Opiate Detox

For the 10% of the general population thought to frequently make use of opiates, most of them are certain to become physically dependent on opiates-also known as addicted.  Because of this, when they decide to get clean and rid their body of opiates they must go through what is always known as “opiate detox”.  For a person physically dependent on opiates, an opiate detox can cause a wide range of adverse effects.  Both the physical effects of opiate detox and the mental symptoms of opiate detox are difficult although rarely are they fatal.

Physical symptoms of opiate detox quite often are made up of the following: nausea and vomiting, body aches and joint pain, increased tearing, diarrhea, and stomach cramping.  When the addict has been abusing opiates for for awhile, then the mental symptoms that go along with opiate detox can include the following: agitation, insomnia, anxiety, and paranoia.

In many opiate detox facilities, always known as rapid opiate detox, the individual is wholly sedated during the opiate detox so that they don’t need to feel the ill effects of their opiate detox.  This is done in a hospital setting where the opiate addict is very closely monitored by doctors and nurses.  Because the success rate of rapid opiate detox programs for helping to keep opiate addicts sober for extended of time is still up in the air, what is definite is that this type of detox are a extremely expensive and short way to get your opiate detox over and done.

In more usual opiate detox programs less powerful sedatives are used to treat the mental symptoms of opiate detox and some other medications are implemented to take care of the physical symptoms of the opiate detox.  Usually these programs can be called social model detox programs, or “non-medical” detox even though mild detox medications are prescribed to the clients.  The focus in these types of opiate detox programs is to seek more of a extended solution to the opiate addiction, and the programs don't focus on a medicinal approach but they also implement therapeutic exercises during the opiate detox such as counseling and meditation to help take care of the addiction. 

Almost all of these opiate detox programs even use therapeutic methods such as soaking in hot water to take care of the body aches that go along with with opiate detox.  Generally a spa is made available to the addicts going through opiate detox, and this has been demonstrated to dramatically lessen the joint pain and body aches that go along with opiatedetox without the need for more narcotics used to treat pain. 

As social model opiate detox programs emphasize a longer term strategy to handling the opiate addiction, they don’t view opiate detox as a cure.  Instead they quite often stress more treatment for their clients after detox such as outpatient counseling, additional inpatient treatment, or possibly attendance at 12 step meetings.