You’re worried about your use of drugs or alcohol. You’ve finally reached the point where you’re ready to get help, but you’re worried about detox. If you’re wondering what to expect during detox, our detox specialists can help ease any concerns. It’s a challenging process that will vary for every individual. The drug and alcohol detox center in Ohio works to make it as easy as possible.
The main purpose of detox is to help get you to sobriety and continuing addiction treatment programs. The first step of that journey is detox, where you stop abusing substances and turn your attention to building a better, healthier, more positive life. You can expect detox to be a lot of hard work. But at the other end of it lies recovery and a brighter future.
What Is Detox and Why Is It Important?
Detox is a process where your body adjusts to a new lack of drinking or drug use. It’s the first step on the road to recovery. You cannot hope to get to the next stages of recovery if you continue to seek out, use, and crave drugs or alcohol.
It would be nice if we could “just stop” and have all our problems go away. But drug and alcohol use literally reprogram how our brains work. It alters the balance of brain chemistry. Unless you’re putting these extra chemicals in, your body isn’t working right. And it responds with withdrawal symptoms.
Withdrawal can be mild or severe and includes symptoms such as:
- Anxiety
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Interrupted sleep
- Headache
- Tremors
- Moodiness
- Fever or flu-like symptoms
Detox involves the process of managing the symptoms of withdrawal to get you ready for the next stages of recovery. Let’s try to understand what to expect during detox to prepare you for men’s and women’s detox programs.
What to Expect During Detox
Detox can take on many forms. It can be relatively quick and self-contained, or it can last a period of up to 90 days or longer. It can be on an inpatient basis or can be handled in an outpatient setting.
The most important thing to know about what to expect during detox is that you are not alone. Detox recognizes that experiencing withdrawal can be severe and sometimes even life-threatening. So during detox, you will have various health care providers working with you to keep you safe and comfortable. The idea is to mitigate the effects of withdrawal as your body eliminates the drugs or alcohol from your system. If needed, you may also be monitored in a medical detox program to mitigate severe symptoms.
From there, you proceed to the next stages of treatment with counseling and aftercare.
What About Relapse?
You deserve many congratulations when you graduate at last from treatment. Unfortunately, your journey isn’t over. Once treatment ends, aftercare begins. Aftercare services involve resources to lower the risk of substance abuse from returning.
Unfortunately, the rate of relapse in addiction treatment is significant. It’s not because of any weakness in the people receiving the treatment — it’s just a measure of the challenge of addiction. An estimated 40 percent to 60 percent of people relapse into substance abuse in the first year after treatment according to information from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Even beyond the first year, people with substance abuse can backslide. Substance use disorders are chronic. They can go into remission but are never permanently cured. That’s how powerful the abuse of drugs or alcohol is on the brain.
Aftercare may involve continued counseling, or medication, or participation in 12 step anonymous programs. Make the best use of these resources.
Detox at Midwest Detox Center
You have the strength to make it through detox, with the right professional help. Midwest Detox Center will provide you the support to guide you not just through detox, but to recovery and sobriety. Midwest Detox Center helps you manage the process of withdrawal through our drug detox programs. We also offer drug-specific services that include:
Don’t go it alone. Your future awaits. Contact us 833.647.0392 today, before another day goes by, for a confidential consultation.