Whether patients can safely detox at home depends on the drug and the extent of the addiction. For example, most people can safely detox from cigarettes while at home. On the contrary, as a general knowledge, detoxing from heroin at home is not a safe choice.

What Is Detox?

Detox is short for detoxification. It’s the process where your body eliminates substances you’re addicted to. When the substance is no longer added to the body, your body eventually rids itself of it. The problem is your body has become accustomed to the substance. As the amount of the addictive substances decreases, your body reacts to losing the substance it depended upon.

The withdrawal process is unpleasant for patients and can be dangerous. For this reason, patients should give serious consideration to detoxing in a medical facility. But this may not be an option for some people. They may not be able to leave their jobs for the time necessary to go through rehabilitation or they may have some other obligation that makes it difficult to detox at a medical facility.

What You Need To Know Before Trying to Detox at Home

The key thing about detox is withdrawal. What withdrawal symptoms can you expect? What are you getting yourself into? You need to know this before trying to detox at home.

Different drugs have different withdrawal symptoms. Are you addicted to only one substance or are multiple substances involved? With multiple substances, the complexity of the withdrawal makes it more likely you’ll need to come to a medical facility.
The following sections list some of the withdrawal symptoms of the most commonly addictive drugs.

Alcohol withdrawal signs

According to the Mayo Clinic, alcohol withdrawal symptoms include;

  • Sweating
  • Handshaking
  • Insomnia
  • Nausea
  • High pulse rate
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Seizures

Benzodiazepines

This is the class of drugs that includes Xanax and Valium. Common signs of withdrawals with these drugs are:

  • Aches and pains
  • Unusual sensations
  • Hypersensitivity
  • Nausea
  • Weight loss
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Hallucinations
  • Seizures

Opiate detox at home

Opiates are a class of drugs that includes heroin, codeine, morphine, hydrocodone, and fentanyl. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the following are signs of opiate withdrawal:

  • Excessive sweating
  • Runny nose
  • Diarrhea
  • Insomnia
  • High blood pressure
  • Rapid heartbeat
  • Muscle cramps
  • Joint pains
  • Anxiety
  • Nausea

Usually, patients not withdrawing from drugs, but experiencing these symptoms would immediately seek medical attention. So why would a patient attempt to go through these symptoms of withdrawal and not want medical assistance? Sometimes there’s a fear of being exposed for using illegal drugs.

The fact is, you should always seek medical advice before attempting to withdraw from drugs. Sometimes detoxification at home may be an option. But often you’ll need in-patient treatment to minimize the risks associated with withdrawal. These risks are very high — including death.

The Risks of Detoxing at Home

Withdrawal from highly addictive substances isn’t just uncomfortable. Patients can die from withdrawals.

Severe alcohol withdrawal includes delirium tremens (DTs) involving life-threatening irregular heartbeat and life-threatening seizures. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires benzodiazepines to have a boxed warning stating that withdrawals can include life-threatening seizures. Opiate withdrawals can lead to deadly heart failure — especially in patients with other chronic conditions.

With such high risks involved, if you’re withdrawing from these drugs, you’ll need medical supervision.

Medically Assisted Detox

Medically assisted detox is a much better way to withdraw. Healthcare professionals can prescribe medications to reduce the symptoms. They can monitor the symptoms to provide emergency care if necessary. And through counseling, they can reduce the possibility of a deadly relapse.

Patients may receive medications for the symptoms of withdrawal on an outpatient basis. But in-patient care is better with the worst types of withdrawals. That’s because round-the-clock monitoring is necessary to provide immediate emergency assistance.

Is it safe to detox at home?

Severe withdrawal doesn’t occur in all cases. For example, a user of benzodiazepines who only used the drug for three weeks and used the drug as prescribed can expect mild withdrawals.

In such a case, medical assistance is necessary, but may only involve slowly tapering off the medication. You probably won’t need in-patient care in such a case.

But with long-term users, those not using drugs as prescribed or users of street drugs, it’s critical to get a medical opinion before withdrawing. In these cases, often in-patient detox is necessary to reduce the risk of fatality or relapse.

At StillDetox, we have treatment programs for anyone in need of detoxification.