The most crucial benefit of detoxing is reduced dependence on the drug. Drug abuse detox is not easy, as it will come with withdrawal symptoms like a sickness. However, detoxing is the primary and most challenging step to addiction recovery.
Once you have passed the detoxing stage, all you require is discipline, which you’ll have learned while detoxing. This guide will cover the benefits of detox, its processes, types, and withdrawal symptoms.
Is Detox Important?
Detox is integral to addiction recovery, if not the most important. It involves leaving the drugs entirely and managing the symptoms that accompany them.
Drug addiction alters the transfer of neuron signals through the neurotransmitters, and without the presence of these drugs, your brain may not perform functionally. With drug detox, you are allowing your brain to return to its normal functions.
Some of the benefits of drug detox include;
- Reviving natural body processes. Detoxing gives your body a chance to live without drugs. Your body may first react to the method, but slowly, it begins to function normally, not requiring any medications.
- A standard medical detox program should have a pattern best suited to solve drug addiction based on the substance and your reaction. Most detox processes may follow a similar way, but they must align with each patient’s present situation.
- Medical and professional help. If you are serious about drug addiction recovery, you should get professional help. A medical team understands the different stages of addiction, and by experience and research, they know what to expect from each substance. Moreso, they understand the complexities of withdrawal symptoms and can manage them better.
- First, detox saves you from the dangers that come with drug addiction. However, one of the significant importance of drug detox is its safe process. Medical detox facilities already have a prediction of the symptoms to accept, and they usually plan for it.
- Drug detox is about the discipline to say no to the drugs, even when your body requires it. You will usually be in a different facility, as far away from the drugs as possible. However, the discipline learned during the detox process is enough to say no, even when you’re not in a confined space.
Related Article: Natural vs Medical Detox
What Is the Procedure for Medical Detox?
Understanding why you need drug detox is critical, but an idea of the process is also important. As mentioned above, detoxing in a medical facility is better for the best results. The detox process does not end there, you will still have to do some things, but the medical facility is the best foundation to start the detox process.
In a medical detox facility, the steps for the program may be similar but always dynamic to the patient’s needs. Here is the procedure for a medical detox program
Evaluation Stage
Before you detox, the doctor will want to understand what they are dealing with. Therefore, they will try the following processes to get every detail about your condition;
- They may ask you many questions about the drugs you have been taking and in what quantities you use them. Likewise, they may ask your closest friend or family member questions regarding the present signs and actions you display. This information can give a rough idea of the extent of your addiction.
- Blood and urine tests. Drugs usually stay within your blood and urine for some time after you take them. Drugs last in the urine longer than the blood, but the doctor controls the tests.
After taking the tests, the doctor is sure of the drugs in your system and the level of addiction. With this information, they can decide the detoxing stage you need to begin. If it is a minor case, the doctor may give medications, depending on the drug relating to your addiction problem.
Some of the drugs the doctor may prescribe include;
- Suboxone
- Vivitrol
- Naltrexone
Stabilization Stage
The stabilization stage of drug detox is the first step. This stage is crucial to the process, as it is the first period you will be doing without the drugs, and the doctor will want to monitor you closely.
During the stabilization, you will go through a couple of medical and psychological therapies. You may need some prescription drugs to help control the withdrawal symptoms. The control of these symptoms is one of the benefits of drug detox in a medical facility.
Some of the withdrawal symptoms during drug detox include;
- Insomnia
- Confusion
- Lack of focus
- Fear and nervousness
- Unnecessary mood changes
These withdrawal symptoms are typical, but you may need a drug to feel better in extreme cases. It is better to have medical personnel administer these drugs to ensure no addiction transfer. If you have access to the drug directly, you will use it anytime you feel a certain way, leading to more addiction.
Preparation
Drug detoxing does not guarantee addiction recovery; it is only the first stage. That is why many addicts question if detox is important. After detoxing yourself of all the drugs, you will now start the treatment properly.
Usually, the treatment procedure is not complex since you have detoxed and experienced most of the withdrawal symptoms. The period for treatment is generally less than a month. Some of the factors that affect how long the treatment period will include;
- The extent of the drug abuse
- The reaction of the patient to the detoxing program.
- Any health condition
- The process of using the drug.
- The complexity of the drug used.
Depending on the patient’s condition, the doctor may recommend a community detoxing program. In this community, you will hear stories from former drug addicts sharing their progress about their addiction recovery and being accountable to each other.
According to multiple reports, the community detoxing program is helping a lot of young Canadians from substance use.
Hearing success stories within this community will motivate you enough to believe you can do it. Knowing that you need to share your progress will give you more reasons to be accountable.
Related Article: Dangers of at Home Drug Detox
Summary
The benefits of drug detox are numerous, but the most important is your health and safety. It is the first process of addiction recovery and requires close monitoring for the best results. It would be best if you did not try to detox on your own because it can worsen the addiction, and in worse cases, it can cause death.
Instead, you need to find a standard medical detox facility to help with the program to ensure your safety. The medical facility must be top-notch because it is crucial to detoxing.
At Medical Detox Ontario, we have the experience and expertise required to detox and treat you in the most friendly and understandable way. You can contact our medical detox services and let us help you recover from addiction.
