About Medication Maintenance and Opiate Detox
Opiate detox is one of the most painful and difficult drug detoxes for a person to go through. The physical withdrawal symptoms are very similar to a person having a bad flu, but they can be much worse depending on how long a person has been abusing opiates and the amount of the opiate they were abusing.
Medication maintenance can significantly help a person get through the physical withdrawal symptoms with little discomfort and it can help a person successfully conquer their drug addiction being that they can focus more on recovery.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone are the three most common medications used to help people with opiate detox. Methadone and buprenorphine are administered daily during opiate detox and work by acting as opiate does in a person’s body so that the body does not go through an intense withdrawal. Naltrexone is opposite in its effects than methadone and buprenorphine as it works by blocking the effects of opiates in a person’s body, resulting in a faster detox.
If a person receives medication maintenance at an outpatient opiate detox program they will be given specific doses of the medication that they need every day. As time continues the doses will continually be lowered to the point that the person is no longer taking the medication. This process bypasses the intense physical withdrawals from an opiate detox.
How Outpatient Opiate Detox Programs Help
Medication maintenance can help you succeed in outpatient detox treatment.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, drug addiction is a chronic disease where people cannot simply just stop using and be cured. The majority of people battling a drug addiction require repeated episodes of treatment and long term care in order for them to achieve their definitive goal of continuous abstinence from drugs.
An outpatient opiate detox program will provide a person with the length of time and the resources they need to help them get through opiate detox and learn to live a life away from opiates. Medication maintenance at an outpatient opiate detox program will help a person avoid the physical withdrawal symptoms while they are detoxing. Avoiding these withdrawal symptoms can be extremely important if a person is planning to still go to work or do their daily activities while they are detoxing from opiates. In addition, a person will receive the support, education and therapy they need to help them deal with the psychological withdrawal symptoms during their recovery process from opiate addiction.
