If you are taking opioids legally or otherwise and stop or decrease the amount, chances are high; you will suffer from physical symptoms of withdrawal. The risk of experiencing opiate withdrawal increases with prolonged use of increasingly higher dosages. Because the opioids medication and illicit substances physically affect specific sectors of your brain, your body has to adjust to its removal. This takes time. Your body has to adjust to the new norm – a body with only naturally occurring and not artificially added opioids.
Categories and Symptoms
At treatment centers in Fort Lauderdale, afflicted individuals work with medical professionals to decrease or even eliminate the painful process and symptoms of opiate withdrawal. Such symptoms range widely and may include the following:
- Abdominal cramping
- Anxiety
- Diarrhea
- Excessive sweating
- Muscle aches
- Nausea
- Rapid heartbeat
- Restlessness
- Runny nose
- Vomiting
The potential for exhibiting these categories and a past history of withdrawal symptoms act to place the patient into one of four categories: mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe. The medical professionals on staff or consulted will ensure the patient before entering the drug rehabilitation program or treatment center receives a proper diagnosis. As part of a treatment plan, they will work with them and their family or personal physicians to reduce the impact of withdrawal symptoms physically and emotionally as much as possible.
Treatment of Opiate Withdrawal
If you enter a treatment facility in Fort Lauderdale, the staff will look at medical records and talk about the degree of your addiction or dependency. They need to understand the specific effects the drug currently has on your body. This will help them prepare you physically and emotionally for opiate withdrawal. The most common method of helping you suppress and overcome the symptoms of withdrawal will involve medications. Depending upon the opiate, your medical history and the extent of your physical involvement with the opioid, the doctors and other medical professionals will determine the specific drug and its dosage.
