Opioids
Discover why Harbor Detox is your best choice for addiction treatment in Orange County.
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Opioid Detox in
Southern California
The opioid epidemic has been devastating in the United States, and you may be personally affected by it. If you’re struggling with opioid dependence or a loved one is, treatment options are available. Your treatment program will likely begin with a medical detox.
Harbor Detox is a program offering opioid detox in Southern California and inpatient rehab programs tailored to your individual needs.
What Are Opioids?
Opioids are a class of drugs, sometimes called opiates or narcotics. The opioid class includes illegal drugs like heroin and prescription pain medicines like oxycodone, codeine, morphine, and hydrocodone. In recent years, the synthetic opioid fentanyl has been largely responsible for the tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the U.S. An estimated 80,411 people died in 2021 from an overdose that involved an opioid.
Opioids naturally come from the poppy plant, and some prescription drugs are made directly from the plant. Others are made to replicate the chemical structure of the poppy plant in a lab.
In medical settings, prescription opioids are mostly used to treat moderate to severe pain. These drugs can also create pleasant feelings of being high and relaxation. That’s part of the risk of abuse—the pleasant feelings these drugs can trigger because of their effects on the brain.
When someone takes opioids, they bind to opioid receptor sites and activate them. These sites are in the brain, spinal cord, and body. The receptor sites are especially prevalent in organs that affect how you experience pain and pleasure.
Whether it’s a prescription or illegal opioid, they similarly affect the brain and body. Along with relaxation and euphoria, short-term opioid effects include:
- Drowsiness
- Confusion
- Constipation
- Nausea
- Slower breathing
Hypoxia is a condition where insufficient oxygen is reaching the brain, and because of the slowdown effect opioids have on the central nervous system, this is a risk of use. Hypoxia can lead to permanent brain damage, coma or can be deadly. An opioid overdose occurs when someone uses a dose too large for their body to handle. Breathing can slow down dangerously or stop altogether.
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Opioid Dependence and Addiction
Dependence and addiction are separate concepts, although they often occur together. Dependence frequently begins with the development of tolerance. The use of prescription opioids or illegal drugs can lead you to need higher doses or more frequent doses than you once did to get desired effects. This is tolerance.
With repeated use, dependence can occur. The neurons in the brain adapt to opioids, so they can only function normally when the drug is present. If you were to cut back on your usual dose or stop cold turkey, you would have withdrawal symptoms.
Addiction is a chronic disease with the defining feature of uncontrollable, compulsive opioid seeking and use. The use is out of the user’s control because of changes in the brain and despite harmful effects.
A substance use disorder is a medical illness, and addiction is the most severe form of SUD. With opioid addiction, a person will often experience health problems, changes in their behavior, and problems at home, school, work, and relationships.
Signs of opioid addiction include:
- Prioritizing opioids to the detriment of other things.
- Neglecting responsibilities.
- Risky use.
- Drug cravings.
Harbor Detox is a Southern California opioid detox program, and we also offer inpatient rehab treatment.
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Harbor Detox in Orange County, California offers a variety of drug & alcohol addiction treatment options.
What Happens During Opioid Withdrawal?
If someone wants to cut back on their use of opioids or stop altogether, they may have withdrawal symptoms. If you’ve been using opioids at relatively high doses for over a few weeks, withdrawal will likely occur. These symptoms happen because your body has to adjust to not having opioids present in your system anymore.
Using opioids for a period of time makes your body less sensitive to their effects, and over time you need more to get the same effects. This raises the risk of overdosing and changes your brain’s nerve receptors. The receptors become dependent on opioids to function.
As a substance use disorder, opioid withdrawal can be categorized as mild, moderate, or severe. Your symptoms and their severity will depend quite a bit on your usage patterns, personal health history, and whether you have co-occurring mental health disorders.
The earliest initial signs of opioid withdrawal usually start within 24 hours after your last dose.
Symptoms can include:
- Chills
- Sweating
- Muscle aches
- Agitation
- Anxiety
- Abdominal cramps
- Nausea
- Insomnia
- Vomiting
For most people, the symptoms of opioid withdrawal will increase in their severity for around 72 hours before peaking and starting to get better.
The opioid withdrawal timeline will also depend on the type of drug used. For example, heroin and other shorter-acting opioids usually lead to withdrawal symptoms quickly, within 8-12 hours after the last use. They can peak within 1-3 days, and symptoms often improve in seven days.
Longer-acting opioids like methadone and certain prescriptions might not cause withdrawal symptoms until 36 hours after you last use them, and the symptoms can be ongoing for two weeks or more.
Harbor Detox, an opioid detox in Southern California, offers effective treatment programs in a peaceful, supportive environment.
Habor Detox Offers Opioid
Withdrawal Treatment
A medical opioid detox in Southern California is a way to receive opioid withdrawal treatment. During a detox program, you receive medical monitoring of your symptoms and vital signs. This is important to reduce complications and help you successfully make it through detox so you can begin an addiction treatment program.
During a medical detox, the goal is to stabilize you and make you as comfortable as possible.
Some medications can be used during an opioid detox program, including:
- Suboxone combines buprenorphine, a mild opioid, with naloxone, an opioid blocker. This medication can help with the symptoms of withdrawal and can shorten the time it takes to detox while also reducing the intensity.
- Methadone is a powerful opioid used for long-term maintenance therapy, but it’s done so in a controlled way.
- Buprenorphine, on its own, can reduce cravings for opioids without producing euphoria.
- Naltrexone on its own doesn’t activate opioid receptors. Instead, it blocks the euphoric effects of opioids, but your system has to be completely clear of them before you can use this.
Following a successful detox, you can begin an inpatient rehab program that addresses the underlying causes of addiction and includes a combination of behavioral therapies.
If you’d like to learn more about opioid detox in Southern California, contact Harbor Detox. Recovery from opioid addiction and dependence is possible; you don’t have to do it alone.