Amphetamine Detox

Amphetamine drugs come in a wide range of forms from prescription-only to street-based ecstasy to over-the-counter products. While the prescription forms do carry the highest addiction potential, all amphetamine-type drugs produce stimulant effects within the brain and central nervous system. For many people, this stimulant effect becomes the source of much turmoil and frustration down the road.

Once addiction sets in, attempts to break the drug’s hold over one’s thinking, moods and behaviors leaves users powerless to stop using the drug. For many, amphetamine detox treatment becomes the only possible means for overcoming the drug’s effects on their lives.

Attending amphetamine detox may be necessary for those who become dependent on the drug. Amphetamine is incredibly addictive and habit-forming which can become extremely problematic when the drug is abused. And, any time amphetamine is taken in high doses, the individual risks the potential of experiencing intense psychological and physical effects.

Amphetamine detox is a helpful treatment for those who need to be weaned of the drug, but it is only the beginning of true amphetamine addiction treatment. Still, it may be necessary in the beginning of treatment, especially if the individual is experiencing some of the more troubling amphetamine side effects that can be caused by higher doses of the drug. Amphetamine detox programs make an effort to address each person’s specific treatment needs, which can vary considerably from person to person.

As amphetamine addictions, more oftentimes than not, have a lasting effect on brain and body functions, amphetamine detox programs include aftercare planning as a part of the overall treatment process. Otherwise, the likelihood of relapse in the near future remains incredibly high. We can help you find an amphetamine detox program. Call 800-315-1376 (Who Answers?) today.

Why Attend Amphetamine Detox

People should consider attending amphetamine detox if they are dependent on amphetamine and need help going through their withdrawal stage. As amphetamine withdrawal is extremely similar to that of cocaine withdrawal, the syndrome can be extremely long and arduous for the individual as well as their loved ones. Treatment like this can be helpful and, if the individual is addicted to amphetamine as well, can be also help them make the transition more easily into addiction treatment afterward.

Amphetamine detox withdrawal effects can run the gamut in terms of which bodily processes are affected. People with long-term addictions will likely experience the most intense withdrawal effects that tend to last longer in duration.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, amphetamine detox withdrawal effects may take the form of:

• Dysphoria
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Fatigue
• Loss of energy
• Disinterest and apathy
• Agitation
• Intense drug cravings
• Sleep disturbances
• Psychosis including:
  • Paranoia
  • Delirium
  • Confusion
  • Hostile behavior
  • Aggression
  • Picking at skin (causing sores)
  • Auditory and visual hallucinations

According to the CHCE, “Psychosis is induced more commonly by amphetamine than by cocaine,” another reason an individual in this position should strongly consider amphetamine detox. Going through amphetamine withdrawal on your own can be incredibly difficult, not to mention dangerous. It is often much safer to attend detox in a facility where all of the patient’s needs can be attended to as well as their need to be monitored for their safety.

These effects can last anywhere from two weeks to six months depending on the extent of the addiction problem.

If you have been abusing amphetamine for a prolonged amount of time, you should absolutely attend amphetamine treatment, and many individuals choose to start with detox. This way, they can focus on getting through their withdrawal and be more easily shifted into full-on addiction treatment afterward.

For help finding amphetamine detox treatment that’s right for you, call 800-315-1376 (Who Answers?) for a free treatment consultation today.

Causes of Amphetamine Detox Withdrawal

With chronic, long-term use damaged brain structures have to work twice as hard to resume normal function in the absence of the drug’s effects. While the brain does have an “auto-correct” mechanism for restoring chemical processes, these mechanisms go into overdrive during detox, which accounts for the symptoms a person experiences.

Amphetamine Addiction

If you can’t stop taking amphetamines on your own it may be time to seek detox treatment.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, amphetamines are designed to correct the types of brain chemical imbalances that cause ADHD, narcolepsy and certain forms of obesity. For people with relatively normal brain chemical levels, amphetamines can cause widespread disruption in overall brain and central nervous system function.

Prescription amphetamines in particular exert a tremendous strain on normal brain activity that eventually breeds chemical imbalances throughout the body. Commonly abuse amphetamine drugs include:

• Strattera
• Adderall
• Concerta
• Desoxyn
• Ritalin

Street-based amphetamines, such as ecstasy and crystal meth pose an even greater danger as these drugs often contain added ingredients that further impair essential brain chemical function.

Once addicted, addicts lose the ability to manage drug intake amounts as the brain comes to rely on amphetamine’s effects. At this point, amphetamine detox becomes the only way to break the drug’s hold over a person’s mind and physical well-being.

Is Treatment Really Necessary?

