In my last blog post, we went over what opiate addiction does in a scientific term to a person, signs and symptoms to look for, and when to seek help.

I hope if you went through our assessment and it came back you needed help that you are already here. If not, that’s okay, but let me give you some more information about the detox process itself.

Addiction Recovery Process: What You’ll Feel

We will help you through this. I want to make that clear up front. You DO NOT need to do detox by yourself. It can be a frightening experience and no one needs to go through that alone.  We know and understand opiate addiction and the detox process.  So here is what they will experience during the actual withdrawal.

The common opiate withdrawal symptoms include:

  • Cravings to use the drugs

  • Nausea

  • Cramps

  • Sweating

  • Chills or goose bumps

  • Bone Pain

  • Insomnia

  • The Shakes

  • Anxiety

  • Muscle aches

  • Irritation or agitation

  • Diarrhea

  • Dilated pupils

  • Vomiting

Most of the time, opiate withdrawal symptoms are non-life threatening such as the ones listed above, but in rare cases there is a risk of some dangerous opiate withdrawal symptoms occurring. This is based wholly on the severity of the opiate addiction and the length of time that the individual has been addicted.

If your loved one is detoxing and suffers from a seizure, a spiked fever, or coma during opiate withdrawals seek immediate medical help by calling 911. For additional information on drug addiction go here.

Detoxing is not a pleasant experience. We know that. My goal here was to prepare you for what you would see as normal, not normal, and what is just part of the process. Next time, we will go over detox programs so make sure and check back with us.

-Paul