There are a variety of physical, behavioral, and mental manifestation signs your body is detoxing. Some may be less comfortable than others, but rest assured, these short-term inconveniences soon give way to a more comfortable and enjoyable recovery journey ahead. Here, you’ll learn all the positive indicators that your body is detoxing correctly and how to handle the more uncomfortable manifestations.
At Discovery Institute in Marlboro, New Jersey, our team specializes in medical detox and providing our clients with comprehensive treatment and support to promote successful recovery outcomes.
What are Common Signs Your Body is Detoxing?
Muscle and body aches are physical symptoms of your body physically cleansing itself of dependency. These aches range from mild to severe, varying on a case-by-case basis depending on addiction severity and individual detox reaction. There are a few approved, strictly monitored painkillers detox specialists can prescribe if your symptoms qualify for medication necessity.
Restlessness and disruptive sleep patterns are common signs your body is detoxing by repairing its distorted neuronic balances. This occurs because once the body is starved of receiving the chemical dependent, it begins to restore normal mental frequencies. Unfortunately, a byproduct of this is often accompanied by trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Again, our specialists come prepared to train you how to get better rest in conjunction with potential medical sleep aids.
Sometimes throughout the detox process, you may sleep well but still battle bouts of unexplained drowsiness. However, be encouraged as this unfounded fatigue is a sign your body is detoxing properly. Addiction causes one’s energy source to derive from the indulged chemical dependence. When that is taken away, the body is forced to find a natural energy source. Once these bouts of fatigue run their course, you’ll feel a renewed sense of energy enabling you to excel at every recovery phase.
When you stop taking drugs or alcohol, your mind goes through a purification process of destabilizing neuronic balance. This process of mental rebalance usually is accompanied by uncomfortable headaches. Some may even experience near-migraine levels of headaches. Thankfully, you don’t need to suffer through these difficult detox withdrawals with modern medicine and training methods. Enroll in our world-class detox programs to get all of our training techniques and medication assistance at your disposal.
Feeling easily irritable or quick to anger for little or no reason at all is one of the signs your body is detoxing. Our trainers will teach you how to cope with these mood swings in detox. We’ll give you all the comfort, space, and approved medication needed to improve difficult mood swings associated with detox withdrawals. Once these mood swings are overcome, you’ll feel the joy of having a clear mind one step closer to sobriety.
Removing drugs from your body is like changing your diet, for lack of a better term. When your body grows accustomed to certain foods, drugs, and other consumables, you develop digestive triggers that keep your bowels on a routine. Drugs and alcohol are no different. Therefore, removing substances from your life alters digestive routines, potentially resulting in stomach cramps, aches, or other uncomfortable withdrawal-related symptoms.
When your body expels toxins, one of the ways it does so is through your pores. That’s why you may experience cold sweats or hot sweats during the detox phase. Rest assured, this means your detox is working and your body is restoring itself naturally and properly.
Why is Professional Guidance Necessary?
Some who aspire to remove addiction from their lives do so alone, with heavy mental and physical consequences. Therefore, the role of professional guidance is the most vital asset for the following reasons.
Even if you may know there’s a problem, getting properly diagnosed is the key to getting the treatment you need. Only by accurate addiction diagnosis can a physician chart the most effective personalized treatment plan for you. This is especially the case if your doctor finds any pre-existing mental health disorders that may require dual diagnosis treatment. Speak to a treatment assessment specialist today to get properly diagnosed and finally receive the treatment you deserve.
Once a chemical dependency is acquired, anything you do to remove that dependency without professional administration can dangerously alter vital functions. That is to say, depending on addiction severity, stopping cold turkey without proper medications can send your body into shock. This shock can result in developing mental health disorders, and cause cardiac distress, including heart attack or death in the most severe cases. Be sure to consult your physician before attempting any form of substance detox.
