How To Manage Addiction Withdrawal Symptoms

How To Manage Addiction Withdrawal Symptoms
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Learning how to manage addiction withdrawal symptoms is something many people have been struggling with for years. While many people who have overcome their addictions say that it was easier to stay clean after being sober, others say it was far worse. So, how do you effectively manage the symptoms of addiction withdrawal?

In this article, you’ll learn how to manage addiction withdrawal symptoms to help you find effective ways to help yourself or a loved one who is trying to quit smoking, alcoholism, or drug abuse.

What Are The Addiction Withdrawal Symptoms?

A person who has been taking a substance for a considerable amount of time will most likely experience some form of addiction withdrawal symptoms. Some substances, like alcohol, opioids, and benzodiazepines, could bring severely unpleasant symptoms when stopped abruptly. That is why withdrawal must be managed with the help of trained treatment professionals for safe medical detoxification.

Here are the possible side effects of addiction withdrawal:

  • Physical Symptoms: Tremors, low or high blood pressure, irregular heart rate, fever, sweating, insomnia, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, muscle aches, joint and back pain, restlessness, cravings, seizures, respiratory distress, cold and clammy skin, tingling in the extremities, dilated pupils, runny nose, muscle weakness, watery eyes, and appetite fluctuations
  • Psychological Symptoms: Depression, pain sensitivity, irritability, mental confusion, nightmares, anxiety, agitation, short-term memory issues, trouble concentrating, paranoia, delirium, hallucinations, excitability, bouts of crying, shakiness, suicidal thoughts, and disorientation.

Enter A Rehabilitation Facility

If you are trying to quit an addiction or you are just looking for ways to better manage your own life, the best place to learn how to manage addiction withdrawal symptoms is at your local drug rehab center. The staff there can provide you with the answers you need to help overcome this problem. They will also teach you a few tricks you can use to help reduce the cravings and keep your mind off them.

So, how do you choose the right rehab center?  Check out the following search tips:

  • Ask For Referrals: You can ask your close friends or relatives if they happen to know a rehab center near you. Also, you can get referrals from general health practitioners and mental health experts, like your psychiatrist or psychologist. Organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous also know the best drug rehabilitation facilities in your area.
  • Search Online: You can research online and find out the available rehab centers near you by typing in ‘addiction treatment center near me‘ on the search box of Google or any other search engine.
  • Go To Your Municipal Or Local Health Office: You can ask help from your local municipal health officer, who’s knowledgeable about the list of drug rehab facilities in your state or county.

Undergo A Medical Detox

Medical detox has helped many individuals to overcome their addiction to drugs, alcohol, and nicotine. The process of detoxification in medical terms refers to the removal of harmful substances from the body. Here are the important things you should know about medical detox:

  • During medical detox, nurses and doctors carefully monitor the patient as they slowly wean them from the toxic substance
  • Medical detoxification is generally undertaken in a hospital setting.
  • After the completion of medical detox, the individual must abstain from drugs or alcohol to avoid relapse. It may take up to six months for the body to completely recover from withdrawal symptoms.
  • Patients should have fully recovered before they can resume their daily activities.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

What is cognitive behavioral therapy, and how can it help drug addicts?  Cognitive behavioral therapy is used to treat a variety of conditions, including alcoholism, drug addiction, eating disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It works by using specific techniques to change an individual’s thoughts and behavior, so that they can become healthier and lead a happier life.

The goal of cognitive behavioral therapy is to help the patient develop new habits that will help them overcome addiction. The process of changing an individual’s behavior may take several months and involves some hard work. During this time, the patient will learn new skills, develop new relationships, and become aware of their actions and their effect on others.

The concept of cognitive behavioral therapy is relatively simple, but it works remarkably well for many people. Here’s how it works:

  • First, the treatment center will discuss with the client their problem in order to determine the best approach. This way, the counselor will be able to identify the cause of the person’s addiction, and will be able to come up with specific ways to treat any underlying issues.
  • The counselor will, then, be able to discuss with the client some of the many different approaches to treatment. For instance, one option may be group therapy, in which patients work together on a daily basis in groups. Another option may be individual counseling, in which the counselor works one-on-one with each patient.
  • After a period of time, the patient will start to feel more comfortable and confident again. Their recovery will likely take time because the patient may be anxious about facing others, and may want to avoid situations that trigger their addiction.

Group Therapy

Group therapy will allow you to feel comfortable talking about your problems with others who have the same type of problems, such as managing addiction withdrawal. This intervention involves discussing problems with others who are more than a few meters away from you. You will also have access to support groups and the knowledge that you are not alone

Another important aspect of group therapy is that you will have access to different options that can help you deal with the addiction in question. Your road to sobriety will be a much faster process because you’ll gain the confidence to be able to handle your addiction in a more productive way.

Join A Support Group

Many people who are struggling with drug addiction turn to a support group because they feel like they can trust that the group will take care of their needs.

