Medically Reviewed By: Kimberly Langdon M.D.
The prescription drugs that cause addiction and dependence include:
- Opioid pain relievers such as Vicodin, tramadol, and OxyContin
- Benzodiazepine anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax, Halcion, and Ativan
- Stimulant medications for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) such as Adderall, Ritalin, and Concerta
- Hypnotic sleeping medications such as Ambien, Lunesta, and Intermezzo
When you stop taking these medications after you develop dependence, you’ll experience withdrawal and cravings. This can happen even if you used the medication exactly as your doctor says.
Prescription drug withdrawal can derail your recovery before it even starts.
When you withdraw from prescription drugs, you can experience cravings, pain, depression, and worse. You can detox from prescription drugs safely with the help of a medical detox program at Bedrock Recovery Center.
What is Prescription Drug Detox Treatment?
Prescription drug detox helps you get through withdrawal safely. Withdrawing from addictive prescription drugs can lead to:
- Cravings
- Changes in your blood pressure and heart rate
- Mood changes
- Stomach upset, including nausea, diarrhea and vomiting
- Sweating, runny nose and dehydration
These are only a few of the signs of prescription drug withdrawal. They vary depending on the actual drug that you’re stopping.
The problem is, these effects commonly lead to relapse. It’s hard to get through drug withdrawal without feeling like you need to give in to the cravings.
That’s where prescription drug detox programs come in. Our detox program offers 24/7 monitoring and support for the days that you spend in withdrawal.
Your care may include:
- Intravenous (IV) fluids to help with the effects of dehydration
- Medications to treat the symptoms of withdrawal
- Nutritional care including supplements for any nutritional deficiencies you have
- Symptom monitoring to keep you comfortable and avoid complications
All this care takes place in a treatment-focused environment where you don’t have to worry about temptations or relapse. Prescription drug detox can help you get through the worst parts of withdrawal without relapsing.
Who Needs Prescription Drug Detox?
If you’re addicted to prescription drugs, then you need to go to detox. The same is true if you’re dependent on these drugs.
To know if you need detox, ask yourself if you have any of the signs of prescription drug addiction. If you do, then you’re at risk for relapse during withdrawal. Detox can help you take control of your withdrawal.
If you have any of these signs, you need prescription drug detox:
Signs of Prescription Drug Abuse and Addiction
You should attend detox if you have any of the signs of prescription drug addiction. Those signs include:
- Doctor-shopping, or seeing multiple doctors to get extra prescriptions
- Hiding your medication or lying about medication use
- Inability to stop using your medication because of withdrawal
- Losing prescriptions or otherwise running out of medications too early
- Keeping extra medication in unusual places
- Stealing medication from other people or buying it illegally
- Using your medication against the doctor’s orders, such as taking too much medication, taking it too often, or taking it when you don’t need it
- Using medication that doesn’t belong to you
- Using medication more often to get the same effect, called tolerance
- Using medication more often to avoid withdrawal
Any of these signs is enough reason to attend detox and prescription drug rehab.
Signs of Prescription Drug Withdrawal
You should go to detox if you experience withdrawal symptoms from prescription drugs. The most common prescription drug withdrawal symptoms include:
Opioid withdrawal includes:
- Muscle pain
- Watery eyes
- Runny nose
- Sweating
- Insomnia
- Diarrhea
- Stomach cramps
- High blood pressure
You may experience these signs after stopping medications like OxyContin, tramadol, Vicodin, or Percocet.
Benzo withdrawal includes:
- Crawling sensations
- Mood changes
- Muscle spasms
- Panic attacks
- Seizures
- Sensitivity to light, sound and other sensory stimuli
- Sweating
- Tremors
You may experience benzo withdrawal after you stop using medications like Ativan, Xanax, Valium, or Klonopin.
Stimulant withdrawal includes:
- Headaches
- Extreme hunger
- Severe depression
- Slow heart rate
- Trouble thinking or focusing
- Night terrors
You might experience these effects after you take Adderall, Desoxyn, Ritalin, or Dexedrine.
Sleeping medication withdrawal includes:
- Insomnia
- Lightheadedness
- Mood changes
- Nausea
- Panic attacks
- Restlessness
- Seizures
- Sweating
- Tremors
These effects might happen after you stop using medications like Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata, or Somnol.
