by admin on April 20, 2010
A drink or two of alcohol on a night out is socialization; drinking a bottle or two daily is alcoholism. Alcoholism is an addiction to alcohol that has sprung out from becoming just a psychological desire for alcohol to a physiologic need. That means if your body detects low alcohol level in the blood, it will manifest symptoms that causes discomfort, or even worse, death. In these cases, an alcohol detox is required.
Alcohol detox is the gradual elimination of alcohol from the body’s blood circulation. During this phase, the body will manifest withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms may be as simple as sweating and hiccups, or as worse as a seizure; no one can tell which symptoms will hit you but that depends on how long you have been an alcoholic. Some other withdrawal symptoms are nausea and vomiting, confusion, and anxiety.
The process begins when you are slowly weaned from alcohol, with the aid of some prescription medicine such as antidepressant and anti-anxiety drugs. During the first few days of alcohol detox, you are advised to be admitted in the hospital, under close monitoring of physicians. They need to gauge and observe how worse the withdrawal symptoms are for you. Moreover, you need to be provided with vitamins and mineral supplements since alcohol deplete your body of those.
As supportive measures to your detox alcohol treatment, you may also try other independent therapies such as water therapy. Loading up on water is the best way to help make the alcohol detox at home process faster because it replenishes our lost body fluids due to alcohol dehydration. A calming chamomile tea or a warm milk may help ease other withdrawal symptoms such as insomnia and anxiety. However, the best and most simple remedy is being surrounded by people who support your fight against alcoholism.
by admin on January 23, 2010
Heroin addiction is a debilitating and often fatal issue. Heroin is a highly addictive illegal opioid used recreationally by many people across the world. Not only can the heroin addiction itself be fatal, but the symptoms associated with heroin withdrawal can also prove to be fatal for many addicts. These symptoms can include excessive sweating, increased feelings of anxiety and depression, sever pain in the bones and muscles, insomnia, cold sweats and body chills. These symptoms appear within twenty-four hours of the last dose of heroin, and peak at about seventy-two hours, gradually dissipating after a week. Because these symptoms can be very severe and debilitating for the addict, many people return to the drug to ease their symptoms. For this reason, many heroin addicts never kick the habit or for that matter ever make it to heroin detox.
Suboxone is a medication that contains a combination of the drugs buprenorphine and naloxone. Bupresorphine is similar to other opioids, such as heroin, except that it provides less intense feelings or euphoria and is easier to stop taking. Naloxone is a drug that blocks the effects of many opioids, including heroin. This will lead to the addict experiencing the withdrawal symptoms previously mentioned, but to a lesser degree. A relatively new way called Suboxone heroin detox is used by many doctors in drug rehabilitation centers to treat those addicted to heroin. It is used in conjunction with other methods and medications, all combining to form a detoxification program for the addict. After the addict has been stabilized with suboxone, the dosage is gradually decreased, usually over a specified period of time. The dosage of suboxone is usually decreased by two milligrams every three of four days. The goal is to break the addict’s dependency on opioids by introducing suboxone, which has been shown to be easier to stop taking. The use of this drug makes breaking a heroin addiction much easier than simply quitting cold turkey. Those addicts who turn to rehabilitation centers for help with their addiction problem also benefit from the support of doctors, and both group and individual therapy sessions.