Opioids/ Opiates – Withdrawal and Detox

The abuse of opioids is steeply on the rise in the United States. The US Drug Enforcement Administration considers these as scheduled narcotics, typically in Class I, II or III.
300 million prescriptions are written for opioids every year as heroin, morphine or pain relievers, and more than 2 million people abuse or overuse the drug.

Using opioids for more than 3 weeks triggers physiological and psychological dependence. If you have tried stopping it without any success, you need to admit it to a near one before it sets back your life. This is the time you need medical supervision and an opioid detox program to regain your productive self.

We, at Detox of South Florida, can offer you the best opioid detox in Florida to treat your opioid addiction. Our trained medical staff with their expertise and years of experience will handle your opioid withdrawal symptoms and help you regain your life of vitality.

Treatment and withdrawal from opioids are always possible, but like withdrawal from any other substance, it might be hard and involves risks.

The withdrawal process can be broadly divided into 2 categories:

• Spontaneous Opioid Withdrawal – When the patient abruptly stops or significantly reduces the opioid usage. The time frame of this method depends on the half-life of the opioid being used.
  • For example, heroin withdrawal might be started even 12 hours after the last usage, and completed within 5 days. But spontaneous withdrawal is not always suggested as the patient might not feel completely normal before several months.
• Precipitated Opioid Withdrawal – This method includes displacing the opioid with an antagonist drug. For example, Naxalone is used to treat people who had heroin recently in their systems.

Opioid Withdrawal Symptoms may range from mild to severe based on the patient’s level of dependency on the opioid drug used.

Mild withdrawal symptoms include muscle cramps, agitation, insomnia, anxiety, excessive sweating, hypertension or mild fever. These usually start within 6-12 hours and last for 1-2 days for short-acting opiates.

The severe symptoms include nausea and vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps, depression, nasal discharge, decreased appetite, goose bumps or shivering. These are at their peak within 72 hours and might last a week. This period is also marked by drug cravings from time to time.

Major opiate withdrawal symptoms peak between 48-72 hours. This is a critical period where without proper medical care, the patient might have dehydration leading to seizures or convulsion. The inpatient treatment program is almost always suggested for this reason.

We at Detox of South Florida make separate assessments of every individual patient before opiate withdrawal treatment. This includes a substance use history, psychiatric evaluation and history, mental status examination, medical history & physical examination, laboratory testing and level of care determination. Opioid-dependent women are tested for pregnancy (with a negative result) before supervised withdrawal. The detox is followed by counseling, family & individual therapy, and meetings with support groups that help you maintain sobriety.

Addiction to opioids is not uncommon. Detox of South Florida has treated many people suffering from this addiction, and we have a special team of medical support here for you to supervise the whole opiate detox, treatment, and rehab so that you don’t have to struggle with it alone.

It is never too late, call us today to eliminate opiate abuse from your life.