Medical Detox in Charleston SC (877) 804-1531
Medical detox is the process through which a person gets the drug or alcohol that they are addicted to out of their body. This elimination of the addicted substance causes the body and mind to react negatively to the denial of the substance they have come to rely on. This reaction to the detox process is known as withdrawal. Detox is designed to also address those withdrawal symptoms and to manage them to prevent severe medical complications and unnecessary discomfort.
Help is available to all addicts and their families. Call drug rehab Charleston SC at (877) 804-1531 to find the treatment centers in your area.
The Purpose of Medical Detox
Medical detox works by breaking a person's chemical dependence or physical addiction to the addicted drug or alcohol. When a person develops a chemical dependence to a drug, it means that their brain has adjusted to the effects of the drug when it enters the system so that it does not perform the actions that the drug triggers without the drug in the body. To break this, detox denies the body the addicted substance to force the body and brain to relearn how to function on its own.
Medical Detox is Safer
A slow, gradual detox is far preferable to an abrupt and sudden form of detox. Abrupt detox is intense and can cause numerous physical and emotional problems for the addicted person. However, in a medical detox facility, a person can slowly and incrementally detox. This is accomplished through prescription medications administered by a physician that are designed to simultaneously counter the effects of the addicted substance and to give the brain just enough of a taste of the effects of the addicted substance to get it to perform the actions it needs to in order to function properly.
Detoxing at home is highly problematic. The first issue is that the addicted person often detoxes cold turkey at home. This means they abruptly shock their system into immediate withdrawals. This can cause sudden and intense withdrawals that may either be medically dangerous or feel so extreme that the addicted person gives up in the middle of the detox process and relapses. Both of these potential outcomes can have serious and permanent medical consequences.
Severe withdrawal symptoms require immediate medical attention which is not available at home. And the process of shocking the body into withdrawals, relapsing, and then trying to detox again takes a terrible toll on the body and can cause permanent damage to organs such as the heart, kidneys, and liver.
Withdrawal Symptoms
Every addictive drug will cause withdrawals when the addicted person attempts to detox. However, these symptoms vary depending on the individual drug and the effects that it had on the body when it was being abused. Some of the more common symptoms of withdrawal for certain drugs include:
Alcohol Withdrawal
- Nausea/vomiting
- Tremors
- Headaches
- Seizures
- Heart palpitations
Meth Withdrawal
- Anxiety
- Paranoia
- Aches and pains
- Depression
- Psychosis and hallucinations
- Aggression or anger
OxyContin Withdrawal
- Severe aches and pains
- Cold sweats
- Diarrhea
- Depression
When you are ready to overcome your addiction, give drug rehab Charleston SC a call at (877) 804-1531 to get started in your addiction recovery process and find a treatment center that will best suit your needs.