Alcohol / Drug Medical Detox Programs in Cambridge MA (877) 804-1531
Medical detox can be highly beneficial for patients who are seeking to recover from drug or alcohol addictions. Performed by trained medical professionals in a sober, sterile drug treatment facility, medical detox offers a reprieve from withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal can be a stressful and painful experience, both physically and mentally. Having the expertise of doctors and addiction therapists at hand can help addicts feel more confident as they enter recovery rehab.
For more information on this and other addiction treatments, speak with the specialists at Drug Treatment Centers Cambridge. Call (877) 804-1531.
What Detox Is
Detox is the process by which a person eliminates the drug or alcohol they are addicted to from their system. This process encompasses the time period in which a person's body eliminates the drug from their system and the substance completely leaves the body. Additionally, detox encompasses the body's reaction to the process. Those reactions are known as withdrawal symptoms.
Detox works by breaking a person's physical addiction to drugs or alcohol. The physical addiction a person develops occurs due to the chemical reaction that the drug has with the brain and nervous system when it enters the body. With prolonged substance abuse, a person's brain and nervous system begin to modify the way that they operate to only perform certain functions when the drug tells them to do so. This is the essence of a physical addiction.
Detox works to break that addiction by denying the brain and body that substance and forcing it to readjust to working without it. In a medical detox setting, this is accomplished gradually with the use of prescription drugs that can help to make the process easier.
Why it's Important to Detox Slowly Rather than Abruptly
A slow rather than abrupt detox is important for several reasons. The first reason is safety. An abrupt detox can send a person's body into shock which can cause several problems including catastrophic organ damage and failure.
Additionally, the withdrawal symptoms that a person experiences in an abrupt withdrawal scenario come on strong and fast. This means the withdrawal symptoms can be extremely severe and uncomfortable for the person attempting to overcome their physical addiction to drugs or alcohol.
Home detox is almost exclusively abrupt detox. In that way, home detox is dangerous. Additionally, no matter what form of detox a person undergoes, they may experience severe symptoms of withdrawal. This means that they may experience symptoms that require immediate medical attention. That attention is unavailable at home away from a medical facility.
Some Symptoms of Withdrawal
Different drugs cause their own unique withdrawals symptoms. Some of those include:
Meth Withdrawal
- Paranoia
- Psychosis
- Intense depression
- Lethargy and extreme tiredness
Alcohol Withdrawal
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Fevers
- Hallucinations
OxyContin Withdrawal
- Extreme body aches
- Intense abdominal pain
- Diarrhea
- Fast heart beat
How Medical Detox Triggers Relapse Without Treatment
When a person goes through detox, they break the physical addiction that they have to the drug or alcohol. However, this is not the entire addiction problem. Drug and alcohol addictions are both mental and physical. As such, detox alone leaves a person with a mental addiction to the substance.
This mental addiction will lead a person to relapse shortly after detox. However, with proper treatment for the mental side of an addiction including individual and group therapy, family therapy and even art or music therapy.
Drug Treatment Centers Cambridge will get you the medical detox that you need when you are ready. Give us a call at (877) 804-1531.