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How To Overcome Severe Withdrawal Symptoms During Addiction Recovery?

Alan Watts Jul 30, 2022 11:11 AM



If you made the decision to recover from addiction, you will thank your future self later. One of the things you may be dealing with during this time can be withdrawal symptoms. On some days, those symptoms can be severe.


For this reason, it is important to consider inpatient detox treatment so these are less likely to occur. If you want to find out about how Gallus Detox can help you get treated while avoiding severe withdrawal symptoms, check here for more information.


Choose inpatient recovery


Inpatient recovery is your best option when combating severe withdrawal symptoms. The reason for this is some of them can be serious to the point where death may occur. This is one major reason why detoxing at home should be out of the question.


With inpatient recovery, you will have around the clock access to medical staff that will treat you for such symptoms. They are available whenever you need them so you don’t have to wait awhile.


The quicker your withdrawal symptoms are dealt with, the better. This will also ensure that you won’t suffer from any more severe occurrences in the future.


Consider Medication Assisted Treatment (MATs)


While in recovery, your treatment plan may include medication assisted treatment or MATs. This includes one of three medications including methadone, suboxone (or similar medications), and naltrexone.


The medication will be chosen at the discretion of the doctor that is focused on your treatment. Before a decision is made, a pre-treatment screening will be performed.


A blood test will be part of the pre-treatment assessment to determine how much drugs are remaining in your body. This will make the decision easier to choose the medication you need for treatment.


You may be put on methadone or suboxone, whichever is available. Naltrexone can be used if you are dealing mostly with alcohol addiction. With that in mind, your doctor will inform you on the medication you are taking.


Depending on the medication, the treatment will last weeks, months, or even up to a year. You will be placed on a specific dose for 90 days. After this, your doctor will reduce the dosage.


The dosage will continue to reduce over time but at the doctor’s discretion. You may experience less withdrawal symptoms and that can be an indicator for your doctor to bring down the dose or taper you off the medication.


Exercise on a regular basis


If you want to reduce the occurrence of withdrawal symptoms, you can try working out on a regular basis. One of the major benefits of regular exercise is the improvement of your immune system.


This can be very helpful in reducing then occurrences. You can start while you’re in treatment. By the time 12 weeks have passed, you’ll notice some physical changes. It can get to the point where your withdrawal symptoms can be few and far between.


Even though the occurrences can still happen, the in between period may be longer than expected. Make sure that you are exercising anywhere from 25 to 30 minutes for about 5 to 6 times per week.


Eat a well balanced meal


Eating healthy along with regular exercise can put you on the path towards a more healthy life. Not to mention, it can also contribute to the reduction of withdrawal symptoms.


It’s important to ditch the junk food in favor of healthy options. These include but are not limited to fruits, veggies, or any foods rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals.


Sugars, oils, and “harmful ingredients” may exacerbate your withdrawal symptoms. So make decisions in terms of what you want to eat on a regular basis. As part of your many plans to make, one of them should be a diet plan.


Plan your meals day by day, week by week. Plan which foods are acceptable and leave out the ones that aren’t. It may seem like a challenge to let go of the foods you enjoy eating.


But sometimes, it’s worth the sacrifice for a greater good. Don’t feel discouraged. You may resume eating your favorite foods later on in life. 


Have a set sleep schedule


One of the major challenges of recovery is getting a good night’s sleep. However, you can make the adjustments as you go. You’ll want to shoot for at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night.


Exercising on a regular basis and help increase your sleep quality and quantity. When you stay consistent with your sleep schedule, you can reduce your symptoms by a lot.


Make hydration a priority


If there if one thing you don’t want to go through the day without, it’s water. Drink anywhere from six to twelve glasses of water throughout the day to ensure you maintain adequate levels of hydration on a regular basis. Doing so will keep your cravings down and your withdrawal symptoms almost down to nothing.


Drinking water should also help flush out any toxins left over from the drugs. When this happens, your withdrawal symptoms will almost be nonexistent. If that isn’t one reason why you should start drinking more water, we can’t think of anything else.


The more water you drink, the healthier you’ll look and feel. In fact, you may experience several health benefits that come with drinking water consistently. After 30 days, you may lose weight, notice your skin becoming better looking, and have more mental clarity among all other benefits.


Final Thoughts


Reducing severe withdrawal symptoms might be one of your major goals. No one wants to deal with them when they are going through treatment. Following these tips above will bring them down to a bare minimum.


These are proven steps that will work in your favor. The consistent you follow through with them, your treatment will go more favorable than you can imagine. While there is no guarantee your withdrawal symptoms will never occur, the instances will be lesser than usual.


Do your part to get the lifesaving treatment you need as soon as possible.