Drug Withdrawal Symptoms

Drug withdrawal symptoms are what many addicts and alcoholics fear most. They feel like your body is screaming at you to get it what it needs, which is the substance! And in a way, that is exactly what your body is doing. Drug withdrawal symptoms occur because your brain works a lot like a kind of spring when it comes to addiction. Drug and alcohol are brain depressants that push down the spring and suppress the production of neurotransmitters like noradrenaline.

When you stop using drugs and alcohol, all the weight comes off the spring, and your brain rebounds by producing a surge of adrenaline that can cause drug withdrawal symptoms. Not only that, but your brain used to produce “feel good” chemicals on its own but since you have been giving it synthetic feel good chemicals it has become lazy and doesn’t make them anymore. So when you stop giving it synthetic feel good chemicals, it takes a minute for your brain to wake up and start making them again, and it isn’t very happy to do so initially.

Drug Withdrawal Symptoms are not created equal

Every drug is different. Some drugs produce severe physical drug withdrawal symptoms and severe emotional drug withdrawal symptoms. These drugs are the usually the most feared by addicts to stop. They are alcohol, opiates and tranquilizers such as valium and Xanax.  Other drugs that produce less severe physical withdrawal symptoms, but still have an emotional withdrawal are cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy. Every person’s experience with drug withdrawal symptoms is a little different. For instance, you may experience little physical drug withdrawal compared to the person with you in drug detox. This is because drug withdrawal symptoms are dependent on how much, how long and the individual person.

What are the emotional drug withdrawal symptoms?

• Anxiety
• Restlessness
• Irritability
• Insomnia
• Headaches
• Poor concentration
• Depression
• Social isolation

What are the physical withdrawal symptoms?

• Sweating
• Racing heart
• Palpitations
• Muscle tension
• Tightness in the chest
• Difficulty breathing
• Tremor
• Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea

Some drug withdrawal symptoms are dangerous and could potentially be fatal. These drug withdrawal symptoms are usually associated with the use of alcohol and tranquilizers. Suddenly stopping alcohol or benzodiazepines can lead to seizures, strokes, and heart attacks in high risk patients. A medically supervised detox is highly recommended for anyone who is addicted to alcohol or benzos because a medically supervised drug detox can reduce the risk and dangers of the drug withdrawal. Some of the dangerous drug withdrawal symptoms associated with alcohol and benzos are:

• Grand mal seizures
• Heart attacks
• Strokes
• Hallucinations
• Delirium tremens (DTs)

But what about opiates?

Drug withdrawal symptoms from opiates such as heroin, OxyContin, and morphine are extremely uncomfortable, no doubt, but they aren’t fatally dangerous unless they are mixed with other drugs. Heroin withdrawal on its own, by itself, does not produce seizures, heart attacks, strokes or delirium tremens. A medical drug detox is not a necessity for opiate withdrawal but it is still highly recommended. A medical drug detox can help ease almost all of the discomfort due to the drug withdrawal symptoms. If you are in need of a medical detox, Palm Partners Treatment Center can help. Contact us today at 800-951-6135.