How to Ease Oxycodone Withdrawal

You may be afraid to pursue recovery from oxycodone abuse or dependence because you are concerned about the withdrawal symptoms. It is a fact that opioid, including oxycodone, withdrawal is one of the most severe that people can undergo. This is why many people relapse during their attempts to go off of oxycodone.

Even people who use oxycodone according to their physician’s directions can experience withdrawals. And, people who abuse oxycodone definitely experience them. In fact, the heavier your oxycodone use, the more intense your withdrawal symptoms will be. And, they can be debilitating.

In order to ease or eliminate these symptoms, you need to participate in a professional detox program, where experts will help you move from a state of acute oxycodone intoxication to a healthy, safe state free of drugs.  You can try detoxing at home on your own, but you will not have a reliable, evidence-based way to manage your symptoms.

Professional detox offers medications, support, information, and general care that all contribute to management of your withdrawal, but the reality is that you won’t be able to avoid in entirely. You will have to go through withdrawal. But, formal, structured detox can definitely help.

It’s easy to say that you need professional detox, but that doesn’t make it any easier to decide where to go. That’s where Oxycodone.org can help. Give us a call at 888-810-2643 and speak to an expert who can answer questions, talk about funding, and even direct you to some appropriate treatment options. Call today.

Information about Withdrawal Symptoms

One of the ways detox programs help you through withdrawals is by providing information. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration states providing information about the withdrawal symptoms you will face as you stop taking oxycodone may reduce your discomfort and the chances that you will bail on treatment early. This is why they recommend all detox facilities have staff willing to provide information and written materials that cover the same information.

As such, here are some of the symptoms that the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports you will experience.

The following are early symptoms of withdrawal:

Meditation and mindfulness can ease oxycodone withdrawal.

• Agitation
• Anxiety
• Muscle pain
• Excessive tearing
• Trouble sleeping
• Runny nose
• Perspiring
• Yawning

The following are late symptoms of withdrawal:

• Stomach and intestinal cramping
• Diarrhea
• Enlarged pupils
• Goose bumps
• Nausea and vomiting

Keep in mind that these are the symptoms professional detox should be helping you with.

Medication Assisted Treatment

The most effective way to help limit the symptoms of withdrawal from oxycodone is to administer drugs designed for opioid withdrawal. Commonly used drugs include:

• Methadone, which alleviates withdrawal and aids with detox
• Naltrexone, which prevents relapse
• Buprenorphine, which remedies withdrawal and shortens detox
• Clonidine, which lessens many specific symptoms, like agitation, muscle pain, anxiety, runny nose, perspiring, and cramping; it does not reduce cravings

These medications are part of what is called medication assisted treatment, or MAT, which does not rely on medication alone; it is a component that is introduced along with therapy and support.

These medications will be administered in most professional detox programs because, as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration notes: “Management of this syndrome without medications can produce needless suffering in a population that tends to have limited tolerance for physical pain.

At the point that your caretakers determine the perfect medication and dosage, you will feel normal; you will have no side effects; you will have controlled cravings; and you will not feel withdrawal.

Alternative Approaches

As addiction medicine draws from a variety of sources, they are as likely to use alternative medicine as they are to use conventional. For example, the following treatments are popular in easing oxycodone withdrawal symptoms:

• Meditation and mindfulness
• Nutrition
• Yoga
• Exercise
• Acupuncture
• Pet therapy
• Gardening
• Art therapy
• Water therapy

It must be noted that there is not scientific research that backs the effectiveness of these treatments, anecdotal evidence does substantiate their role in limiting the psychological and physical symptoms of withdrawal.

For example, the anxiety of oxycodone withdrawal could trigger a panic attack, but time spent with a therapy animal could help you to relax and avoid that outcome. Or, water therapy in a heated pool could help to alleviate some of your muscle cramping.

You can’t completely avoid withdrawal, but you can enroll yourself in a professional detox program that can ease the symptoms. Call 888-810-2643 to find one that will work for you.

15 Signs You Need Oxycodone Withdrawal Treatment