Methods of Hydrocodone Detox

Hydrocodone is one of the most commonly prescribed medications for treating conditions involving moderate to severe pain symptoms. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, when taken as prescribed, the potential for addiction remains relatively low. When taken for longer than prescribed or in larger doses than prescribed the risk for addiction increases considerably.

Once addicted, hydrocodone detox can bring on uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms that many people eventually give into by using again. Methods of hydrocodone detox are designed to provide the level of monitoring and supervision needed to help a person eliminate the need for the drug. Since addiction affects different people in different ways, hydrocodone detox treatment programs can vary in intensity and duration.

Hydrocodone Withdrawal

Psychotherapy, support groups, and medications can help you become drug-free!

Hydrodone exists as an active compound in a number of pain medications, some of which include Vicodin, Lorcet and Lortab. Once a person becomes addicted, brain and body chemical processes depend on the drug’s effects to function normally. Hydrocodone detox leaves the body in a state of chemical imbalance that takes the form of withdrawal effects.

Hydrocodone has a fairly short half-life in terms of how long it stays in a person’s system. This means withdrawal effects can occur as soon as a few hours after the last dosage. The first 24 hours typically bring on the worst of the effects, some of which include:

• Chills
• Restlessness
• Irritability
• Nausea

Overall, hydrocodone detox withdrawal symptoms can last anywhere from four to seven days. While it is possible for someone to go “cold turkey,” hydrocodone detox should be a gradual process rather than an all out shock to the system. Hydrocodone treatment programs are designed to help people gradually come off the drug. In this way, a person has a better chance of staying off the drug for the long-term.

Hydrocodone Detox Objectives

Though the body’s dependency on hdyrocodone drives much of the addiction’s cravings, at some point a person begins to believe he or she needs the drug in order to manage everyday affairs. Hydrocodone detox treatment objectives address both the physical and psychological aspects of addiction.

As addiction’s effects on a person’s life can vary from person to person, hydrocodone treatment programs are equipped to use a range of different treatment methods. Some of the most commonly used methods include:

• Medical care to treat conditions caused by the addiction
• Psychotherapy
• Medication treatments
• 12-Step program group work

Substitution Therapy

Withdrawal effects from hydrocodone detox can stay with a person long after the last dose. Depending on the extent of the addiction, the body can take years to repair itself and restore chemical processes back to normal. During this time a person may stay in a state of discontent where life seems to lack the same degree of excitement or spark it once did. These lingering effects can drive a person back to using in order to feel “alive” again.

Substitution therapy methods use medication treatments as a way to help a person better cope with lingering withdrawal effects. The medication effects are similar to those of hydrocodone only without the high risk for addiction.