If you have only tried meth once, or have found yourself addicted to it, it is time to stop right in your tracks and let it go before it is too late. At Knoxville Recovery Center, we have the experience and the skills to guide you to live your life without it. Your first step to living a drug-free life is detox. Let’s take a moment to have an honest discussion about meth and why it is so important that you rid your life of it before you enter rehabilitation.
What Are the Effects of Meth on the Body?
When you use crystal meth, it causes your brain to flood your body with large amounts of dopamine, which results in a strong feeling of euphoria that lasts for a prolonged period of time. However, when this process continues to happen over time, severe side effects occur.
Your brain’s dopamine reserves become depleted and you keep doing more meth in hopes that you will feel this pleasure again. However, the wiring of your brain’s dopamine receptors has become damaged and feeling euphoric again becomes an unreachable goal. At this point, users typically fall into a deep, dark depression.
It’s not just your brain that meth has an effect on. Meth causes your heart to race and your blood vessels to constrict. This can cause you to have a heart attack right on the spot, or a stroke, and your death may be the final result.
The behaviors that you may exhibit while on an energy-fueled meth run are generally risky and dangerous, as you will do whatever you can to make sure you have enough money to use again. In terms of your emotions, those who use long-terms have been known to be aggressive, as well as show symptoms of psychosis, paranoia, hallucinations and delusions.
Now that you can step back and see the big picture of what meth is doing to you, or will do to you, let’s switch gears and talk about why it is so important that you begin the rehab process by detoxing completely from methamphetamines.
Why Must I Go Through Meth Detox Before I Enter Rehab?
The answer is simple. Before you begin to heal, you have to remove the poison. The first step in any rehabilitation program is detoxing from the drug that has grabbed ahold of your life. Your mind and body needs time to clean out the toxins that you have been feeding it for so long. Although this can be a difficult undertaking, it is absolutely necessary.
It is not effective to try and wean yourself slowly off of meth. It is also not going to work if you try and detox at home without any professional help. Going to a detox center is the only way that you can be certain you will stick to the program and resist temptation when it comes knocking on your door. Detoxing in a supportive environment with counselors and nurses around is definitely a recipe for success when it comes to detoxing from methamphetamines.
What Is It Like to Detox From Meth?
Now, let’s take a moment to talk about what it is going to be like to detox from meth. Logically, the main issue that you are going to have to overcome is that you are going to have an extreme craving to do meth.
How severe your withdrawal symptoms are vary from person to person. It depends on how long you used meth, how much you used and how often you used it. It is also influenced by whether or not you combined other drugs when you used meth.
In the beginning, you are going to feel exhausted, and also very hungry. You will likely sleep or feel like sleeping for days at a time. You will feel very depressed, have feelings of apathy, or even thoughts of suicide.
It would not be uncommon for you to experience psychotic symptoms such as paranoia, hallucinations and delusions during meth withdrawals.
Here are a few other common symptoms you might experience:
- Excessive sweating
- The jitters
- Confusion
- Stomachache
- Anxiety
- Dehydration
- Fever
- Red, itchy eyes
What Can Be Done to Make My Detox Process Easier?
When you choose to detox at Knoxville Recovery Center, we do everything that we can to keep you safe and comfortable during your stay with us. We understand that your withdrawals are uncomfortable at best and can feel unbearable at worst.
One of the ways that we help you is with medication assisted detox. Although medications won’t likely take all of your symptoms away, they can help you manage some of them. Bupropion can be helpful in reducing cravings. Modafinil can help adjust your sleep patterns. Fluoxetine helps to curb anxiety. These are just three examples of ways that medications can help you feel better when you detox with professional help.
What Is Meth Rehab Going to Be Like?
After you have gone through meth detox, it is time to move on to rehabilitation. Although every program likely differs some, here is what you can expect in general.
You can expect there to be behavioral therapies, such as cognitive-behavioral and contingency management interventions as a part of meth rehab. These often involve counseling, 12-step support, drug testing and encouragement for participating in activities that are not drug-related.
Begin Meth Detox in Knoxville
Knoxville Recovery Center is where your journey begins. Leave the madness, the depression and the frustration behind you. You deserve better. We will provide you with the strength and the encouragement that you need when you feel weak. We will be there to help meet your needs 24-hours a day.
All you need to do is gather the courage to take that first step and make a simple phone call. You can reach our team of friendly and nonjudgmental counselors by contacting us today. We hope to hear from you soon.