With amphetamine addiction, what starts out as a recreational pursuit soon turns into total upheaval as addicts watch important parts of their lives disintegrate into addiction’s mold. Health problems, broken relationships, money problems and work problems become the norm.

By the time a person enters amphetamine detox treatment, his or her life and lifestyle have undergone devastating change. Amphetamine detox treatment programs are well versed at helping addicts take the first critical steps towards reclaiming their lives from addiction.

Since addiction seldom happens over night but in stages, amphetamine detox treatment programs treat addiction in stages, starting with the drug’s physical hold on the body. From there, amphetamine detox treatment helps addicts replace the mental constructs that drive addiction with a healthy drug-free mindset. While it is possible to detox “cold turkey” and go it alone, the odds are stacked against the addict considering the type of lifestyle addiction breeds.

Professional treatment helps you detox and recover safely. Call 800-315-1376 (Who Answers?) to find treatment today.

Amphetamine Detox Treatment vs. Going “Cold Turkey”

During the course of amphetamine addiction, a person devotes increasing amounts of time, attention, energy and resources to getting and using the drug. Over time, his or her lifestyle undergoes considerable change to accommodate the “needs” of the addiction.

Going cold turkey under these circumstances means abstaining from drug use while in the midst of the lifestyle that encourages ongoing drug use. Add to this the persistent drug cravings and the sometimes-excruciating withdrawal symptoms that come with amphetamine detox and addicts face nearly insurmountable obstacles throughout this crucial first stage of recovery.

Amphetamine detox treatment takes place within a structured, monitored environment where addicts can focus on the recovery process without being bombarded by temptations to use. Amphetamine detox program also provide needed treatment for any existing medical or psychological conditions brought on by amphetamine use.

Amphetamine Detox Objectives

According to Dartmouth College, chronic, long-term amphetamine abuse creates a diseased state within the brain. This diseased state supports a self-perpetuating cycle of drug use, which impairs a person’s reasoning and emotions in the process.

The overall objectives of amphetamine detox work to undo the damage done by addiction on both a physical and psychological level. Treatment objectives include:

• Maintaining abstinence from drug use
• Educating addicts on how addiction works and how drug use reinforces the addiction mindset
• Helping addicts work through the underlying issues that drive drug-using behaviors

For help finding the right program for your needs, call 800-315-1376 (Who Answers?) toll free today.

Treatments Used in Amphetamine Detox

The treatments used in amphetamine detox are beneficial, though they have not all been as well researched and streamlined as the treatment processes of other drug detoxes, such as opioids. According to the ACDH, “Studies examining the natural history of amphetamine withdrawal are significantly fewer than those examining cocaine. This is probably due to the more recent recognition of the widespread use of amphetamines.” Nonetheless, there have been many strides made in the treatment of amphetamine addiction and dependence, and options still exist for these issues.

The most common treatments used in amphetamine detox are listed below. Like in other instances of substance use disorder treatment, the best options will be those which are well tolerated by the patient and fit their needs sufficiently.

• Medications
  • Tapering of the drug
  • Neuroleptics (to help control delirium and psychosis)
  • Antidepressants (to help with depression and intense dysphoric feelings, only if necessary)
  • Anticraving agents (to help with the intense cravings for amphetamine)
• Therapy 
  • Cognitive-behavioral therapy
  • Contingency management
  • Community Reinforcement approach
  • The Matrix Model
  • Motivational enhancement therapy

These treatments often continue into addiction rehab. For many patients fighting amphetamine abuse issues, detox can be extremely difficult. But the cravings and depression can last for a long time, sometimes even months. This is also true of those who have abused cocaine and some other stimulant drugs. The beginning of withdrawal can be difficult, but it can also drag on for many patients.

According to the NIDA, “At this time, there are no medications that are FDA-approved for treating stimulant addiction.” While there are many medications used in detox for amphetamine, these should not be considered addiction medications and they will not treat that particular issue, only lessen withdrawal symptoms and make the process easier on the patient. This is why they are used in amphetamine detox.

Therapy, on the other hand, is used both as a detox treatment and an addiction treatment. It is often started during detox to help ease the patient into their regular therapy sessions as a part of addiction treatment. Therapy is very beneficial during all stages of amphetamine abuse treatment.

Psychosocial Treatment Supports

Amphetamine addiction warps a person’s belief systems, emotions and sense of self. Amphetamine detox treatment programs use psychosocial treatment supports as a means for helping addicts undo the psychological damage that results from addiction.

Psychosocial treatment supports may take the form of:

• Daily psychotherapy sessions
• Group therapy sessions
• Support group work

Amphetamine’s effects on brain function also place addicts at increased risk of developing psychological problems, such as depression and anxiety disorders. These conditions further aggravate addiction symptoms and make it that much harder to abstain from drug use. Psychosocial treatment supports are also used to help addicts overcome symptoms arising from psychological distress.

