Does Medical Detoxification Increase the Chances of Sobriety?

When someone is addicted to alcohol or drugs, they often will need help with the process of getting these toxins out of their system before they can fully start addiction treatment. In cases like this, medical detoxification is a crucial first step. Detoxing can be an uncomfortable or even dangerous process for people with a long history of addiction, and that’s why it’s medically supervised at treatment centers like Living Longer Recovery. Starting with detox increases their chance of success with addiction treatment and successfully living in recovery long after their time in rehab.

What Are the 3 Essential Components Of Detoxification?

Medical detoxification will take place in a clinical setting, such as a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center.  According to the National Library of Medicine, there are three essential components of this process:

• Evaluation: Patients will be evaluated before starting detox to determine their addiction history, personal and medical needs, and current feelings. Monitoring how these things change is important.
• Stabilization: Although detoxing from an addictive substance and getting through the possible side effects of withdrawal, patients will stabilize and no longer have withdrawal symptoms or strong cravings.
• Fostering Patient Readiness: This involves gauging the patient’s readiness for starting addiction treatment. Medical detoxification is only one step toward recovery, and the road ahead is long but worth it. After detox, patients are better able to focus on therapy and treatment programs to address the underlying factors of their addiction.

What Is Medically Supervised Withdrawal?

Medically supervised withdrawal happens during the drug detox process at Living Longer Recovery. Withdrawal symptoms can vary, based on the severity of addiction and the substance someone was abusing, but there are some general common symptoms, according to Healthdirect:

• Inability to sleep.
• Depression.
• Anxiety.
• Cravings.
• Sweating.
• Shaking.
• Confusion.
• Seizures.
• Nausea and vomiting.

When someone is suffering withdrawal symptoms, they can get support and treatment with medications and monitoring by the professionals at Living Longer Recovery. We can help you safely and more comfortably get through withdrawal during medical detox.

Withdrawal symptoms can show up about 24 to 72 hours after your last drink of alcohol, and alcohol detox can be particularly dangerous if not monitored because of the possibility of delirium tremens, a sudden and severe change in the mental or nervous system, according to Medline Plus. This condition can cause seizures, body tremors, confusion, hallucinations, and other potentially life-threatening symptoms. Symptoms of withdrawing from short-acting opioids, meanwhile, can show up as early as 8 to 24 hours after the last dose, while longer-acting opioids can bring about withdrawal symptoms 2 to 4 days after taking them.

How Do You Feel When Detoxing?

Detoxing from alcohol or drugs can be an uncomfortable, difficult, and even potentially dangerous process, and that’s why medical detoxification with professional support and treatment is so important. Withdrawal symptoms can range from discomfort and cravings to serious medical issues as the addictive substance leaves the body. That’s why Living Longer Recovery’s experts will work with you to get through this short period of time safely and more comfortably. We’ll monitor your symptoms at our addiction treatment facility and provide medications to help you get through detox in the best way possible — and be ready to really focus on addiction treatment and therapy following this medical process.

What Is Detoxification Treatment?

In short, detox happens when someone stops using an addictive substance, and slowly, for days afterward, the toxins leave their body. When someone uses drugs or alcohol, it can affect their brain, and that’s why detoxification is a medical process to ensure they recover from this impact. After completing detox, long-term addiction treatment can begin, and it’s important to remember that medical detoxification is just the first (and very important) step in the recovery journey. Living Longer Recovery offers a full range of addiction treatment programs that will follow detox, including:

• Inpatient Rehab: This 24/7 treatment involves living in our facility to have continuous supervision and support. During your time in a residential addiction treatment program, you can expect to receive various treatments, including therapy, medication management, treatment for co-occurring mental health disorders, group therapy, and alternative or holistic treatments, such as yoga or meditation.
• Outpatient Rehab: Unlike residential treatment, outpatient addiction recovery programs ask patients to regularly come into a facility for therapy and treatment, but they can return home afterward. It’s a good option for people who can benefit from this lower intensity of care to treat addiction while still being able to keep up with school, work, or family responsibilities at home.
• Dual Diagnosis Treatment: Many people who come to us for addiction treatment also are suffering from a co-occurring mental health disorder, such as anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder. In cases like this, their treatment program needs to address addiction and mental health struggles simultaneously with therapy and medication management.
• PHP Treatment: A partial hospitalization program is a more intensive form of outpatient rehab, with patients still living at home but coming into a treatment facility as often as seven days a week.
• Family Program: This aspect of addiction treatment involves having patients and their family members complete therapy together to address how the disease has affected everyone and help patients rebuild healthy relationships with their loved ones.

Get Medical Detoxification at Living Longer Recovery

The first step to recovery is often medical detoxification, and we know just how important this first step can be for someone to overcome addiction. At Living Longer Recovery, our experts will help you or your loved one get through the detox process and advance to long-term addiction treatment. We’ll work together with you to address the underlying causes and complications of your addiction and learn new skills and ways of handling challenges in the future without turning back to drugs or alcohol. Call Living Longer Recovery at 866-714-3294 to learn how we can help with medically supervised detox and the treatment you need to get better.

External Sources

• National Library of Medicine — Detox and Substance Abuse Treatment
• Healthdirect — Addiction Withdrawal Symptoms
• MedlinePlus — Delirium Tremens