Morphine, heroin, OxyContin, Vicodin, and Demerol are just a few examples of habit-forming substances. It’s easy to fall victim to addiction involving one or more of these opium-derived products. For example, did you know that prescription drugs quickly become gateways for heroin? No matter which substance you’re dealing with, opiate addiction treatment is the right way to quit.
What Makes Opiates so Addictive?
Opiates make you feel good. They stop the pain. Doing so is possible because they interrupt pain impulses from the spinal cord to the brain. When you overdo the dose, you get feelings of euphoria.
But there’s a price to pay. For starters, the chemicals in the drugs re-write your brain’s chemistry. They make the release of dopamine, the neurotransmitter that gives you feelings of well-being, dependent on their presence. As a result, your body now needs the drugs to feel good–never mind the absence of pain.
The vicious cycle continues. Prescription opiates have a built-in saturation point, at which the body becomes used to their presence. To achieve the same pain-relieving results, you now have to increase the dose. This process continues until the next point in time when your body demands a higher dose of the substance.
There is another downside. The more you use opiates as painkillers, the more likely you are to suffer from pain. Your body develops a tolerance to the substances and they stop working. In some situations, they damage receptors in the brain, which makes you more sensitive to pain.
By now, the body believes that it needs opiates to function. Counteracting the process calls for a medically supervised opiate addiction treatment in a facility. Some people think they can detox at home by themselves. Doing so is dangerous and unnecessarily painful.
What Happens During Opiate Detox In A Opiate Addiction Treatment Center?
Addiction recovery begins with an intake interview. A counselor learns about your medical history, drug use, and withdrawal symptom risk factors. These symptoms are the signs that the body is in the process of recovering from the chemicals. Connections that the drugs suppressed come back online.
For you, this feels like your muscles ache, and you suffer from gastrointestinal upset. You might be sweating and yawning profusely. You feel agitated but don’t exactly know why. As the symptoms increase in severity, you may experience depression and flu-like pains.
One of the dangers during this phase of rehab is the possibility of dehydration. If you vomit or suffer from diarrhea, you need medical assistance to keep your body strong and healthy. Hand in hand with this problem is an imbalance of electrolytes. Medical experts will counteract this possibility right away with IV treatments if needed.
Remember that opiate addiction treatment doesn’t have to be painful. Because of your intake interview’s precise nature, medical professionals monitor your vitals and know when to step in. They help you stay comfortable throughout the process and protect your physiological health as the toxins leave the body.
Serenity House Detox & Recovery offers several modalities that make addiction treatment comfortable and efficient. Therapy options include:
- Gender-specific treatment that meets your emotional and safety needs based simply on the way you naturally think and react
- Medical detox, which ensures safety and treatment of side effects that withdrawal brings
- Customized opiate addiction treatment that experts tailor for you, specifically, rather than trusting a one-size-fits-all approach
- Talk and group therapy sessions that assist you with goal setting during your stay at the facility
- A whole-person approach to care that offers chiropractic and meditation therapies to help with comfort
Do You Need A Opiate Addiction Treatment Center Houston?
If you’re struggling with a prescription drug abuse, detox at an opiate addiction treatment facility makes sense. You don’t have to suffer from the dangerous side effects this kind of addiction brings. Moreover, you don’t have to deal with the adverse physiological effects that the drugs forced on you. Dial 866.516.8356 today to connect with the expert addiction counselors at Serenity House Detox & Recovery for immediate help.
