Best Employee Assistance Drug Detox Program in Dallas
If you or a loved one is struggling with substance use disorder, getting help as soon as possible is important. Many drug users are worried about stopping their intake due to the horror stories of withdrawal they’ve heard. Or they may be worried that they’ll lose their jobs if they go to detox and rehab.
However, a supervised detox can help you through all the stages of withdrawal, so that you’re comfortable and don’t feel that you need to use it again because the pain is too great. It’s also entirely within your power to get sober without losing your job, and your company will be happy to have you back when you’re in recovery.
Table of Contents
- What is Detox Like?
- What to Expect During Drug Detox?
- Symptoms of Detox by Drug Type
- Benzos
- Opioids
- Stimulants
- Bath Salts
- Marijuana
- DXM / Cough Syrup
- Ecstasy / Molly / MDMA
- Fentanyl
- Hallucinogens
- Oxycodone
- Prescription Drugs
- Acute Detox
- Sub-Acute Detox
- Union First Helps Our Clients Keep Their Job While Undergoing Behavioral Health
- Why Choose Union First for Drug Detox?
What is Detox Like?
Detox is the first step in your sobriety journey. Drugs and alcohol change your brain chemistry when you’re using, and your brain gets used to having the substance around. Drugs also affect the reward pathways in your brain.
Once you stop using the drug, it takes some time for your brain to adjust to being on its own again. This adjustment causes withdrawal symptoms as your brain adapts to the lack of drugs. If you’ve been using for a while, and/or you’ve been using heavily, your brain has developed more of a dependence on the substance and detox may take a little longer. If you haven’t developed a strong reliance, then you may not need as long for your brain to adjust.
You’ll probably feel the withdrawal symptoms most within a few days of your last drug. Although the brain can adjust its chemicals within a week or two, it still takes time for the rest of your body to be free of the toxins. The drugs themselves are part of the problem, but not always the whole problem. Your body breaks drugs down into metabolites, and those can be harmful to your health as well. They may take a while to clear your system.
What to Expect During Drug Detox?
When you get to detox, a specialist will assess your situation. You’ll be asked about your physical and mental health, as well as your history with drug(s), whether you’ve been to detox before, and so forth. They may take some blood and run lab tests as well.
It’s common for those with substance use disorders to arrive at detox in bad physical condition, for example, malnourished and dehydrated. If that’s the case for you, you’ll likely be given IV fluids. Depending on how your assessment turns out, you may be given medication to ease the pain of withdrawal.
How long will your detox last? It depends on the drug you’re recovering from, genetic factors, age, physical and mental condition, and how long and how heavily you’ve been using the drug.
Symptoms of Detox by Drug Type
The timeline and range of symptoms differ a bit according to the type of drug, but there are some common effects of withdrawal as well. For example, it’s pretty common to feel nauseous and anxious as well as tired.
Many symptoms will overlap with similar types of drugs. As an example, benzos, opioids, and fentanyl all have sedating or calming effects, so some withdrawal aspects will be the same. The symptoms for stimulants, because they cause different effects in the brain, will mostly be different from those you see for sedatives.
Benzos
You might be more familiar with the brand names of benzodiazepines, such as Valium and Xanax. It can take one to four days after your last use for the withdrawal symptoms to show up, and the worst of them generally happens within two weeks of your last dose. Typical withdrawal symptoms include panic attacks, sweating, headaches, muscle pain, and seizures.
Opioids
Heroin and some prescription painkillers are short-acting opioids, so you’ll start feeling the effects of withdrawal within a day of your last use, and even within eight hours. They may last a few days to about a week and a half. With heroin withdrawal, you could experience flu-like symptoms, chills and sweating, runny nose and watery eyes, muscle pain and stomach cramps, as well as feeling extremely restless.
Stimulants
Cocaine especially is known for producing intense cravings in withdrawal. Stimulant withdrawal typically produces severe mood swings, chills, body aches, tremors, tiredness, depression, and anxiety, and you might have a hard time concentrating or even thinking in general.
Depression can lead to suicidal ideation, which is why a supervised detox is important. The symptoms can last for a couple of days, but they may linger for a couple of months.
