Home » Prescription Drug Addiction » Prescription Drug Detox

Prescription Drug Detox

Prescription Drug Detox

When an individual who has seen their life devastated by prescription drug addiction makes the life-saving decision to enter a drug rehab program, the first step they must take upon admittance is detox. Before counseling or aftercare can begin, the individual must first cleanse themselves of harmful drug toxins – an achievement that drug detox helps the individual accomplish.

What is Prescription Drug Detox?

Prescription drug detox is the process following the cessation of prescription drug intake. During detox, the prescription drug user’s body metabolizes the remaining traces of the drug and eliminates them from the body. After the drug has left the body, the addict begins to go into withdrawal from the drug. Depending on the type of prescription drug the person was addicted to, the withdrawal symptoms may be physical or psychological, or both, may last for a short or long period, be subtle or quite severe. In a medically supervised detox, the patient may be administered medication (most commonly a synthetic opiate such as Methadone) that reduces the severity of the withdrawal symptoms.

What are the Withdrawal Symptoms associated with Drug Detox?

As mentioned above, the type of the withdrawal symptoms that occur during detox depends upon the drug in question. However, the most common withdrawal symptoms include:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Nausea
• Diarrhea
• Sleeplessness
• Irritability
• Mood swings
• Strong drug cravings

While none of these symptoms are life-threatening in and of themselves, then often lead the individual to relapse into drug use, which is why it is important to go through detox with a medical professional present.

Who Should Consider Drug Detox?

Prescription drug detox is recommended for anyone who has become dependent or addicted to prescription drugs. For many of these people the news that they are addicted is an unwelcome and hard to belief prospect. For most of us, the image of an addict involves going to a dealer on the street, not to a doctor’s office and pharmacy. However, if you have every had to go without your prescription drugs and felt that you were undergoing physical and psychological distress as a result, including cravings for more of the drug, there is a strong chance that you have developed an addiction.

The Orchid Recovery Center for Women can help assess the nature of the individual’s drug addiction and provide customized, gender-specific care that gets to the root cause of the problem. The Orchid is about more than just helping women stop using prescription drugs – the program is dedicated to changing the lives of its patients through love, support and better decision-making skills.

Importance of Prescription Drug Abuse Detox

Prescription drug abuse detox is the first step to regaining freedom from a dependence on the drugs. For some addicts, those who take prescription drugs as a result of an unexplained occurrence of chronic pain, the conquering of the addiction is also a cure for the pain. That’s because the addicted mind is capable of producing the symptoms it needs to justify the use of the drug it craves. If the mind is convinced that having pain justifies taking a prescription painkiller, then the mind will create the sensation of pain even if there is no legitimate physical cause for that pain.

In addition, the individual who makes it through the drug detox process will feel as if she has finally got her life moving on the right track. And while detox does not represent recovery in and of itself, it is still a tremendous accomplishment.

After detox and withdrawal, addict frequently have to enter a program that helps them to learn how to live without the aid of chemically induced mood alteration. Typically, these programs include some therapeutic work, some relapse prevention skills and the introduction to a support program that will keep them clean and sober. For people who have been poisoning their minds and bodies for years, sometimes decades, with prescription drugs the freedom from addiction is frequently like being let out of prison.

The Orchid is a Florida drug rehab center with a unique approach to recovery. The Orchid admits only women, creating a gender-specific atmosphere that is designed to enhance the healing process. Through the tireless work of The Orchid staff, women of all ages are given an amazing chance to overcome their prescription drug addiction – and regain control of their lives in the process. For more information, contact The Orchid today.

See how The Orchid changed their lives.