Detox

What is Detox?

Detox refers to the process of breaking your addiction to drugs and alcohol. There are different ways to detox but the ultimate goal is to break your body's physical dependence on a substance that is harmful.

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How Does Detox Work?

It depends on how you do it. Some quit drinking and using drugs "cold turkey" or completely and abruptly. Others choose to detox slowly by weaning themselves off of their drug of dependence and still others undergo a medical detox. The process of detox is your body ridding itself of all the toxins that have been stored up over years of addiction. Most people feel ill during this time and experience withdrawal symptoms that range from mild to intense depending upon the severity of addiction. All of these ultimately end with your body being completely free of physical dependence upon your substance of choice.

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What is a "Cold Turkey" Detox?

For this type of detox to be successful, you must refrain from using any amount of drugs or alcohol even if you experience physical withdrawal symptoms due to your body's dependence. Going from high doses of drugs and alcohol to no substances whatsoever can be difficult to endure, so a "cold turkey" detox is not usually recommended.

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What is a Medical Detox?

A medical detox is another way of ridding yourself of the toxin buildup brought on by extended use of drugs and alcohol but with the assistance of prescription medication to ease the withdrawal symptoms. The medications vary depending upon the withdrawal symptoms that you experience and may also change according to the substance of addiction. For example, a heroin addict may choose to detox medically by using buprenorphine or methadone maintenance and slowly decreasing the medication until she is free from addiction. Withdrawal symptoms will still be experienced but nowhere near as intense as it would be without medication. At The Canyon, you may be prescribed medication to help you sleep if you have insomnia, ease bone and muscle pain if you are achy, or help your nausea subside if you are sick to your stomach.

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Does Detox Hurt?

It depends on a number of factors including:

• Your choice of detox method
• The drug you are addicted to
• How long you have been addicted
• The height of your tolerance or how much of a substance your body currently requires to maintain physical "normalcy"

Even under the best circumstances, it's definitely not comfortable. At The Canyon, we do our best to minimize your discomfort during detox.

Can Detox Kill You?

Most likely, no. You may feel like you're dying-or wish you were dead-if you detox "cold turkey," but the only documented cases where detox has been deadly occurred in situations where the person had other serious health problems and did not have any medical supervision. At The Canyon, we provide a supervised detox with medical prescriptions when it is warranted. If there are any complications, a number of top-ranked hospitals are nearby.

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How Long Does Detox Take?

Again, it depends upon how high your tolerance is to your substance of choice when you decide to quit. The higher your dose, the longer it will take to quit if you do so slowly by cutting down. A "cold turkey" detox is definitely the fastest, with withdrawal symptoms increasing over the first 48 to 72 hours and persisting for up to three weeks.

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Can I Detox Alone?

It is not recommended. Chances are it won't work and then you'll just have to go through all the withdrawal symptoms again when you decide to get help. The Canyon advises that all detox procedures be done with the assistance of a medical professional and never attempted alone.

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What is the Best Way to Detox?

The best way to detox is under the supervision of a medical professional, preferably in an inpatient treatment center like The Canyon with lots of healthy food and therapeutic support. For more information on the details, contact us at our calling center today at .

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