Do I Need To Go Through Drug Detox in Montana?

While struggling with a substance use disorder in Montana, it is essential that you first go through a drug detox program before you can receive any other additional treatment services.

Detoxing your body from alcohol and drugs will ideally involve getting rid of these substances from your body. This process is often accompanied by various drug cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

For this reason, it is recommended that you check into a medically managed program so that you can receive supervision to help you overcome these symptoms and cravings. Failure to do so could increase your risk of relapse.

What Is It?

A drug detox in Montana typically refers to the process of getting rid of drugs and alcohol from the system. After this has happened, the detox program will help stabilize you before encouraging you to make the transition to a drug rehabilitation and addiction treatment program.

Often, drug detox services are provided on both an inpatient and an outpatient basis. Your choice of a program would largely depend on the severity of your substance abuse and addiction, as well as on the occurrence of any other additional co-occurring mental health and medical disorders over and above your addiction.

For instance, if you are struggling with a severe and long standing addiction and if you have been diagnosed with a co-occurring disorder, it is recommended that you enroll in an inpatient drug detox program.

However, you can also receive outpatient detox services if you have a less severe addiction that has not been lasting long enough for you to require inpatient drug detox services.

Even so, there are some substances of abuse that could also warrant inpatient treatment. These substances often lead to the development of severe withdrawal syndromes marked by some painful, uncomfortable, and even life-threatening symptoms. If you have been abusing these drugs, it is recommended that you enroll for inpatient detox services. Examples of these substances include alcohol, opioids, and benzodiazepines.

That said, drug detox is an essential first step that you have to take before you enroll in a more comprehensive drug rehabilitation program. It will provide you with some of the tools that you require as you get started on your recovery journey.

In particular, the medically managed detox services that you receive could help prevent and take care of any unpleasant, severe, or fatal effects that are highly likely to result when you suddenly stop using drugs or drinking alcohol.

Overall, the primary goal of drug detox is to ensure that you receive the physiological healing that can help you get started on the long road to addiction recovery and sobriety. NIDA - the National Institute on Drug Abuse - reports that detox services can include medical stabilization, support, and monitoring to ensure that you are safe and comfortable as drugs leave your system.

How Long Does It Last?

The duration of your drug detox process in Montana will depend on many different factors. These factors include but are not limited to:

• How much drugs you used to take at any given time
• How often you used to abuse your favorite substances
• The existence of any other co-occurring medical and mental health disorders over and above your addiction
• The substances that you used to abuse
• Whether or not you were abusing more than one drug, such as alcohol and opioids, at the same time
• Your age
• Your gender
• Your medical history

Most drug detox programs are designed in such a way that they can help you overcome your withdrawal symptoms and drug cravings. Although the time that it would take for you to detox from these substances will vary largely from what other people will experience, most detox programs will last anywhere between a couple of days to several weeks.

The important thing to keep in mind is that drug detox is the first stage of addiction treatment that you have to take on the journey to recovering from your substance use disorder. As a result, you should not consider it as a substitute for other therapies and rehabilitation services that you will definitely require at the end of your detox.

By itself, detox alone cannot address all the behavioral, social, emotional, and psychological issues that are associated with your substance abuse and addiction. Since it also does not last long, it cannot provide you with the lasting changes that are required for your long term recovery and sobriety.

That said, the duration of detox will typically be as long as your withdrawal symptoms and drug cravings continue persisting. As such, the process will take as long as it requires for you to achieve emotional, mental, and physical stability.

Apart from helping you to stop abusing drugs and drinking alcohol, the medical detox process in Montana can also manage your withdrawal symptoms and drug cravings. After you have been through this process, you will also be prepared for the additional work that lies ahead in the form of drug rehab, counseling, and therapy.

What Does It Consist Of?

The composition of your drug detox program will largely depend on the type of detox that you choose. Today, there are various routes you can take while trying to eliminate your physical dependence on drugs and alcohol.

If you choose medical drug detox, for instance, you have the option of inpatient and outpatient detox. Consider the following:

a) Inpatient Drug Detox

Residential or inpatient drug detox is the most recommended form of treatment for severe substance use disorders. Through this option, you will get the opportunity to significantly reduce your risk of relapse as well as ensure that you have round the clock medical care in case you experience any emergency situations.

Many detox programs in Montana, to this end, tend to be on an inpatient basis. Some of them are provided as stand-alone programs - and this would require that you check into a different facility for your rehab services.

Others are provided as part of a long term treatment program. When you choose this form of treatment, you will be able to receive both your drug detox and rehabilitation services from the same inpatient facility.

b) Outpatient Detox

On very rare occasions, outpatient detox might be recommended. This would happen if you have a mild or relatively new substance abuse problem. In this form of treatment, you would be require to check into the treatment center on a regular basis so that your physical dependence, withdrawal symptoms, and drug cravings can be managed professionally.

Outpatient detox programs can also prescribe certain medications - such as what you would get if you checked into a methadone clinic. Through these medications, you might have an easier time overcoming the symptoms that arise as drugs and alcohol start leaving your system.

There are other ways you can detox your body. These options include but are not limited to:

• At home drug detox, or cold turkey quitting
• Rapid drug detox
• Social detox
• Using drug detox kits

All of these options are dangerous - and this is the main reason why medical detox is the most recommended way to deal with the first stages of your addiction. In particular, there is a high risk that detox could end up being intense, severe, or even life-threatening. As a result, you should only attempt detox after you have checked into a medically managed and controlled environment.

Some of the withdrawal symptoms that you are at risk of suffering - and which would warrant medical attention - include but are not limited to:

• Agitation
• Anxiety
• Cravings
• Excessive yawning
• Insomnia
• Mood disturbances
• Muscle aches
• Physical issues
• Runny nose
• Sleep disturbances
• Sweating
• Watering of the eyes

Even though most of these symptoms might not turn out to be fatal, they could be uncomfortable enough to cause you to start using drugs and drinking alcohol again. To ensure that this does not happen, you need to seek out medical detox services in Montana. These services would also reduce your risk of suffering the following additional symptoms of withdrawal, which are dangerous enough to require medical supervision and care:

• Violence
• Symptoms of psychosis
• Injury
• Medical illness
• Threat to self

Do I Still Need Rehab After Detox?

Even after you have been through a detox program, it would still be ideal if you were able to continue with your addiction treatment. It is for this reason that drug rehab is recommended at the end of your detox program in Montana.

That said, detoxification is one of the important steps that you have to take when you get started on the road to recovery. If you are struggling with a substance use disorder and/or co-occurring medical and mental health disorders, checking into a detox center could end up saving your life.

Some of these programs, for instance, will provide medications to manage your withdrawal symptoms. These medications might also be used to reduce your drug cravings and deal with your risk of relapse.

At the end of the detox program, however, you should still check into a drug rehabilitation and treatment center in Montana. This way, you will receive the continuum of care that could ensure your long term sobriety and recovery.

CITATIONS

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/principles-drug-addiction-treatment-research-based-guide-third-edition/frequently-asked-questions/how-effective-drug-addiction-treatment

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1360883/

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/teaching-packets/understanding-drug-abuse-addiction/section-iii/7-medical-detoxification

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/principles-drug-addiction-treatment-research-based-guide-third-edition/drug-addiction-treatment-in-united-states/types-treatment-programs