Heroin addicts typically stay at a women’s drug treatment center for a week during the detox process, although some programs last as little as three days. These are just estimates because at the end of the day, how your body reacts will be material in how the detox process will go. The detox will only end when your body has already stabilized and none of the symptoms associated with the withdrawal are still evident.
What Can You Expect During Heroin Treatment?
1.Detox. This is the first step of the recovery process. It could be two things: going cold turkey or medicated detox (both short-term and medium-term). Cold turkey (or trying to quit on your own) is never recommended because of the varied physically dangerous complications of withdrawal. This is the reason why treatment centers perform the flushing slowly so as not to shock the body.
2.Withdrawal. As a consequence of detox, you are going to experience withdrawal symptoms. It can range from discomfort to downright intense. For some people, the detox can be painful but it’s a good thing. That means their bodies are purging the heroin or opiates from the system. Among the symptoms are sweating, nausea, vomiting, headaches, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, tremors, chills, restlessness, mood swings, etc.
3.Psychiatric care. You will undergo hours of therapy sessions, whether individual or with a group. Psychological issues often underlie the addiction or are mingled in a dual diagnosis with the addiction. The core problem, as well as the addiction, will be addressed during the therapy session.
4.Family therapy. Patients may be surprised when the women’s addiction treatment center staff brings in the family for a heart-to-heart discussion. This is actually crucial to recovery. The first person that addicts hurt is themselves, followed by the family members. They have suffered just as severely, and they need to be debriefed in order to address all that pent-up emotions they held back through the years. It’s also beneficial to make them understand what you are going through.
5.You may take a replacement drug. Heroin addiction can be very traumatic to the body. To avoid the dangers, doctors sometimes give the patient methadone, which is another addictive drug. It may seem silly to try to wean an addict of his addiction by seemingly making him addicted to another drug, but there’s a reason for this. The effects of these opioids, such as methadone, for instance, are long-acting unlike the instant gratification of heroin. You are also going to be closely supervised to reduce the risks to almost zero.
6.Lifestyle change. The post-detox process is just as important as the detox employed by women’s drug treatment centers. Once the effects of heroin are fully out of your system, you are going to have to change your habits and lifestyle. This is the only way to ensure you don’t go back to your old ways. This means plenty of exercises and a good diet. This may also mean that you will have to drop old friendships, especially if those friends were a bad influence. This is the hardest part of the recovery as admitted by former addicts since it takes a lot of commitment and resolve.