OxyContin Detox

OxyContin addiction is a serious illness that evokes both the short-term and long-term changes in the way your brain works as well as changes in your behavior, your emotions, and your psychological state of mind. OxyContin addiction, like all addictions, is recognizable by the continued use of the drug regardless of health problems, financial worries, relationship troubles, or problems keeping up with work, school or community obligations; all components that recognize the need for detox. Should you unsuccessfully attempt to stop taking the drug repeatedly or experience withdrawal symptoms if you miss a dose or quit ‘cold turkey,’ these, too, are signs that you are in the throes of addiction and need detox.

Through your doctor, you can determine the best avenue of treatment. Things to consider are the level of treatment one may need (inpatient vs. outpatient program) and medical detox vs. behavioral therapy. By treating both the physical and psychological effects of addiction, you increase your chances of a successful recovery. (Watch this OxyContin video.)

Why Detox?

Detox can be a very “taboo” word to the addict, thus recognizing they have an addiction. It is not something to be ashamed of and ultimately can restore the quality of life to the addict. Completion of the detox process provides three important achievements to the recovering addict:

• Overcoming the physical addiction to OxyContin.
  Although a great deal of work still remains (as the individual moves forward into counseling to address the psychological component of addiction) detox helps the individual accomplish this key component of recovery.
• Reducing the chance of relapse.
  Once the individual has completed drug detox, the chance that they will succumb to relapse is significantly lower than before they started the process. This is extremely important because of the increased risk of overdose for those who relapse after embarking upon the detox process.
• A real sense of accomplishment.
  Detox is just one of the first steps in the recovery process, but getting through the withdrawal symptoms and detoxifying to the point where rehab can begin is a huge accomplishment and arguably one of the more physically taxing steps to sobriety.

After OxyContin Detox

Once the patient is physically stable and detoxification is complete, the individual can turn their attention to the psychological aspect of addiction and the corresponding therapies that address this level of addiction. The next step for most patients is OxyContin support counseling and other therapeutic options, in which the recovering addict is given a chance to meet with counselors and fellow patients (in group counseling) to discuss the root causes of addiction and learn how to replace negative behavior with positive choices.

Making a Recovery Plan

Recovering from a drug addiction may well be one of the most difficult, yet important, experiences of your life. With complete success as the ultimate goal, you will want to do everything possible in preparation for the recovery process including:

• Focus on your objective – Remind yourself daily, even hourly if the temptation becomes so strong, why you have committed to your recovery. Acknowledge the things that are important in your life and recognize that your addiction is preventing you from being fully available to the people and events that are important to you.
• Look back to move forward – Revisit prior attempts in recovery and evaluate what conditions negatively impacted your success. Learn from these observations so that you don’t repeat unproductive behaviors.
• Set goals – Goals need to be measurable and should foster success. Dissect a large goal into measurable objectives and focus on one objective at a time. Don’t set yourself up for failure; there are enough obstacles already, don’t be an obstacle to yourself and your progress.
• Out with the old – Remove anything in your lifestyle that tracks back to your addiction. Replace old patterns and habits with new ones that are more in line with your recovery.
• Seek help – There are many resources available to you. Support groups, medical professionals, friends, family members, recovered addicts; the list goes on. Actively seek help as often as you need it.
• Learn new ways – There may have been triggers in your life that led to your addiction. Look at what those triggers were and aggressively seek alternate, healthy ways to respond to those triggers.
• Avoid temptation – While it appears that this would be an obvious strategy, it is difficult to implement. Prior relationships, social activities and a great deal of your time were previously connected to your addicted life style.
• Don’t give up – Recovering from a drug addiction is a process, not a single event. As such, there will be times of success and times of relapse. Work toward increasing your success times and learning from the relapses.

OxyContin Help

If you or someone you know is struggling with an OxyContin addiction a needs OxyContin treatment help, we can help. Please call our toll free number at (866) 872-6492. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to answer your questions on OxyContin addiction and treatment.

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