It’s totally valid to feel nervous before detox. For most of us, starting a detox from drugs and alcohol is a leap into the unknown. Any change is a heroic act, requiring courage and surrender.
Making a decision to enter detox is a beginning and an end in the same moment, a combination of letting go and beginning again. Letting go of what we can no longer control, we begin a course of action that will lead us back into the heart of our lives.
Although a map of the detoxification process is not the same thing as the terrain itself, it helps to have an inkling of what’s to come. With a general idea of what to expect, we can prepare ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally for the journey.
In this post, your friends at Villa Kali Ma will do our best to map out the general features of medically supervised detox, so that you can make empowered choices when it comes to choosing a facility for your safe drug detox.
What to Expect During a Medically Supervised Detox
The purpose of medically supervised detoxification is to safely clear drugs and alcohol from the body. Some substances, including alcohol, have physiological withdrawal symptoms which can be potentially life-threatening. In a medically supervised detox program, around-the-clock clinical care ensures a fully safe passage through the physical withdrawal process.
The detoxification process typically lasts around five to seven days. During these days, medical personnel monitor your state, providing medical interventions if needed. Medicine that modulates withdrawal symptoms may be administered if it is deemed necessary to help stabilize your system.
As the body purges the addictive substance and its chemical residue, it is typical to experience hallmark symptoms. These withdrawal symptoms will be different based on the substance that is being cleared from the body. Common withdrawal symptoms include tremors and shakes, nausea, headaches and body pain, sleep disturbances, and in some cases, delirium and seizures. Some withdrawal symptoms are experienced primarily as psychological, such as racing thoughts, anxiety, and depression. It’s also part of the withdrawal process to experience intense craving for the substance.
Women who have mental health disorders and/or trauma as well as substance addiction typically experience the withdrawal process more intensely. In the absence of the addictive substance’s painkilling, euphoric, or energizing effects, existing emotional and mental pain is experienced as amplified.
It’s important to understand, finally, that detoxification is the first step to recovering from substance abuse. Detox is not the same as treatment, and it isn’t reasonably likely to be successful as a standalone measure on its own, because getting the drugs and alcohol out of the body is just the beginning. To recover, the underlying mental and emotional pain which made using substances necessary has to be healed. For that reason, medically supervised detoxification is meant to be followed by several weeks of intensive treatment, and/or daily active involvement in a 12 Step program.
The Phases of Detox: From Evaluation to Stabilization
The phases of detoxification happen in the following sequence: evaluation, stabilization, and preparation for substance abuse treatment.
Evaluation
During the evaluation phase, a comprehensive assessment is administered, to ensure all factors are understood. These factors are substance abuse, mental health needs, physical health history, social context, and personal background.
Co-occurring disorders, including trauma diagnoses, affect the detoxification process, informing the way that each person experiences the journey. The purpose of the initial evaluation is to make a personalized detoxification plan.
Note that you may expect early-onset withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, shakes and anxiety to begin already during the initial evaluation phase.
Stabilization
The stabilization phase is when most of the detoxification process takes place. This stage includes initial withdrawal and acute withdrawal, and ends when the patient’s system is stabilized.
During stabilization, detox patients are closely monitored and may be supported with medical interventions to reduce physical pain or psychological distress. This phase of intensive clinical symptoms lasts several days, generally peaking around three days in, which marks the transition from initial withdrawal to acute.
The initial withdrawal phase, usually up to three days, is when the body rids itself of toxins from the addictive substance. The movement of the chemical out of the body’s channels of elimination, while ultimately very positive for the body, first creates discomfort, such as pain, nausea, cravings, and feelings of intense unease.
The acute withdrawal phase, starting around day three and lasting up to four more days, is when withdrawal symptoms may spike to their highest peak, before gradually winding down.
Preparation for Substance Abuse Treatment
Once the stabilization phase is completed, medical personnel help prepare patients to leave the detox facility and enter a substance abuse treatment program. It’s important to understand that although initial and acute phases have finished, withdrawal symptoms are not done yet. After initial and acute withdrawal phases, there is a long, less acute stage of the detoxification process known as post-acute withdrawal.
Post-acute withdrawal includes persistent, lingering physical and psychological effects which do not destabilize the whole system, but still need to be treated. Post-acute withdrawal symptoms include ongoing dread and unease, sleep problems, mental health symptoms, and cravings to use. It is important to receive substance abuse treatment immediately after leaving a medically supervised detoxification facility for this reason, to protect against relapse in this supremely sensitive phase.
How Medical Teams Ensure Comfort and Safety
The role of medical supervision in the detoxification process is an important factor in ensuring the safety and comfort for people with substance use disorders, as they begin the journey of recovery.
Medical supervision is there to help manage withdrawal symptoms, which can be life threatening in some cases. Even when not posing a danger to a patient’s life, withdrawal symptoms are physically uncomfortable and emotionally distressing. The presence of medical professionals to observe and oversee the process creates a controlled environment, reducing risk of complications and enhancing safety and effectiveness.
Medication
Where appropriate, healthcare providers in a medically supervised detoxification facility use medically-assisted treatment, (MAT), to ease a patient through the danger and pain of withdrawals. MAT uses medication to reduce symptoms and ease cravings.
The medication used in an MAT intervention depends on which substance is being cleared from the patient’s system. For example, benzodiazepines or phenobarbital may be prescribed during alcohol withdrawal to reduce the risk of seizure. During opioid detox, medical personnel may prescribe an opioid agonist, like methadone, or a partial opioid agonist, like buprenorphine (or Suboxone, a brand name medication which pairs an opioid antagonist called naloxone with buprenorphine).
Activities
The atmosphere in a medically supervised detox facility should be gently supportive of psychological as well as physical healing. A good detox will provide initial counseling and other interventions, like easy, accessible mindfulness training and opportunities for exercise. These activities are to help soothe emotions, as well as prepare a patient for entering substance abuse treatment after detox.
Begin Your Safe Detox Journey at Villa Kali Ma
Eliminating drugs and alcohol from the body is the first step of the recovery journey. The experience of detox is different for each woman, depending not only on which substance (or combination of substances) she has been using, and for how long, but also on her unique personhood. At Villa Kali Ma, we support each woman’s detoxification process through many adjunct healing modalities that help purify and restore body, mind, and spirit.
As a holistic program, we know that detoxification is about more than just removing chemicals out of the body. Thoughts, emotions, and even spiritual layers of a woman’s life can be poisoned. Not only by drugs, alcohol, chemicals in the environment, personal products, and food, but by the many kinds of toxicity in our culture, including harmful beliefs and attitudes.
Returning to wellness means returning to wholeness, a radical transformation that touches every last hidden pocket of soul within us. Through yoga, massage, acupuncture, nutritional support, and organic, plant-based diet, we help women start recovery off with a strong foundation, cleansing multiple levels of being. If you’re looking for a safe drug detox with a holistic mindset, consider our medically supervised program. We’d love to help you safely and effectively detox, to set you up right for beginning your life anew.
