Detox off Drugs

Archive for October, 2009

Suboxone for detox

Suboxone is a new drug that aids the detox of narcotic and opiate drug addiction. The cold turkey detox off of full opiate agonists like vicodin or heroin can be excruciating and the fear of the pains of detox is more than enough to keep a lot of people using for far too long. What suboxone can do is lessen the intensity of these pains, making a short detox far more bearable. The detox may still be uncomfortable but nowhere near as tough as it would be unmedicated.

Patients go into detox and as soon as they enter into the beginning of full withdrawal they are given either suboxone or subutex which once appropriately dosed takes away all of the immediate and intense withdrawal symptoms of the more severe withdrawal from pain pills or heroin. Patients are stabilized at a dosage of suboxone for a few days and then the dosage of suboxone is gradually tapered off  down to nothing within a day of the end of a detox period.

Patients will still feel withdrawal pains because suboxone is an opiate and therefore has a syndrome of withdrawal of its own.  By transferring onto the longer acting and less intoxicating opiate the transition through withdrawal  pains of detox become far more manageable.

After about 10 days the worst of withdrawal symptoms from the suboxone will have ended, although some lingering symptoms can endure for a month or more. Following the end of detoxification, most patients transition into a residential treatment phase, learning strategies they’ll need to stay clean over the long haul, and avoid another painful period of detoxification.

Using suboxone for a transition detoxification off of opiates of abuse makes the process far more humane, and by ending suboxone therapy within days, you lessen the need for an intense and difficult detox off of the suboxone…truly the best of both worlds.

Detox is never easy, and although suboxone can help a lot, it’s still a challenging period; but with suboxone you can make it, and once you’ve detoxed you’re truly ready to participate in the therapies and education of relapse avoidance that will ensure that you’ll never get hooked again.  You can get clean, suboxone can help.

This is a question that I have been asked by parents, friends and many other concerned loved ones in my life and there is no real way to answer except through first hand accounts of my own experiences with drugs and addiction. I can still remember the first time that I realized I was physically addicted to a drug; it was twelve years ago and a night I will never forget. I had been using heroin for my first three-month stretch but I thought that I had things under control. I been snorting two or three bags every few days and thought of myself as a recreational user.  So when the night came that I ran out of dope I thought nothing of it, the idea of withdrawal never entered my mind. As the dusk turned into darkness I began to feel this awkward tension running through my body, my muscles would not sit still. I felt a cold drip of sweat roll down my back and then another, what was going on? Then this strange confusion began to set in as to whether I was falling ill or perhaps, could it be that I had developed a habit. Well as the minutes passed and my agitation grew stronger and stronger the truth became clear, that I was dope sick and in need of some more heroin quick or else I would continue to become sicker and sicker.  At this moment I realized that I was indeed addicted, but to be called an addict that was still not something that I was comfortable with and a story for another day.

This will be a place where I will post about my own experience with drug addiction and the pains that come along with it. There are three major areas I would like to cover including the process and experience of detoxing off of drugs. I have struggled with addiction to pain medication and heroin for over 10 years and I know that my experience with all of the various detox methods that I have encountered will be of use to many other people struggling with an addiction to drugs. The second area that I would like to cover is my own experience with the many detox, rehabilitation centers and sober living establishments that I have been to throughout the years of my addiction. I began using as a teenager when I was living in the New York area and moved to South Florida at 19 so I have covered a lot of terrain. Finally I would like to post research on current events and relevant news concerning the areas of addiction, detox and recovery methods. There is always someone or something new coming out claiming they have found the answer to a “pain free” withdrawal and this will be the place to find the truth on such claims.