August 28, 2020

[How to] Detox From Meth at Home

Detoxing at home from any drug is not always a wise thing to do. You could face serious health complications if no medical care is readily available. And if you do kick the habit, but don’t immediately enter rehab, you will likely relapse. This is especially true of people who want to meth detox from home.

Home meth detox is expected to become a major issue as meth makes its comeback. Unlike other drugs, no medication can assist you in detox or keep you abstinent.

Learn how to detox from meth in the safest way possible, why you need to enter rehab, and what rehab can offer you by contacting our recovery experts today. All the information and resources you need are a call away at 623-273-7371.

Content

Detoxing from meth is an extremely difficult and dangerous process and should never be attempted without medical supervision.

The Highly Addictive Nature of Meth
Best Settings For Detox
Medical Treatment on the Horizon
Rehab is a Must
Contingency Management for Meth
Quitting Meth is Critical to Your Health
The Physical Effects of Meth
Staying Sober

The Highly Addictive Nature of Meth

Meth use continues to increase in the United States. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports that the total number of U.S. overdose deaths keeps rising. Sky-rocketing from 547 in 1999 to 12,676 in 2018.

The problem is also likely to get worse. The Drug Enforcement Administration reports that Mexican mega-labs now make hundreds of pounds of meth at a time. Mexican meth is very pure. Therefore, it is very potent. In addition, this meth is 71 percent cheaper than that in small labs in the United States.

Before discussing how to detox from meth, let’s look at why users almost immediately get addicted to the drug. Injecting and smoking meth makes it enter a person’s bloodstream and brain quickly. The flood of meth makes an immediate and intense “rush.” It only lasts a few minutes but is said to feel very pleasurable. Because the rush is brief, users tend to “binge” on it to keep the high going.

Meth is highly addictive because it creates more dopamine in your brain. The high changes the way the brain works, which leads a person to use the drug more frequently. If a person stops using meth, they become ill and return to the drug to feel better.

Best Settings For Detox

Before you learn how to detox, make sure you know all the alternatives. If you are determined to detox at home, you may be getting much more of a challenge. Also, you may not have the support system you need to get you through the worst.

While detoxing at home, the person is with a friend or family member. They can also receive daily visits from a nurse or a medical doctor. During outpatient detox, the person attends a local drug treatment facility.

Outpatient or home-based detoxification aims to help:

Manage the symptoms of withdrawal in a supportive environment
Monitor the patient’s mood
Provide early intervention if problems arise
Educate people about the course of withdrawal
Maintaining a commitment to their withdrawal
Plan for and coordinate aftercare at a rehab center.

Outpatient or home detoxification are acceptable alternatives when following these criteria:

Severe or complicated withdrawal is not a concern
No medical complications
Psychiatric symptoms are not of concern
There is strong social support
Home environment is drug-free, supportive, and stable
The patient has not previously failed a detox
Everyone present, especially the addict, commits to the withdrawal.

When the home environment is not supportive of detox, it’s time to enter a rehab center with a community residential setting.

People with an addiction to meth usually don’t need to detox in a hospital or supervised clinic. However, it is not the same for addicts of alcohol or benzodiazepines. These withdrawals can be painful and dangerous. But there are certain situations in which a meth user may need a hospital setting.

When Do I Need Supervised Treatment?

If you are experiencing the following, then checking into one of our rehab centers may be the best option for you.

Simultaneous dependence on alcohol
If a complicated withdrawal will probably happen
Medical issues requiring close observation or treatment
Significant psychiatric complications
The home environment is unfavorable, or if the patient is homeless
Multiple attempts at outpatient detox have failed.

If you would like more information about the treatment options near you, then call us today. Our team of experts will be happy to help you get the tools you need to get back on your feet.

Medicinal Treatment on the Horizon

No matter where you choose to detox, you must remember: there are no medications available to help ease the withdrawal. But there is hope in the form of medicinal treatment. However, this is still in the testing stages. The theory behind the medical therapy is that if meth doesn’t get into the brain, then it will not cause psychoactive effects. The new treatment is being developed and studied by NIDA-supported researchers. They are at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and a biotech company, InterveXion Therapeutics.

Two UAMS doctors and their colleagues have created an antibody to interact with meth. When a patient takes it, the antibody locates the targeted molecule — meth — and binds to it. This binding decreases meth’s ability to rush into the brain; now, users can’t get their desired high. The UAMS doctors say their medical therapy should be in conjunction with behavioral therapy. In order to keep meth addicts in treatment.

