Drug Detox For Alcohol & Drug Addiction



Most of the time, you will need to have medical attention during the drug detoxification period. The withdrawal symptoms from many different drugs and alcohol can be very serious, especially if you have been dealing with addiction for an extended period of time.

If you are planning on attending outpatient services for your drug addiction treatment, then you may want to consider using the inpatient detoxification services that are offered by your drug rehab. If you can’t use the inpatient drug detoxification, then you will at least have to check in with the medical staff each day during the detoxification period.

What Happens During Detox

Drug detox is the period when your body is physically adjusting to the transition of a drug free life. During the time you were using drugs and alcohol, your body became chemically dependent on those drugs and alcohol to function. Detox will allow your body time to adjust to the changes without the dangers that are commonly associated with withdrawal becoming overwhelming.

Detoxification can be a very stressful time for your body, so it is important that you only detox under the supervision of medical staff. You may experience shaking, nausea or even convulsions during this time. Drug detoxification can also be life threatening for some addicts, although not all people will experience these symptoms.

Detox Treatment

During detox, you may be given medications that will ease the symptoms of withdrawal, and help stabilize your body. Many people who use certain kinds of drugs, for instance, may experience an unstable blood pressure during detoxification. The medical staff will help your body during this period by making sure that your body is able to cope with these changes.

The type of treatment that you receive will depend on several things, and will vary according to the drug rehab center that you choose. You should always look for a drug rehab that offers a detox program that is supervised by licensed medical doctors, however.

After Detox

After you have finished your drug detoxification, you will want to enter the second phase of treatment. While drug detox is designed to help reduce your physical dependence on the substance, treatment in a traditional drug rehab is designed to help you reduce your mental and emotional dependence on drugs and alcohol.

If you are considering using detox alone, you will at least want to have a supportive home environment and enroll in outpatient services at a local drug rehab. If you do not have the support of your family and friends, it will be especially hard to abstain from drugs and alcohol after your detox, unless you enter residential treatment.

By: Brad Keith

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Rapid Detox – The Addict’s Magic Bullet?



Rapid detox is a process during which the patient is put under a general anesthetic 3hile his or her system is flushed of all traces of addictive chemicals. When the patient awakens, the theory holds, his or her body will no longer crave the drugs on which it was dependent only a few hours before.

Rapid detox, however, is a process which can be managed only by medically trained staff experienced in the procedure involved. Attempting a rapid detox without the aid of general anesthetics will cause extremely serious, if not fatal, side effects, and rapid detox requires the use of certain drugs like Naltrexone to effectively flush the opiate residues from the addict’s system. Rapid detox must be completed before the patient can move on the counseling and therapy which are essential for any serious recovery attempt.

What You’ll Experience During Rapid Detox

While you are unconscious from the general anesthetic, you will be having intravenous medications administered to neutralize and eliminate the narcotic residues which have accumulated in your tissues. Your body will be exhibiting some very severe side effects during this period, but because you are unconscious you will remain oblivious to them. You won’t have to struggle with the physical and psychological pain which causes so many people to abandon their withdrawal attempts

Immediately after your rapid detox withdrawal begins, you’ll receive both Naloxone and Naltrexone, which have been tested and found safe for use in recovering addicts and will ease the discomfort of the rapid detox aftereffects. These drugs are what enable the rapid detox process to shorten the normal withdrawal period form up to a week to no more than six hours!

When your blood tests show that all the traces of narcotics are out of your system, you’ll be awakened, and will probably still have to go through some mild withdrawal symptoms, but the worst of your struggle will be over and your body will experience fewer and fewer cravings for your drug of dependency.

Is Rapid Detox For Real?
The idea of rapid detox does smack of quackery, and it’s true that many of the positive claims about it are simply used to part people from their money. Clinic after clinic will promise that their rapid detox programs can have you in control of your drug addiction in only a few hours, but what many of them fail to mention is that rapid detox has its own set of risks.

There have been cases in which addicts actually died during the rapid detox process, even though some of the clinics involved have pointed to the patients’ heart problems as the real cause of death.

So you should not hop on the rapid detox bandwagon until you have investigated your alternatives as thoroughly as possible. A quick fix, where addiction is concerned, can often create more problems than it fixes.

By: Abraham Foster

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Alcohol Detox



Alcohol detox implies the removal of alcohol from the body of an alcoholic. Alcohol detox is brought about by abstinence from alcohol, medication, and altering the diet of the patient. Detox is not possible without support from friends and family and a commitment on the part of the patient.

The liver and kidneys normally carry out detoxification in the body. However in hardened alcoholics, alternative detoxification processes become necessary. There are several general practitioners, nurses, and pharmacists who volunteer in detox centers for alcoholics.

In most cases, detoxification can be done at home. This is when the alcohol consumption is moderate, but in complicated cases that involve symptoms such as hallucinations, severe withdrawal symptoms, and multi-substance misuse, inpatient detoxification becomes necessary. Volunteers even conduct community detox programs, usually in compliance with the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Alcoholics attending AA meetings are stressed upon the need to be determined to give up alcohol.

In extreme cases, medication is used to detoxify heavy drinkers. This is also termed pharmacological detoxification. Here, the patients are forewarned that they may suffer anxiety and insomnia for a couple of days. The most common drugs used for alcohol detoxification are benzodiazepines, with Chlordiazepoxide being the most preferred benzodiazepine used. Diazepam is also widely used, but fatal effects may occur if it is mixed with huge doses of alcohol. Hence, supervision is necessary for use of diazepam as a detoxifier.

A detoxification session usually lasts 5 to 6 weeks. The diet is to be protein-rich and with a generous amount of fiber and fluids, and the person should consume water throughout the day. Since most alcoholics have sugar problems, hypoglycemic substances should be consumed. Parsley and chamomile teas are effective alkaloids which stimulate kidney elimination processes.

Inpatient detox is carried out in rehabilitation centers, but there is a social stigma attached to being admitted in such rehab centers. Usually, such centers are located in the lesser-developed areas of the country, causing people from affluent classes to be reluctant to be admitted in them. Also, the ratio of workers to patients is generally 1:4, meaning that there is an emphasis on self-care.

By: Jimmy Sturo

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Detox provides detailed information about detox, colon detox, and more. Detox is affiliated with Low Blood Pressure.