Detoxing from heroin and opioids in general most likely requires a team of professionals. As you are detoxing, there are three important steps you can take to set up your new lifestyle for success:
- In addition to MAT services, get professional help for managing cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
- Engage in care of your health with by seeing a PCP. If you have Hep C and or any abscesses, work with your doctor on a treatment plan.
- Seek out mental health care in order to Rest, hydrate, eat, block drug dealer and using buddies.
Typically, addiction struggles causes one to live in a cycle of withdrawal symptoms, cravings and obsessive thinking to get drugs. Nonetheless, there are many was to rise above and overcome that consuming cycle. In addition to MAT services, counseling with an addiction specialist allows for the ability to pin point thinking patterns and behaviors that contribute to the cycle and break them by developing new schemas (thinking patterns).
Obviously, before we get much deeper into discussing schemas the best thing to do is follow medical direction while detoxing. In the early stages of detox, it is important to allow time for rest and nourishment. The ability to rest properly, typically includes a meeting with a doctor to attain treatment for any acute medical problems that have been ignored such as abscesses, high blood pressure, pain, and anxiety. I always explain that whatever problems a person already has, detoxing from opioids makes them all the more miserable.
Also, any mental health symptoms you typically have will likely be more intense during withdrawals. For instance, if you typically experience anxiety, withdrawals will magnify your worried thoughts to what may feel like times a billion. In turn, mental health care is likely needed to assist with calming.
Clearly, putting a team of professionals together may not be realistic task for one in the grips of addiction. Therefore, a loved one, an addiction counselor, social worker or significant other may need to assist you. If you would like assistance in forming your professional addiction team, contact me.