Understanding Medical Detox
Many people living in Orange County, CA, have to undergo a medical detox at some point in their lives. A medical detox differs from a natural detox as it involves the use of medication to assist in the withdrawal process.
Natural detox is often called going “cold-turkey.” This type of detox is where a person stops taking an addictive substance and then goes through the withdrawal process without any assistance from additional drugs that help to manage symptoms. Many rehab clinics use natural detoxes for patients coming off drugs or alcohol, although the decision to go cold-turkey varies from patient to patient.
Medical detox is different. This kind of detox is where a patient receives medication during the withdrawal stage. Medicated detoxes are common if patients have abused alcohol, benzodiazepines, and opioids. Medicated detoxes happen in a range of certified institutions, including rehab centers, rehab wings of hospitals, and clinics with a specialization in helping people recover from drug abuse.
The Benefits Of A Medical Detox
The benefits of medical detox are profound. Let’s take a look at some of them now.
Relieve The Symptoms Of Withdrawal
Withdrawal symptoms from any drug of abuse, including alcohol, can be severe. Patients can often feel a loss of control, crushing anxiety, palpitations, elevated heart rate, vomiting and sweating as the body adjusts to the absence of certain chemicals. The process can go on for days and be distressing for both patients and their families. Medicated detoxes help not only to reduce the symptoms of withdrawal but make success more likely for the person coming off drugs.
Practitioners may use several drugs to assist in the withdrawal process. Some medications, for instance, can help stabilize people if they go through an acute bout of anxiety or excitatory neural signaling. Other drugs may help to reduce feelings of dysphoria which can emerge after prolonged drug abuse
Around-The-Clock Support From Medical Staff
Withdrawal can be a harrowing experience for some patients. Worse still, it can also be clinically dangerous to go “cold-turkey.” Many people going through withdrawal can experience issues with their cardiovascular systems which could put their lives at risk. Medical detox provides much-needed support in these circumstances, offering medications that can help stabilize heart rate and reduce blood pressure, avoiding strokes.
Receive Sedative Medications To Ease Anxiety
Most medical detox facilities offer highly agitated patients sedative medications to keep them calm as their body processes harmful chemicals and removes them from their system. People who have been on the most dangerous drugs for the most prolonged period often rely on sedatives to help them sleep and avoid the worst of the psychological aspects of recovery.
Get Psychological Support
Medical detox isn’t just about receiving medication during the withdrawal process: it also involves receiving psychological support. Any great medical detox program in Orange County, CA, will offer psychological assistance to those going through withdrawal. Having this kind of support increases the chance of success and helps to make anxiety, depression and other symptoms more manageable.
Learn About The Causes Of Addiction With Counseling
The purpose of counseling is to find out what it was that led to the addictive behavior in the first place and resolve it. Many people in Orange County, CA, begin abusing drugs after suffering abuse themselves, losing a child, or after a relationship breakdown. Others start experimenting with drugs after surviving an abusive childhood.
Counselors and therapists help patients rediscover their histories and what might have led them to drug abuse in the first place. Counselors can also help patients develop strategies that will help reduce the feeling that they need drugs to help them feel “normal.”
What Drugs Do Practitioners Use During A Medicated Detox In Orange County, CA?
The FDA approves a list of drugs that can treat opioid addiction and alcohol dependence. There’s a belief that the FDA allows practitioners to substitute one drug for another, but this is not true. Medications used in medical detox help patients to manage their symptoms: they do replace the substances that they were using before.
The aim is to provide safe and controlled levels of medication that help people overcome severe addictions. Unlike drugs of abuse, the medications practitioners use do not have any adverse effects on a person’s employability, intelligence, mental capacity or physical functioning.
The type of medicines that a person receives depends on what they’re addicted to. The drugs that the FDA approves for alcohol dependence differ from those it recommends for opioid addictions and overdoses.
People in Orange Country, CA, who are abusing drugs, including alcohol, can reduce the severity of withdrawal by undergoing medical detox.
