Benefits of Detoxing from Oxycodone in a Detox Center

Detoxing from the opioid oxycodone can be much more painful and difficult than most people realize before going through it. But if you do so in a detox center, the process is much smoother. There are a number of benefits to detoxing from oxycodone in a detox center.

If you’re ready to enter a detox center, call our toll-free helpline at 800-996-6135(Who Answers?) or send us a message to speak with a treatment specialist.

Detox Centers Provide Medication

Medications will alleviate oxycodone withdrawal symptoms so you can focus on recovery.

According to the National Library of Medicine, “Treatment [of opioid withdrawal] involves supportive care and medications.” Going through opioid detox, especially oxycodone detox, without the use of medications can be extremely painful. Opioids cause pain relief when an individual takes them, and over time, a person often becomes dependent on the pain relief and their tolerance for pain becomes much lower. If the same individual were to stop taking oxycodone completely, without tapering off the medication or taking another kind of pharmaceutical to minimize withdrawal symptoms, they would experience any type of pain at a much more intense degree, as well as bone, muscle, and joint pains in the first few days. Abdominal cramping can also follow, coupled with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

A detox center will usually offer one of the three medications to a patient, based on their specific needs:

• Clonidine: an antihypertensive that treats anxiety, agitation, aches and pains, sweating, cramps, and many of the flu-like symptoms caused by opioid withdrawal
• Methadone: an opioid agonist that reduces the symptoms of opioid withdrawal and also minimizes cravings
• Buprenorphine: a partial opioid agonist that reduces the symptoms of withdrawal and also minimizes cravings

With the use of one of these medications, the patient’s pain will be lessened significantly, and withdrawal will become much less difficult. Many individuals suffer during oxycodone withdrawal to the point where they start abusing the drug again just to make the symptoms stop; if you receive treatment at a detox clinic, your pain and difficult symptoms will be managed with medication, making it much easier to withdraw from the drug altogether.

Detox Centers are Safer

Receiving the proper treatment for oxycodone detox, and later oxycodone addiction, can reduce a person’s chances of relapse as compared to not receiving treatment at all. And because many individuals turn back to oxycodone abuse during detox simply because the withdrawal symptoms can often become unbearable, it is important for individuals to receive the proper care, especially during this time. During and after withdrawal can be very volatile times for an oxycodone abuser or addict, and a patient is usually much safer when they are being taken care of in a clinic that provides them with the proper treatment and refers them to the necessary addiction treatment after they finish detox. Those who try to withdraw on their own have a higher chance of relapse than those who go through a detox program that then refers them to addiction treatment.

Detox Clinics Provide Professional Help

The doctors, nurses, therapists, and volunteers who work at detox clinics understand the difficulty of what a detoxing individual is attempting to accomplish, and they will support you as you attend treatment to help end your dependence on oxycodone. In many cases, individuals who do not have a strong social support network at home benefit from the caring and understanding they find at detox clinics, and even those with supportive friends and family are often relieved when they are able to speak to someone who truly knows what they are going through.

In addition, detox clinics often provide many different kinds of treatment aside from just medication. Most clinics encourage their patients to see a therapist or a counselor who can help determine the need for addiction treatment as well as possibly discover any underlying co-occurring disorders like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or others. This instance of dual diagnosis is common in drug abusers, and being able to determine whether or not a mental disorder could be contributing to a person’s drug abuse is largely helpful in determining the best treatment for them.

Many clinics offer other treatments as well, including holistic methods (like yoga, acupuncture, art therapy, etc.), vocational and educational counseling, legal help, and others that will help your entire situation and not just your detoxification process.

Detox Clinics Provide Emergency Help

In some cases, withdrawal from opioids can become dangerous. Most of the time, it is not complicated, and therefore, not life-threatening, but according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, “Medical complications associated with opioid withdrawal can develop and should be quickly identified and treated.” If you believe there is a chance that you might experience complications associated with your oxycodone withdrawal syndrome, you may want to consider being treated at an inpatient detox facility where you can stay for the duration of your treatment. Most of these facilities provide medical necessities, and some have hospital settings where complications can be identified quickly and treated medically to help you avoid any issues.

However, these problems can sometimes go unnoticed. For example, opioid withdrawal is often associated with depression, and the issue could go unrecognized until it becomes very severe. If you attend treatment at a detox clinic, though, your doctors and nurses––as well as any other healthcare professionals––will be trained to look for the signs of depression and can often suggest treatment before any serious issues occur.

Should I Detox from Oxycodone in a Detox Center?

There are certain circumstances that make attending a detox center much more necessary for specific individuals. If you have

• Been abusing and/or addicted to oxycodone for a long time
• Been addicted to other substances
• Tried to recover from oxycodone addiction or another type of substance abuse disorder more than once

you should not go through withdrawal on your own but in the care of medical detox professionals. This is not to say only individuals who fit the above circumstances should attend a detox center; if you feel the treatment is necessary or would be beneficial to you, there are plenty of facilities that offer help to patients withdrawing from oxycodone, and you can easily find the one that will be most effective at meeting your needs.

Search our directory of detox centers by state, or call our helpline at 800-996-6135(Who Answers?) to find the program that’s best for you!

Sources

1. U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2016). Opiate and Opioid Withdrawal.
2. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2006). Detoxification and Substance Abuse Treatment: 4 Physical Detoxification Services for Withdrawal From Specific Substances.