The signs of withdrawal mean that you should go to detox. You’re more likely to relapse while you’re in withdrawal.
Anyone who can’t stop using prescription drugs can benefit from a detox program at Bedrock Recovery Center.
It doesn’t matter if you’re physically dependent, psychologically addicted, or both. It’s important to start your recovery on the right foot. Our detox program is the foundation of the rest of your recovery.
What to Expect From Prescription Drug Detox Treatment?
It can be hard to take the first step toward recovering from prescription drug addiction. That’s especially true if you don’t know what to expect.
The truth is, prescription drug detox treatment doesn’t have to be scary. Our detox program is an opportunity to recover under medical support. This helps you feel comfortable and reduces your risk of relapse.
What Happens in Detox
In detox, you should expect to receive personalized care at every step. Your care team will help you get through withdrawal by monitoring your progress.
You may receive medication to keep your symptoms under control. And if you have underlying health issues that affect your detox, like dehydration, then your detox care team will address that, too.
How Long Detox Lasts
The length of prescription drug detox depends on a few factors, including:
- Your age
- Your physical and mental health
- Your drug use history
If you have abused prescription drugs for a long time, or heavily, then you may take longer to detox than usual. The same is true if you are older or have health conditions.
The type of drug that you’re discontinuing affects detox length, too. For instance, opioid withdrawal often takes 5 to 7 days, while benzo withdrawal may take 3 to 4 days.
What Happens After Detox
Your recovery journey isn’t over just because you finished detox. After detox, there’s still work ahead.
At Bedrock Recovery Center, most patients move from detox straight to inpatient treatment.
Our residential treatment program will continue your prescription drug recovery journey by:
- Teaching you valuable recovery skills, including stress management, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance
- Immersing you in recovery treatment such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, educational workshops, and group discussion
- Giving you access to medication-assisted treatment if you’re a candidate for it (currently only people in recovery from opioids or alcohol can receive MAT)
You’ll also build a plan for aftercare. When you leave Bedrock Recovery Center, you’ll take with you a comprehensive plan to keep you on track for recovery.
This might include:
- Continuing outpatient treatment to keep tabs on your condition if it’s not yet stable
- Medication-assisted treatment to control long-term cravings if you’re recovering from prescription opioid addiction
- Therapy and counseling to help you develop and maintain your recovery skills
- Group support and therapy to help you find connection within the recovery community
Prescription Drug Detox Treatment Process
At Bedrock Recovery Center, the detox treatment protocol includes supportive care, medication, and a transition to follow-up treatment.
Supportive Care & Medication
During your prescription drug detox, you’ll get constant monitoring and support.
Our team of board-certified physicians and addiction professionals checks your progress constantly. Depending on your needs, you may receive:
- Intravenous hydration to control the dehydration that comes with the sweating and increased bodily fluids during withdrawal
- Medication to control the acute symptoms of withdrawal, such as beta-blockers to treat high blood pressure or antidepressants to treat mood changes
- Nutritional support to address any deficiencies that are common with long-term drug addiction, such as B-complex deficiencies or anemia
Transition to Treatment
Treatment follow-up is important after detox. You’ll enter our inpatient residential program for prescription drugs once detox is complete. During detox, our care team will help you understand what to expect from treatment.
Prescription Drug Abuse Statistics
Still not sure that prescription drug rehab is for you? What if prescription drug addiction is more dangerous than you know? Check out these prescription drug rehab statistics:
- 70% of prescription drug overdoses involve a prescription opioid
- 40 people each day are victims of prescription drug deaths, and that’s from opioids alone
- Over 50% of people who abuse prescription opioids get them from friends or family
You’re not alone in prescription drug addiction. Bedrock Recovery Center can help you like we help countless others.
Why Choose Bedrock Recovery Center?
You should choose Bedrock Recovery Center because we offer evidence-based prescription drug addiction treatment that’s compassionate and effective.
Our programs include residential treatment in an amenity-filled, homelike facility where you can focus on recovery completely.
We know that prescription drug addiction doesn’t happen in a bubble. At Bedrock, we’ll help you address the underlying causes for your substance abuse, such as:
- Gender-based violence
- Trauma
- Family conflict
Looking to learn more about prescription drug addiction and treatment? Check out more prescription drug abuse articles here!