Drug Withdrawal Symptoms, Timelines, and Treatment

Drug withdrawal can range from sleeplessness to fever, goosebumps, and more severe withdrawal symptoms. According to the CDC, 95% of people who go through detox and withdrawal without medical support will relapse. You don’t, and you shouldn’t go through the process alone. A local addiction doctor can help. Here is what you need to know about drug withdrawal.

Why You Should Have Help

Drug withdrawal is uncomfortable and can be life-threatening. A local addiction doctor can help to ease the transition safely. Your body has gotten used to the drug. Suddenly, stopping on your own can endanger your life. A local addiction doctor can supervise your withdrawal to reduce the risk of serious life-threatening side effects of withdrawal.

Changing your body chemistry alone can be a recipe for failure. Medical supervision is the safest way to detox. You don’t have to go it alone and deal with risks; there is help.

Different Substances Have Different Withdrawal Symptoms

Withdrawal can be physiological and psychological. Any substance you take regularly has altered your body chemistry and how you think. Withdrawal times and symptoms can range greatly depending on the type of substance.

Some common symptoms can include tremors, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, seizures, paranoia, anxiety, and feelings of depression. For example, hallucinations are common in alcohol withdrawal. Vomiting and severe painful stomach cramps are common with opiate withdrawal. Withdrawal from different substances generates different symptoms. In every case, the process is very uncomfortable and requires support.

Timelines for Withdrawal

Timelines for withdrawal, like withdrawal symptoms, will vary among substances. For example, withdrawal from Benzodiazepines can take about a week for the symptoms to kick in but can take about three weeks to subside. Heroin and opiate withdrawal symptoms start about 24 hours after the last dose and subside after 72 hours.

Cocaine withdrawal symptoms are not physiological but psychological. However, there is still a period of withdrawal that can include irritability, anxiousness, and depression that can last up to three weeks.

The support of a local addiction doctor can help you detox and withdraw from a wide range of substances comfortably and successfully. Make an appointment today to learn how you can safely stop. You don’t have to do this alone.