Take a look at the following benefits of joining a support group:

  • A support group will allow you to meet new people that you may have never met before, and you may find that your chances for success with getting sober increase greatly.
  • You will be able to make new friends and feel comfortable enough to talk about the things that you are struggling with.
  • You will be able to feel more confident and build a support network as well.

Get Regular Exercise

Exercise is an essential element to attain sobriety and good health. If you are suffering from addiction, then, you must be wondering why exercise is so important to prevent addiction withdrawal symptoms. After all, it’s obvious that quitting any addictive substance will cause symptoms of withdrawal, but do you know why exercise is so important?

Here’s how regular exercise can help manage addiction withdrawal symptoms:

  • Reduces Stress And Promotes Better Sleep: Exercise will reduce your stress and help you sleep better. That means you won’t have to worry about how much time you have left in the day, and you can actually look forward to your exercise routines. This is important because many people have problems sleeping or staying asleep after the effects of addiction have worn off.
  • Improves Overall Health: Exercise also helps prevent diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. It can even improve your immune system and overall health. If you have a strong body, it’s easier for you to manage withdrawal symptoms.
  • Set Your Mind To Become Persistent: Addiction to all types of substances is hard to break. Because addictions are so deeply rooted in the brain, it’s going to take some persistence and work before you can truly overcome it. However, when you start to see some benefits, your brain will get used to the benefits of exercise and will start to associate it with good things. As a result, you can gradually stop using drugs or alcohol on a regular basis.

Improve Your Nutrition

According to a trusted source, chronic alcohol and drug addiction, like heroin abuse, can drastically damage the inner lining of the digestive system, which impairs the proper absorption of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Alcohol and drugs can deplete your body of what it requires to run efficiently. For this reason, it is crucial to replace lost nutrients during withdrawal in order to manage the symptoms of addiction withdrawal and expedite healing.

Getting the right nutrients in your body is very important if you want to stay sober and avoid addiction withdrawal. When a patient starts to feel withdrawal symptoms because of addiction, the first thing they will notice is that they have lost their appetite. The patient will, then, begin to feel weak, fatigued, and even hallucinate and have delusions. This is where nutrition comes in.

Good nutrition will help you stay strong and manage addiction withdrawal because you are less dehydrated and your cells have the maximum energy to resist cravings. Check the following tips to manage addiction withdrawal by maintaining good nutrition:

  • As much as possible, stay away from refined sugars, caffeine, processed foods, saturated fats, and oil.
  • Vitamin B6 and vitamin C are vital for maintaining good health. Taking these supplements will help to fight liver disease and many other illnesses as well.
  • Eat fruits and vegetables with high water content to avoid dehydration while undergoing medical detox.
  • Talk to a dietician or nutritionist for a personalized nutritional treatment plan.

Get Enough Rest And Sleep

Sleep is the most important commodity for the human body and brain. It is the time for the body and brain to rest and rejuvenate itself. As people are trying to overcome addiction withdrawal symptoms, sleep becomes more difficult to find. Drug addicts, for instance, need enough rest and sleep to combat stress and keep themselves in the right state of mind.

Seek And Accept Help From Your Loved Ones

It is important to remember that, oftentimes, the best way to deal with cravings and addiction withdrawal symptoms is to have a support system to talk and open up to. A support system can be comprised of your family and friends. The support system will make it easier to talk through the situation when the cravings arise so the person can learn how to deal with them.

Keep A Daily Journal

In keeping a daily journal, you should be writing down your daily activities and recording your emotions, thoughts, and feelings. By doing so, you will be able to identify the things that affect your mood and feelings, so you’ll know what should be done next time to make the situation better.

Male junkie hand trying to grab injection syringe of cooked heroine. Hard drug overdose and addiction concept

Stay Away From Temptation

Experiencing addiction withdrawal symptoms is harder if there are temptations around you. If there is any particular person bothering you and giving you negative feelings, you should avoid that person to avoid making bad decisions. More often than not, people around you, even your friends, will be the ones to convince you to try alcohol or abuse drugs again.

Here are some tips to help you stay away from temptation while dealing with your withdrawal symptoms:

  • Be firm with your decision to stay sober.
  • You have to separate yourself from negative people and only deal with those who are a good influence to you.
  • Find more productive things to divert your energy to, like sports, camping, artwork, or music.

Conclusion

When a person has an addiction, getting out of it as soon as possible doesn’t come easy. Entering a rehabilitation center will not only teach you how to quit your addiction, but will also help you learn how to deal with the withdrawal symptoms and give you ways to avoid relapsing. Also, you have to ensure that you’re getting enough nutrients, exercise, rest, and sleep to manage addiction withdrawal symptoms more effectively.

Of course, group therapy can be very helpful to someone who is trying to cope with their addiction on their own. Being around other people in a support group can be a lot of fun. You may find that you have a better chance at getting a grip on yourself when you are surrounded by others who understand you.


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Anna is an avid blogger with an educational background in medicine and mental health. She is a generalist with many other interests including nutrition, women's health, astronomy and photography. In her free time from work and writing, Anna enjoys nature walks, reading, and listening to jazz and classical music.

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