Dilaudid Addiction and Detox – What Should be Expected?
If someone you love has been suffering from Dilaudid addiction, you may be wondering what is in store for them once they enter rehab and start detoxifying their system of the drug. While you know all forms of drug detox are uncomfortable to some extent, you have every right to worry about your loved one getting off of this drug in particular.
Addictions to prescription strength painkillers are nothing new or shocking these days. Drugs are more widely available today for most people with access to standard medical care, and this includes serious controlled narcotics such as Dilaudid. Yet, the symptoms that are suffered during withdrawal from Dilaudid addiction can be a lot more severe than what is experienced with withdrawal from most other types of painkillers.
This is because many other painkillers work by controlling pain receptors in the brain and therefore the symptoms suffered while going off the drug tend to be more mental than physical. Yet, those suffering through Dilaudid addiction must go through some of the most extreme physical discomforts while getting the drug out of their system.
For starters, the inability to sleep and tossing and turning with profuse sweating and uncontrollable shaking are very common while detoxing from Dilaudid addiction. Some people may also experience uncontrollable sneezing, yawning and kicking a well. Involuntary muscle spasms in other areas of the body may occur as well. Chills and shivering are likely to occur as well.
As if feeling out of control of their body is not enough, someone suffering trying to escape Dilaudid addiction may also throw up, run a fever, or find their heart racing faster than normal. Their respiratory rate may also increase, so it is very important that trained medical professionals be close at hand while going through the withdrawal process.
All of this could start as early as four hours after the last does of Dilaudid is taken, which is why it is so difficult for most people with Dilaudid addiction to get off of the drug on their own. The longer they are on the medication the harder it will eventually be to give it up, since the oncoming of those discomforts will lead to a desperate desire to take more medication.
The duration of withdrawals can be different for everyone, but typically you can expect the bulk of the discomforts to be over within a 10 days. Some people may feel better in a week while others may need a couple weeks to really start feeling some relief. That is a very long time to be suffering through most of these physical discomforts so expect them to be temperamental, anxious, and irritable as well through at least some of it.
It is extremely difficult to imagine someone you love going through this type of misery, but in the long run it is well worth the trouble. For those who have come to their Dilaudid addiction without any medical need for pain management, ongoing therapy is essential to uncover the deeper reasons the addiction started to begin with. For others who started due to a legitimate need for pain management but need to finally get of the drug for one reason or another, there could still be some lingering emotional problems to work through as a result of the difficult addiction process.
