The decision to detox from opiates is a very courageous and bold move, but it’s a necessary first step in the process of making a full recovery. Detoxing at home poses a number of challenges that can not only make detox a difficult process—but may even make it a potentially dangerous process too. Opiate detox is one of the most difficult detoxes there is—as such, anyone considering home opiate detox should be prepared for a fight & should recognize the potential warning signs should a problem occur.

Safety

Unfortunately, home is not always the safest place for an opiate detox. If something goes wrong, such as a spike in heart rate or blood pressure, there’s really no way to be alerted to the problem if you’re at home. Quitting cold turkey can lead to an array of safety problems including relapse which can ultimately lead to an increased risk of overdose—another significant challenge of opiate detox at home.

Support

Detoxing from opiates at home is difficult, but with the right self-care and determination it can be done.

According to Harvard Health, the environment in which an individual is detoxing in and the support that they receive is vital to the overall outcome of the detox. If you’re detoxing from opiates at home, you may not receive the support that you need to fully recover without the risk of relapse.

Symptom Management

Detoxing at home leaves little medical intervention and care when it comes to managing the symptoms of withdrawal. Management of withdrawal symptoms is vital to the comfort of the individual during detox. In a residential setting, such as in an inpatient detox center, patients have access to medical intervention that may include various medications to help control symptoms of withdrawal.

Drug Conflicts

Oftentimes, patients who detox at home don’t realize that other drugs that they take can cause them to experience side effects that may make the process of detoxification more dangerous or difficult to cope with. Drug conflicts can arise as a result of a user taking other prescriptions, using home remedies such as aspirin or ibuprofen or as a result of using other street drugs during the process of attempting a home opiate detox.

Pain Management

Many people who become addicted to opiates do so as a result of being prescribed opiates for the treatment or management of chronic pain associated with injury or illness. Unfortunately, when you attempt to detox at home, pain management is not part of the process and as such there is an intense risk that the pain that will be experienced when the medication is not taken will be so severe that coping will seem downright impossible and resorting back (relapsing) to opiate use will ultimately become inevitable.