What is Detox?
Detox, short for detoxification, is often the first step of the drug rehab or alcohol rehab, treatment process.
Withdrawal is the term used to describe the body’s reaction to the removal of any substance it has come to be dependent on.
Detox is the first step because until there is no alcohol or drugs in a person’s body, withdrawal can cause severe craving for more. Additionally, while in a drug or alcohol induced state, a person is not fully prepared to participate in the educational and therapeutic process of rehab and treatment. Until the detox process is complete, someone is simply not ready for rehab, treatment and recovery.
Withdrawal is caused by stopping or dramatically reducing drug use after heavy and prolonged use. The reaction frequently includes sweating, shaking, headache, drug craving, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, diarrhea, inability to sleep, confusion, agitation, depression, anxiety, and other behavioural changes. During this period substitute medications such as Methadone or Subutex (in the case of Heroin detox) are prescribed to reduce these symptoms and ease the unpleasantness. The quantity of these substitute medications prescribed is then reduced under control over a relatively short period of time until the medications is stoped completely. During a detox other medications may be used to ease other co-existing symptoms such as the lack of sleep often experienced.
Certain types of drugs require a period of medical detox; others do not. Opiates, such as heroin and methadone do require medical detox. Prescription medications, of all classifications, require medically supervised detox. Other illegal drugs, such as marijuana, crystal meth and cocaine and crack do not require medical detox although some people who have been using these drugs very heavily or for a particularly long time may need some medicating during early treatment to ease the process of stopping their use.