Treatment addresses all aspects of an individual’s amphetamine abuse problem. We can help you find the right program for you. Call 800-315-1376 (Who Answers?) today.

What is Amphetamine Detox Like?

The NIDA states that detox is often considered to be the first part of amphetamine treatment. “Depending on the patient’s situation, the first steps in treating prescription stimulant addiction may be to taper the drug dosage and attempt to ease withdrawal symptoms.” This can often be done if the individual was using prescription amphetamine which is used in medications like Adderall and others. The patient will be slowly tapered off their higher dosage until they are able to be fully taken off the medication.

Sometimes, other drugs will be used in this instance as well. Patients can be treated with the other medications listed above for specific issues resulting from amphetamine withdrawal and psychosis. Therapy is sometimes started during this time as well.

Amphetamine detox is uncomfortable and causes fatigue and sleep disturbances. Other than this, most of the issues that patients deal with are psychological. They make amphetamine detox dangerous in a way that most individuals would not be able to notice. The potential for an individual to commit suicide rises when they are going through amphetamine detox as well as their potential to relapse back to the drug. This is why detox treatment is so important.

If the individual is dealing with an intense withdrawal syndrome, they might need to attend inpatient detox. If not, outpatient detox could be possible, although anyone with severe psychosis as a result of amphetamine abuse should be in a controlled environment like residential treatment. It can be a very difficult time, but knowing that the other individuals you are being treated with have the same issues and that the doctors and nurses care about you can make amphetamine detox much easier to weather.

Call 800-315-1376 (Who Answers?) to find a qualified amphetamine detox program today.

What Happens After Detox Treatment?

When considering amphetamine detox aftercare, it’s important to keep in mind that detox treatment is only a first step in the recovery process. Amphetamine detox treatment helps a person overcome the drug’s hold on his or her body; however, addiction entails a psychological component where the drug also has a hold on the addict’s mind.

Amphetamine detox aftercare picks up where detox treatment leaves off in terms of helping addicts overcome the addiction mindset. Neglecting this essential aspect of recovery greatly increases the likelihood a person will resume drug use in the near future.

According to the U. S. National Library of Medicine, people who follow through on aftercare treatment planning have consistently better outcomes than those who don’t. Likewise, while many may intend to continue on in treatment, a great majority of people dropout after completing amphetamine detox.

The potential for relapse far outweighs a person’s intention to stay drug-free when recovering from addiction. For this reason, amphetamine detox programs make it a point to draft an aftercare plan for each person, with each plan tailored to a person’s individual treatment needs.

Detox treatment will help you get off on the right foot. Call 800-315-1376 (Who Answers?) for help today.

Relapse Factors

Addiction’s psychological component takes root within the brain’s mesolimbic reward system. This system regulates learning processes, and for the most part determines a person’s daily priorities and motivations.

As amphetamines gradually warp the brain’s chemical processes, this reward system is reconfigured in the process. The strong drug cravings people experience during the first year of recovery result from the effects of amphetamines on the brain’s reward system and not the body’s physical dependency on the drug.

These changes can persist for years after a person completes amphetamine detox treatment, meaning he or she can easily fall back into old drug-using behaviors in the absence of needed aftercare supports. Likewise, the severity of a person’s addiction contributes greatly to his or her likelihood of relapse since the addiction mindset only gets stronger the longer a person keeps using.

Ongoing Psychosocial Treatment Supports

The psychosocial treatment supports offered by amphetamine detox treatment programs only provide the degree of support needed during the detox stage. In actuality, anyone coming off an amphetamine addiction will require ongoing psychosocial treatment supports in order to maintain abstinence on a continued basis, according to the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration.

Amphetamine detox treatment programs work with a person to develop an aftercare plan that’s designed to meet his or her individual treatment needs. In most cases, amphetamine detox aftercare treatment will include one or more of the following:

• Motivational therapy work
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy
• Sponsorship
• Medication therapies to treat any co-existing psychological disorders

To find the best addiction treatment program for you, call 800-315-1376 (Who Answers?) for a treatment assessment today.

Support System

More than anything else, the success of amphetamine detox aftercare treatment relies on a person’s willingness to use whatever support systems he or she has in place, especially during times when the urge to use becomes overwhelming. For this reason, amphetamine detox programs strongly encourage those in recovery to keep attending 12-Step support group meetings on a regular basis. In some cases, a detox program will also enlist the support of friends and family in helping recovering addicts maintain a drug-free lifestyle.