Detoxing without professional guidance is not only dangerous, it’s a lonely and discouraging road. That’s why detox specialists are there to keep you encouraged with quality training, methods, and practices that help you stay the course. This is just one of the many ways in which your detox director is in many cases the first beam of your strong support structure. We’ll help you keep your focus on the main goal of sobriety while fending off any doubts or discouragement that arise.
Many people have aspirations to achieve sobriety but don’t have proper relapse prevention plans or know where to start. That’s why every successful recovery journey is achieved by having a professional coach. Our medical experts train you to make relapse prevention techniques and sober living methods a part of who you are. Thanks to our unparalleled team, you’ll have an arsenal of tools at your disposal to sustain independent sobriety.
There’s no greater way to begin building your support structure from the ground up than meeting with a therapist. They can help you and your family build a support system together through meticulous training sessions. These sessions help you be the best support you need to be while helping you better understand one another. This not only solidifies your support group, but it helps you grow closer to your loved ones.
How Long Do Detox Symptoms Last?
Detox symptoms and withdrawals can last as little as a few days or as long as a month. How long these symptoms last varies on a case-by-case basis. These symptoms depend on several factors. These factors consist of addiction history, depth of dependency, the type of substance abuse, and preexisting health conditions. Speak to a detox specialist to assess your condition and get a rough timeline for your potential detox symptom duration.
What is the Body’s Detoxification Process?
Understanding your withdrawal symptoms and why they occur is directly related to understanding the body’s process of detoxification. This bodily cleansing can be simplified by keying in on a few primary organs responsible for the detoxification process. All of the following vital organs work together to thoroughly cleanse your body of unhealthy substances.
The liver’s natural function of converting and breaking down bodily toxins is directly related to your body’s detox healing process. Like anything, your liver is the primary source of breaking down harmful drug or alcohol toxins to be easier processed before expunging. When you’ve stopped taking these drugs entirely, your body begins a full body cleansing beginning at the liver. This cleansing does more than cleanse the substance from your body. It also heals and restores any repairable damage that may have been caused by substance abuse.
Once the liver has done its job at breaking down toxins, it sends the remnants to the kidneys to finish the job. Think of your kidneys as the strainer that collects healthy blood and separates unhealthy toxins from that blood. This is how kidneys filter unhealthy foreign agents from the body and purify blood through a strict double-filtering process stemming from the liver.
While the liver and kidneys are doing their job, your skin, the largest organ, is doing its part through your pores. As briefly hinted at earlier, harmful toxins that are not processed by your liver and kidneys are secreted through your pores by perspiration. This is one of the ways your body harmoniously works together to rid your body of substance dependency and foreign agents. Don’t be alarmed while experiencing unexplainable hot or cold sweats during detox as this is a normal part of detoxification.
Once your body has run the course of numerous organ detoxification tasks, what’s left over digests in your stomach. From there, your colon takes care of the rest and expels it with the rest of your digested foods. This is the final phase of your body’s cleansing process before restarting the procedure again until all toxins are eliminated. The course of all of these detox methods can take several weeks or months before digestive routines return to normal.
Manage Withdrawal Symptoms Safely at Discovery Institute
Now that you know what to expect with detox, Discovery Institute can help you through the process safely and enjoyably. We will help you manage, minimize, and in some cases eliminate detox symptoms. Much like you saw in the aforementioned information, we pride ourselves on complete transparency. We will make sure you’re well-equipped mentally and physically for the recovery ahead. Equally important, we’ll ensure you know and understand all the signs your body is detoxing and how to handle those changes. Begin your rehab in the safest, most enjoyable, first-class environment. Contact us at Discovery Institute today.
Dr. Joseph Ranieri D.O. earned his BS in Pharmacy at Temple University School of Pharmacy in 1981 and His Doctorate Degree in Osteopathic Medicine at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1991. He is Board Certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and a Diplomate of the American Board of Preventive Medicine Addiction Certification. Dr. Ranieri has lectured extensively to physicians, nurses, counselors and laypeople about the Disease of Addiction throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania since 2012.
