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Addiction Detox Drugs

Addiction treatment can be a difficult and trying time on the body and mind. Whether the substance you abuse be alcohol, opiates, cocaine or any other dangerous substance, detoxing from it can be the hardest part. Thankfully, there are medications available that can help lower the difficulty of detox and help to prevent relapse in the future.

  1. Withdrawal In Detox

    • The main reason detoxing is hard on an addict is withdrawal symptoms when trying to quit. Symptoms can include sweating, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, depression, headache, shaking or quivering and a general flulike feeling. Often withdrawal symptoms can be reason enough for an addict to start abusing again. Detox medications help alleviate some of these symptoms in order to make the process, which typically takes a week to 10 days, easier to handle for the body and mind.

    Methadone

    • A popular drug for detoxing, methadone is a synthetic narcotic often used to treat addiction to opiates such as Oxycontin and heroin. A strong medication, methadone is taken once a day in most cases and can suppress withdrawal symptoms for 24 to 36 hours. It does this by attaching to the opiate receptor in your brain, where opiates attach to release dopamine, and blocks opiates while lessening the craving for them. While it does not produce the intense high of opiates, it somewhat keeps your body in a normal and noncraving state as your system detoxes from opiates.

    Suboxone

    • Another drug used to treat opiate addiction is Suboxone, which contains buprenorphine. Buprenorphine also works to stimulate the opiate receptors in the brain. Suboxone, however, also contains naloxone, which can attach itself to opiate receptors, but instead of producing a high it produces withdrawal symptoms. The reason for the presence of naloxone is to encourage patients to take Suboxone as it is intended: placed under the tongue and dissolved, in which case the level of naloxone would not affect them. However, if a patient attempted to inject Suboxone, as many opiates are taken, they would immediately begin to feel withdrawal effects instead of an opiate high.

    Naltrexone

    • Naltrexone, also known under the names Revia and Trexan, not only treats opiate addiction, but is one of the few FDA-approved drugs that can also be used to treat alcohol addiction. Like other detox drugs, naltrexone works on the opiate or "pleasure" receptors in the brain. When used in alcohol addiction, it is taken along with counseling, therapy and other forms of treatment as a way to not only curb initial cravings, but also prevent future cravings and relapse.

    Clonidine

    • Clonidine is a drug often used in treating alcohol withdrawal symptoms like delirium tremens. Delirium tremens occurs when serious physical or neurological changes occur in the body due to the lack of alcohol in the system. Symptoms can include severe mental changes, hallucinations, high blood pressure and seizures. Clonidine helps to lower blood pressure and create a physically calm state, which is why it is effective in fighting the hyper-tense effects of delirium tremens. It's also good in treating mental anxiety related to withdrawal from alcohol as well as other substances such as opiates.

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