How to Deal With Withdrawal Symptoms: 7 Tips That Can Help

This can involve listening to them, being a shoulder to cry on, and providing a comforting presence. Sometimes, just having someone there who cares can make all the difference. When caring for someone else, it is essential to ensure that you also alcohol awareness toolkit prevention technology transfer center pttc network care for yourself. This can be difficult and draining, so make sure to take care of yourself physically and emotionally. This can involve taking time for yourself, ensuring you are attending to your needs, and checking in with yourself often.

Different quick stress relief strategies work better for some people than others. BetterHelp is an online therapy service that matches you to licensed, accredited therapists who can help with depression, anxiety, relationships, and more. Take the assessment and get matched with a therapist in as little as 48 hours.

1. For example, a person may be able to quit caffeine without assistance and cope with the unpleasant symptoms on their own until they pass.
2. The right length for an opioid taper varies with each person and each medicine.
3. Despite the dangers and consequences of drug use, many people try substances such as alcohol, marijuana, heroin, and cocaine.
4. This might explain, at least partly, why some people have trouble with drugs and others do not.
5. There are healthier ways to keep your stress level in check.

The body and brain work to maintain a state of balance known as homeostasis. Taking a substance changes that balance, so your body has to take steps to adjust including changing the levels of certain neurotransmitters. These substances act on your brain’s reward system, triggering the release of chemicals. People may recognize symptoms of withdrawal when they stop taking or cut back on a substance. Missing your usual morning cup of coffee, for example, might result in symptoms of caffeine withdrawal such as fatigue, headache, and irritability. In some instances, more severe symptoms such as hallucinations, seizures, and delirium may also occur.

As you seek help for drug addiction, it’s also important to get treatment for any other medical or psychological issues you’re experiencing. Your best chance of recovery is by getting combined mental health and addiction treatment from the same treatment provider or team. You should certainly go to the emergency room (ER) anytime you’re having serious withdrawal symptoms like difficulty breathing, rapid heart rate, or seizures. But, heading to the ER to detox isn’t necessarily the best plan. If you simply show up and you’re not having a medical emergency, they might just refer you to a local substance abuse treatment center.

Once you have resolved your underlying issues, you will, at times, continue to experience stress, loneliness, frustration, anger, shame, anxiety, and hopelessness. Finding ways to address these feelings as they arise is an essential component to your treatment and recovery. Sober living homes provide a safe, supportive place to live while you’re recovering from drug addiction. They are a good option if you don’t have a stable home or a drug-free living environment.

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Having the support of friends and family members is an invaluable asset in recovery. If you’re reluctant to turn to your loved ones because you’ve let them down before, consider going to relationship want to quit drinking use these 8 strategies to make it a reality counseling or family therapy. The main downside of outpatient programs is that they don’t provide 24/7 support and monitoring. Some people prefer to detox in the comfort of their own home.

With some substances, people are able to stop their use abruptly and manage their withdrawal symptoms on their own. For example, a person may be able to quit caffeine without assistance and cope with the unpleasant symptoms on their own until they pass. If you develop tolerance to alcohol 14 celebrities in recovery or other drugs, when you stop using you might go into withdrawal. As the drug leaves your system, your body starts to react to no longer having the alcohol or other drugs in your system. Withdrawal is often physically and psychologically uncomfortable and sometimes can be painful.

Symptoms of Substance Withdrawal

People may experience physical, behavioral, and cognitive symptoms when discontinuing substances. These symptoms may range from mild to severe depending on the person, their history of use, and the substance or substances used. Nearly 20% of people in the United States have used recreational drugs and over 20 million people over the age of 12 in the United States experience a substance use disorder. While people may want to stop using drugs, it can be difficult. But abruptly quitting substances such as benzodiazepines or alcohol can be potentially dangerous, so always consult your doctor to come up with a detox plan. Medically-assisted withdrawal can ensure that you are safe and help to minimize unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.

A step-by-step plan to lower how much opioid medicine you take will help this process go smoothly. This slow tapering also helps ease the discomfort you may feel as you stop taking opioids. During this time, you can practice new skills to manage pain and other long-term symptoms too.

Tapering off opioids: When and how

You may need weeks, months or even longer to slowly and safely lower your dose and stop taking your opioid medicine. Many people try to cope with their urges by toughing it out. When this happens, it can be useful to stay with the urge until it passes. Imagine yourself as a surfer who will ride the wave of your drug craving, staying on top of it until it crests, breaks, and turns into less powerful, foamy surf.

What Does Withdrawal Feel Like?

Please donate today to help us save, support, and change lives. When experiencing a craving, many people have a tendency to remember only the positive effects of the drug and forget the negative consequences. Therefore, you may find it helpful to remind yourself that you really won’t feel better if you use and that you stand to lose a lot. Sometimes it is helpful to have these consequences listed on a small card that you keep with you.

These groups can be a powerful support network for those who find that they aren’t able to quit using opioids despite their best efforts. Talking with your religious or spiritual advisor may help too. You may have withdrawal symptoms when you stop or lessen the use of opioid medicine. Symptoms may vary depending on several issues, such as the speed of the opioid taper and how long you’ve used opioid medicines. Tapering over time can help lessen withdrawal symptoms or keep you from having them. Your healthcare professional may prescribe opioids to help you get through a few days of severe pain after surgery or a serious injury.

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Your breathing and heart rate might increase, sometimes to the point where you feel you can’t catch your breath, or that you’re having a heart attack, even though you’re not. For 80 years, Consumer Reports has been testing products and working to create a fairer, safer, and healthier marketplace. Click here to learn more about Consumer Reports’ mission as a nonprofit organization.