Opioid withdrawal timeline: Stages, recovery, and more

It is important to remember that OUD is not the result of personal failure or insufficient willpower; it is a brain disease for which effective treatment options are available. The most effective treatments for opioid use disorder include the combined use of medication and behavioral treatment. These treatments are routinely provided on an outpatient basis, including primary care or at federally regulated opioid treatment programs. They can also be provided at a part- or full-time residential facility that specializes in treating substance use disorders. After a person finishes a detox program, their medical team may advise them to seek further treatment at an inpatient rehab center. This signs of opioid addiction is a crucial step toward ensuring long-term sobriety and avoiding a relapse.

What Are the Symptoms of Opiate Withdrawal?

• Some opioids are shorter-lasting, so they leave the body sooner, and the person can experience opioid withdrawal symptoms fairly quickly.
• Call today to learn more information about treatment options and how to start down the road to recovery.
• Each person will experience withdrawal differently, based on the amount they were taking and other factors.
• Extra opioids, alcohol and drugs can increase your risk of an overdose.
• The physical effects of the withdrawal period are fairly short, compared to the mental symptoms that may persist.
• The brain and body need time to readjust to functioning without opioids, and this adjustment period can be challenging.

But withdrawal symptoms for a slow-acting opioid like methadone can last for a week or longer. Opioid withdrawal refers to symptoms that happen if you suddenly stop using opioids or opiates. Opioid withdrawal, sometimes called opioid withdrawal syndrome, can affect people who use opiates like heroin or morphine, or lab-made opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone. Because opioid withdrawal can cause dangerous complications, it is important that detox happens at a facility staffed with medical professionals who can treat any such complications. A facility specializing in opiate detox makes the process safer; it also provides comfort as they undergo the challenges of withdrawing from these addictive drugs.

Opioid Withdrawal Treatment and Home Remedies

As a result, people who are dependent on short-acting opioids, such as morphine, oxycodone and heroin, usually experience withdrawal symptoms six to eight hours after the last dose. The symptoms peak in two to three days and typically resolve within a week. When medications are used to treat opioid withdrawal, they themselves do not cause withdrawal due to the small doses that decrease over a short period of time.

Coping Through Opioid Withdrawal

If you have opioid use disorder, receiving treatment for withdrawal symptoms may be the first step toward recovery. Most opioid withdrawal symptoms start within the first 24 hours after a person stops using opiates, but they may appear as soon as 8 hours after a person discontinues use. According to NCBI, withdrawal tends to last a total of four to 10 days, but each person’s timeline may vary. Most withdrawal processes, however, steer along a similar trajectory.

• Recovery from opioid addiction is a highly individualized process.
• They’ll also talk to you about your opioid use and recommend ways you can stop using opioids and avoid withdrawal.
• Depending on a person’s needs, they may receive sleep aids, antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, or over-the-counter medications to treat nausea.
• Stopping or lowering the dose of opioids can cause physical withdrawal symptoms (such as vomiting, diarrhea, and sweating), and psychological symptoms (such as anxiety and agitation).
• The intense symptoms of opioid withdrawal are typically short term.

But there are risks linked to opioid use — including severe constipation, nausea, dependence, misuse, opioid use disorder and accidental overdose. For example, opioid medicines may help when the pain level is very high and short term. The initial phase of opioid withdrawal, known as acute withdrawal, typically lasts between 7 to 10 days.

• You may have symptoms right after going through a medically supervised detoxification process, or “detox.” Or you may not have symptoms for years.
• After the acute withdrawal phase, many individuals enter a period known as Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS).
• Bicycle Health helps patients struggling with addiction to opioids.
• The available research suggests that some symptoms of opioid-related PAWS can last for weeks, and in some cases, 6 to 9 months after last use.