Withdrawal Symptoms From Opiate Addiction Can Be Very Severe

There are medical risks associated with the withdrawal from opiate type drugs up to and including death dependant on a variety of health related circumstances. This is why a medical professional should always play a major role in the sudden withdrawal from opiates, especially when large quantities are used frequently. Opiate withdrawal symptoms will occur if opiate use is abruptly discontinued because opiates are physically addicting. As it happens in any addiction, the body will simply adapt to the presence of the opiate.

Not in itself a treatment for addiction, detoxification is a useful step only when it leads into long-term treatment that is either drug-free (residential or outpatient) or uses medications as part of the treatment. The best documented drug-free treatments are the therapeutic community residential programs lasting 3 to 6 months. No matter how you got addicted, once dependant, you need to endure the pains of opiate detox. Few people have the strength to go it alone, and when the pains get bad and pills can be bought at the nearest pharmacy, it's hard to maintain resolve.

The philosophy behind the detoxification program for opiates is generally to switch the individual from short-acting opioids, which are more highly addictive, to long-acting opioids. It is much easier to slowly taper or cut back on a long-acting opioid than a short-acting opioid, thus leading to fewer withdrawal symptoms. Until recently their has almost always been a healthy stigma attached to opiate addiction. Not only society's general consensus was "Once a heroin addict, always a heroin addict."

Avoiding the severe pain, nausea, agitation, sweats and other symptoms of opiate withdrawal are among the many reasons addicts are motivated to continue taking drugs. Now, researchers have found that disrupting the brain's stress-response mechanism exacerbates behavioral withdrawal symptoms in mice, and that giving the mice the hormone corticosterone alleviates those symptoms. However, because they don't have the psychological attachment to the drug seen in addiction, withdrawal symptoms are often less distressing. Some people are able to complete the withdrawal in less than two weeks but for most people the process takes months or even years.
While individual real-life experiences can be a valuable health resource, they must be viewed in the context of evidence-based data and are not a substitute for medical advice.

You should always consult a qualified health care professional before beginning, changing or stopping a treatment. One of the most widely prescribed medications, Vicodin and its related medications, loricet, loritab percodan, and oxycontin are opioid-based pain medications. Vicodin is a derivative of opium, which also used to manufacture heroin. Although many people use pain pills or pain medication for legitimate use, there are many individuals who wind up addicted to pain pills, narcotic medications and other pain medications.

Opiate Withdraw Symptoms Tend To Be Severe For Most Recovering Addicts

Opiate withdrawal symptoms are too severe to go through on your own, which will often lead to a return to opiate addiction. A quality opiate detox program should be a medically based program complete with 24-hour nursing, 24-hour addiction treatment staff and a physician trained in addiction medicine (A.S.A.M). Opiate addiction is a very serious illness, which can lead to depression, hopelessness, and sometimes death. While opiate abuse can take many forms, the general effect of any opiate is pain relief. Depression is very common for most people in withdrawal and it can be quite acute. The depression that most people feel is centered around the guilt and shame of their predicament.

Abruptly stopping the use of opiates can cause withdrawal symptoms to begin, which can be life threatening. The words opiates and opioids are often used interchangeably. Depressive symptoms can last up to two years once a person has discontinued their use of crystal meth. Individuals need both medical and psychological treatment in order to overcome this dangerous addiction.

Withdrawal symptoms from opiate addiction are basically like waking up every morning into a panic-state of hell. The symptoms can include but are not limited to: sweating, stomach cramping, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, muscle aches, hot and cold chills, bone pain, insomnia, panic, runny nose, dilated pupils and restlessness. Very unpleasant and very memorable. Although even psychological dependence ends up manifesting physiological symptoms (i.e., anxiety, sweating). cravings and other withdrawal symptoms can trigger relapse, even after a period of abstinence.

Some addiction patients complain that these symptoms last up to 2-5 weeks. All of these symptoms can be quite pronounced, causing the patient to revert back to their original drug use. Withdrawal is characterized by excessive sleeping, eating and depression-like symptoms, often accompanied by anxiety and drug-craving.
As with any drug addiction, the body has adapted to the presence of the opiate and opiate withdrawal symptoms will occur if opiate use is abruptly discontinued. If you are opiate dependant or suffer from opiate addiction, it is not recommended you just “stop” taking opiates without consulting an addiction professional and entering an opiate detox program. Short-acting opiates tend to produce more intense but briefer symptoms. The effect of a single dose of heroin, a relatively short-acting drug, lasts 4–6 hours, and the withdrawal reaction typically lasts for about a week but in some cases may last up to four weeks depending upon the length of time the person was addicted to the drug.