According to the National Library of Medicine, opioid drugs are one of the most addictive on the market today. Most people who are addicted to them wind up that way by accident. There are many treatment options for opiate addiction but inpatient treatment tends to be the most effective for this particular addiction. Sometimes it takes a full staff of experts in order to help you deal with an opioid addiction.

What is Opioid Withdrawal Treatment?

The first step of opioid withdrawal treatment is recognizing its symptoms, like nausea and vomiting.

Opioid withdrawal treatment is the processes of assisting someone get over the symptoms of opioid addiction and withdrawal. This may be a lengthy process that lasts anywhere from a few weeks to a few months depending on the individual addiction. The first step in treatment is recognizing opioid withdrawal. These symptoms are:

• nausea,
• vomiting,
• sweating,
• dry mouth,
• chills,
• fever,
• anxiety,
• depression,
• loss of pleasure,
• muscle cramping, aches, and pains,
• loss of interest, and
• abdominal cramping.

Although these symptoms do not seem all that bad when read, the severity of the symptoms is often described as intense and debilitating. Many of these symptoms combined cause people to relapse and start taking the opioid drug again.

There are also some classic signs of opioid addiction that show up when someone is misusing an opioid drug. These are things that you might experience or that you can watch for in a loved one if you suspect they are addicted to opioid drugs. These symptoms are:

• loss of pleasure in normally pleasurable activities,
• cravings for the drug,
• uncontrollable desire to use the drug,
• phantom pain,
• tolerance to the drug, and
• taking beyond the recommended dose.

There are more social and behavioral signs of addiction. Each person is different, so the signs of use and addiction might be slightly different. If you think that you are addicted, you probably are and need treatment for that addiction.

Why Would Someone Need Inpatient Opioid Withdrawal Treatment?

Inpatient treatment is an individual choice. Many people need inpatient treatment for a variety of reasons. A few of these reasons are:

• their home environment is unsafe,
• they have triggers in their home that they cannot be around while they are in withdrawal,
• they need medical support during withdrawal,
• they need mental health support during withdrawal due to an underlying condition,
• they are homeless and need a place to stay while they go through treatment. In this case inpatient treatment can help them with the addiction and the homelessness,
• they have issues with relapsing while trying other methods,
• their life does not allow them to detox without returning to the drug due to stress or other circumstances, and
• they need to be monitored while they are in detox for other reasons.

These are not the only reasons why someone might need inpatient detox. Each person is different and may have their own reasons for participating in an inpatient program.

How to Choose an Inpatient Treatment Center

When you are considering an inpatient treatment, the treatment center should at least cover the basics of treatment. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the basic forms of treatment are:

• medical treatment – medical treatment comes in three forms.

o replacement – using drugs like methadone, Suboxone, buprenorphine, subutex, and other opiate replacement drugs. These stop the opiate withdrawal and allow the patient to deal with the psychological issues of addiction and pain management without having the illness associated with coming off opiates.

o management – medications given to manage the symptoms of the withdrawal. These medications can be simple over the counter drugs to stop the symptoms or more complex prescription medications.

o psychiatric medications – these medications are given to treat the underlying mental illness or cause of the addiction. They can also be used to stop the psychological symptoms of withdrawal.

• counseling – counseling plays a major part in any treatment addiction program. It starts by helping you determine the cause of the addiction and helps you manage the psychological symptoms that are left as a result of the addiction. Counseling comes in two forms.

o individual counseling is counseling that is in a one on one setting. The therapist works with you individually to work through the cause and consequences of your addiction.

o group counseling, this type of counseling has the therapist as a conductor while other people with addictions play the main part. Group counseling allows people to share their experiences. The people in the group learn they are not alone in their struggles against addiction and can offer each other support.

• Combined treatments – combined treatments are combinations of all treatments. Although many treatment centers offer combined treatments, not all of them do. It is important to check with your treatment center to find out if they are willing to mix and match treatment plans to help you find the one that is best for you.

The Choice is Yours

Overcoming addiction is one of the hardest things that many people will ever do. Treatment programs can help you accomplish this but finding the best inpatient treatment program may be difficult, especially if it is your first time. We can help you select the correct treatment program. Call  800-442-6158 Who Answers?  for more information on selecting the best treatment program for you.