How important is it to go through detox before rehab? It’s a question that many ask as they create a plan to deal with their substance use disorder. Detox gives your body a chance to adjust to life without the substance it depends on, but why does that matter? Would you like to know more about Tides Edge Detox Center? Call us today at 866.723.3127. We can guide individuals through the process and provide the necessary treatment.
How Addiction Affects the Brain
When you use a substance, whether it’s a drug like a heron or alcohol, your body, and more specifically, your brain, can become dependent on it. That is why you hear addiction referred to as a complex disease of the brain.
Chemical substances can interfere with the way the brain works, usually by impacting its reward center. This is the area of the brain that makes you feel good when you do something good for you like exercise. You exercise, and your brain rewards you by releasing dopamine to give you a good feeling.
Certain substances can mimic the effect of dopamine or trigger its release. In other words, you get that euphoric reward even though you did nothing to earn it. When that happens, the brain starts to look for that substance. It becomes dependent on it.
Over time, your brain changes. It becomes less able to produce dopamine on its own, and it starts to need more of the substance to get the same feeling. This is called tolerance. And as you develop tolerance, you also become more likely to compulsively seek out that substance even if it’s harmful to you.
Going Through Withdrawal
Detox begins the minute you take your last dose of a drug or have your last drink of alcohol. Not having access to that chemical substance creates chaos in your brain, and your body responds with uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous withdrawal symptoms.
Common withdrawal symptoms include:
- Muscle cramps
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Shaking
- Fever
- Depression
Some people experience more severe complications from withdrawal, such as seizures.
What Is Medical Detox?
Medical detox allows you to get medication that can help manage withdrawal symptoms. The medication might keep you safe should you experience a complication from your withdrawal such as seizures or depressed breathing.
It can also include comfort care, like drugs that ease nausea or medication to help calm anxiety. That drug therapy can go a long way to helping make your detox more tolerable.
Detox is the first step in getting help for an addiction. It’s when your body starts to rid itself of the substances you’ve been abusing. But just because the drugs or alcohol are out of your system doesn’t mean the withdrawal symptoms will stop.
Withdrawal can be both physically and mentally uncomfortable, and in some cases, it can be life-threatening. That’s why detox should always be done under medical supervision.
Medical detox can last anywhere from a few days to a week or more, depending on the severity of your addiction and how long you’ve been using.
Why Detox Before Rehab Is the Best Approach
Going to a detox treatment center puts you in a safe and supervised environment while in withdrawal. You have access to medical and mental health care. You are with others going through detox just like you, and you are away from triggers that might interfere with your sobriety.
Probably one of the most important reasons that you need detox before rehab, though, is that many treatment programs require it. They want you to enter primary care completely sober. By going to a detox treatment program, you can prove you are ready for the next step in your journey to recovery.
How Tides Edge Detox Can Help
When choosing a detox before rehab, consider what each facility has to offer. Tides Edge Detox provides various detox treatments to adults getting ready to enter a primary addiction treatment program.
Tides Edge Detox offers premier substance abuse detox that includes services such as:
- Behavioral therapies
- Yoga therapy
- Individual therapy programs
- Group therapy
We also provide gender-specific treatment plans and ones focused on certain addictions like alcohol or heroin. Our medical detox facilities are safe and supervised. We provide medical staff to monitor your vital signs and prescribe medication to keep you stable. We also offer mental health therapy to help manage depression and anxiety that can come with detoxing.
It is possible to detox without entering into a structured program, but it may not offer your best chance at long-term sobriety.
If you are getting ready to enter into a drug rehab program, call us at Tides Edge Detox first to see what we offer. You can reach us at 866.723.3127.
