If you or someone you love has struggled with addiction, it might be time to consider a detox center. But what is detox, and how do you know what to look for in a detox center?
What does Detox Mean?
Detox is a shortened version of detoxification. Detoxification is a procedure where your body removes any remaining drugs. Detox helps you manage your withdrawal symptoms in a safe way so that you can overcome drug and alcohol abuse.
A detox center that helps you with the process usually removes residual drugs from your body with regular medications. These medications mimic a few of the effects of your drugs to reduce the symptoms and the severity of your symptoms over the course of the first few days or a few weeks. Medications can also be prescribed during this process to help relieve psychological or physical discomfort and target any concurrent disorders you have.
Why is it Important to Not Detox at Home?
It is very important not to detox at home because certain drugs can be dangerous, with withdrawal symptoms that can cause serious dehydration, seizures, potential health complications, even death. A serious withdrawal can be fatal if you don’t have regular support and medical monitoring. For these reasons, it is crucial that you turn to professional detox centers for help and that you know what to look for in a detox center.
How Can a Professional Detox Center Help Me?
A professional can help you by creating a customized detox plan. Customized plans are developed based on the types of drugs you use. Different drugs will produce primarily physical or psychological withdrawal symptoms, and some of them can take up to two weeks before the worst of your withdrawal symptoms are dealt with. A professional detox center can:
- Help create a customized plan that focuses on your specific needs
- Be on hand to provide medications to manage withdrawal symptoms
- Prevent serious complications like seizures, severe dehydration, or death
- Offer a supportive environment in which to detox where you are most comfortable
Alcohol withdrawal usually takes about seven days and the first few days have anxiety, shaking, and insomnia with possible fevers, seizures, or hallucinations by the third or fourth day. After one week, all of these symptoms start to diminish. During that time, however medical professionals can help alleviate the risk of seizures or hallucinations, keep your fever down to a manageable level, and give you medication to help with insomnia. If you are detoxing from multiple substances like alcohol and cocaine, the alcohol will manifest with primarily physical symptoms, while the cocaine comes with mostly psychological symptoms. So, the staff could help manage your anxiety and your cravings while also managing the physical withdrawal symptoms of alcohol.
A professional detox center can also help by keeping you comfortable. Withdrawal symptoms can be incredibly uncomfortable and, in some cases, so severe that they prevent you from quitting a habit on your own. Some of the most common side effects include:
- Anxiety that may be impossible to deal with on your own
- Physical discomfort like shaking or muscle pain
- Insomnia
- Nausea and vomiting
- Mood swings
- Hallucinations
No matter what your withdrawal symptoms might be, cravings, problems with sleep, irritability, dry heaving, or palpitations can all be managed with proper medical supervision and other medications. You might find that your success rate is significantly higher when you turn to a center that can provide the most comfortable space possible in which to overcome your symptoms.
Knowing what to look for in a detox center can help you figure out which professional organization is the best fit for your situation.
Finding a Detox Center in Dallas, TX
With Dallas Detox, we help every client undergo a medical evaluation before the detox process to customize a program for them. No two people will struggle in the same fashion. This means that each person needs a customized detox program that takes into consideration the mixture of drugs or alcohol they abused, their medical history, their current level of health, and other factors. At our facility, we provide 24-hour medical monitoring with staff checking vitals and on hand to provide any medications necessary to keep you stable during your program. After the initial withdrawal symptoms have been managed, we work with each of our patients to create a long-term treatment plan to help reduce the chance of relapse.
Let Dallas Detox help you through the most essential step in your recovery.