Bath Salts
Tiredness, anxiety, depression (which can lead to thoughts of suicide), cravings, foggy or slow thinking, tremors, cravings, muscle aches, and nightmares are common withdrawal symptoms when you’re coming off bath salts. The first symptoms may appear within an hour and a half but end within ten days of the last use.
Marijuana
You could experience symptoms within a day of your last use, and within three weeks the withdrawal symptoms usually subside. These symptoms include anger and irritability, anxiety and depression, restlessness, lack of appetite, insomnia, weird dreams, headaches, tremors, and stomach pain.
DXM/Cough Syrup
Your withdrawal from cough syrup depends a bit on whether the opiate being used is short or long-acting, so it might start within eight or 30 hours. Typically you can expect restlessness, flu-like symptoms, agitation, chills, cramps, anxiety, and cravings.
Ecstasy/Molly/MDMA
Ecstasy is both a stimulant and a hallucinogen. You may feel tired, have a hard time concentrating, lose your appetite, and experience sleep problems, anxiety, and irritability. Symptoms usually start about a day after the last use and last up to five days.
Fentanyl
As a synthetic opioid, fentanyl’s withdrawal symptoms are similar to those described above. You may have intense cravings, feel nauseous and get sick or have diarrhea, trouble sleeping, muscle aches dilated pupils, and fever.
Hallucinogens
If your drug of choice is LSD or psychedelic mushrooms or similar, you might find yourself having seizures, tremors, muscle stiffening, high blood pressure, body temperature swings and you may hyperventilate (breathing very fast).
Oxycodone
Another opiate, oxycodone shares withdrawal symptoms such as restlessness, irritability, muscle aches, blood pressure changes, fever, and heart palpitations. The symptoms typically appear within a day of your last dose and subside after about two weeks.
Prescription Drugs
Depending on the type of prescription drug you’re using, they can be long-acting opioids like methadone. That will take two to four days after the last use to see symptoms, but they’ll usually go away within ten days.
Acute Detox
If you have been using a drug for a long time, and/or you take a lot of it when you’re using, you’ve likely built up a dependence on the drug. You’ll need acute detox, where you’ll be medically supervised 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Symptoms could be life-threatening, so medical personnel must be on hand to take care of you if necessary.
Sub-Acute Detox
If you don’t have a significant dependence on the drug, you may attend sub-acute detox instead. It’s still important for you to be supervised to prevent relapsing on the drug if the symptoms become uncomfortable. Sub-acute can be in an inpatient treatment center, but you can also go to urgent care or a doctor’s office for this kind of detox. If it’s appropriate (meaning you don’t have much of a dependence on the substance) you might be able to detox at home and make regular doctor’s visits.
It’s critical to get the help that you need. You might want to stay at home, but if that will likely result in relapse, it’s a bad idea. Ridding your body and mind of the toxin is only your first step in sobriety, and you can’t recover if you’re still on the drug. Take the time necessary.
Union First Helps Our Clients Keep Their Job While Undergoing Behavioral Health Treatment
If you’re still working, you probably want to keep your job while you’re in recovery. Some people (who haven’t developed a strong dependence on the drug) can go to an outpatient rehab where sessions are held after work and on the weekends.
But that’s not realistic for everyone. If you need an acute detox, you’ll need inpatient treatment. You probably won’t be able to work during that time. Even if you’re able to withdraw with a sub-acute detox, you may still need the structure of a partial hospitalization program to get clean for good. You usually can’t work when you’re at rehab all day.
Fortunately, there are laws and regulations so that your employer can’t retaliate against you or fire you while you’re in recovery. If you’re a union member, you can use the services of Union First to make sure that your job is there when you get back.
Why Choose Union First for Drug Detox
Our mission is to help union members achieve sobriety and lead the happy, sober life they deserve while protecting them from losing their jobs as they recover. Our service is an employee assistance program, and we specialize in case management, telehealth, placing you in the right recovery program, and protecting your job.
Don’t wait any longer to start your recovery journey at a drug detox that’s right for you. Call us at (855) 215-2023 and we’ll help you navigate the maze of options to find the ones that are right for you.
