include:

• Hospitalization for people who have severe addiction or a risky home life
• Programs that allow participants to be treated as outpatients
• Exploring trauma, what sets off your reactions and coping methods in individual, group, or family therapy.
• Group meetings, such as AA or NA, for ongoing responsibility
• After completing detox, Orlando Treatment Solutions makes it easy for people to enter a personalized recovery plan.

Seeking Addiction Help in Orlando

Finishing detox can make a big difference in someone’s life. Even though it can seem scary or new to you, you won’t have to navigate the process alone. Having compassion, the right care, and a set treatment program lets the detox process become your initial step down the road of recovery.

If you or a loved one is ready to begin recovery, don’t wait. Contact Orlando Treatment Solutions today; the journey to a better life starts with a call (321) 415-3213 now.