Rehab is a Must

Getting meth out of your system isn’t enough to declare victory over addiction. After detox, you should check into an outpatient or in-patient drug recovery center. If you do not take this step, a relapse is almost sure to happen.

In addition, counseling and behavioral modification and contingency management are the best ways for people addicts to start recovery.

One behavioral modification program is the Matrix Model. It is a 16-week full treatment program. For instance, it combines:

Behavioral therapy
Family education
Individual counseling
12-step support
Drug testing
Encouragement to participate in non-drug-related activities

Moreover, the Matrix Model has been shown effective in reducing the misuse of meth. Do you think you are ready for rehab? Maybe you just want to talk to somebody about your options. No matter the situation call us today. Our experts will help you get the treatment you deserve. It is never too late to ask for help.

Contingency Management for Meth

Contingency management interventions have also proven to be effective. With contingency management, vouchers are given for every drug-free urine sample a patient provides. The voucher can be for food items, movie passes, “or other goods or services consistent with a drug-free lifestyle.” Patients also have a chance to win cash prizes ranging from $1 to $100. However, cash prizes require more than just clean urine samples. Attending counseling and taking part in goal-oriented programs also puts a patient in the running.

At first, the voucher values are low. But the costs increase for patients as the number of consecutive drug-free urine samples increase. Get a drug-positive urine sample, and the value of the vouchers drops to the initial low cost.

The cash incentives apply similar principles to those of the voucher program. But it becomes a game of chance to win instead. Throughout this three-month program, patients who supply drug-negative urine or breath tests draw from a bowl. Consecutive negative results mean more opportunities to draw. However, any drug-positive sample or unexcused absence from counseling implies a return to a single draw.

Some practitioners think that the cash incentive option could promote gambling addiction. However, studies looking into this concern found that the prize incentives did not encourage gambling behavior.

Can winning a few prizes help keep a meth user sober? According to one study, the answer is yes.

Quitting Meth is Critical to Your Health

As mentioned earlier, meth creates extra dopamine in the brain. That spike has a robust mental effect on the user. In addition to having an addiction to meth, NIDA reports that long-term meth users could display psychotic features. These features can include paranoia and hallucinations. They also have delusions; the most well-known is the sensation of insects crawling under the skin. These symptoms can last for months or even years after a person has quit using meth. Stress triggers natural recurrences of meth psychosis in people who use the drug.

Misuse of meth not only causes these and other problems but also produces significant changes in the brain. Studies show differences in the dopamine system activity associated with reduced motor speed and impaired verbal learning. Furthermore, chronic meth users reveal severe structural and functional changes in the brain’s areas associate with emotion and memory.

You can also speculate that these changes in brain structure and function could explain why addiction is hard to treat. Also, why relapse early on in treatment is so high.

Long-term meth use also increases the risk of stroke. This risk can cause irreversible brain damage. Former long-term meth users show a higher incidence of Parkinson’s disease as well.

Do not let your health suffer any longer. Call us today if you are suffering from an addiction to meth. We will be able to guide you to a happier and healthier path.

The Physical Effects of Meth

There are also physical effects on long-term meth use. For example:

Weight loss
Severe tooth decay and tooth loss
Skin sores

The dental problems are likely from poor nutrition, lack of good dental hygiene, dry mouth, and tooth-grinding. The sores are caused by users picking and scratching at their skin. The picking is due to the delusions about crawling insects we mentioned earlier.

However, another negative effect is contracting or transmitting HIV and hepatitis B and C. This disease affects not only meth users who inject the drug, but also those who swallow, snort, or smoke the substance.

Staying Sober

Meth detox does not mean you are “cured” of your addiction. Whether you detox at home or a hospital, it means you have taken the toxins out of your body. That’s why rehab is a must if you never want to use meth or any other drug again.

According to NIDA, medical detox alone does little to change long-term drug use. It increases patients’ risk of dying from an overdose.

However, very few patients make the transition from detox to an outpatient or residential treatment program.

Detox won’t cure you. Substance abuse is a chronic condition. There is no cure, but there is treatment. That’s why rehab is so important. It provides you with tools you can take into your everyday life. These tools will help you cope, stay away from temptation, and enjoy your life in recovery.

Our experts can help you find the resources you need to detox safely and stay clean afterward. Start your journey toward a meth-free life today by calling us.