You’ve tried to quit using or drinking, but each time you’re miserable, mentally and physically, thanks to withdrawal symptoms. In fact, these symptoms are often strong enough to send you back to your drug of choice in short order to find relief.
The withdrawal process is an incredibly formidable hurdle, especially if you’ve become physically dependent. To give you an idea about what you may be up against, the team here at Tres Vistas Recovery pulled together some of the more common withdrawal symptoms for the most commonly used substances.
More important than these checklists is the fact that we offer comprehensive detox services that can help you more easily navigate withdrawal, which we review at the end, so please read all the way through.
Alcohol withdrawal symptoms
The symptoms that accompany alcohol withdrawal can be quite serious and even life-threatening. Depending upon how much your drink and for how long, you may experience the following, which we list in order of severity:
- Headaches
- Anxiety or nervousness
- Tremors
- Sleep issues
- Gastrointestinal issues
- Heart palpitations
- Hyperthermia
- Hallucinations
- Seizures
These symptoms can develop within eight hours of stopping drinking and last for a week.
Opioid withdrawal symptoms
When we use the term opioids, we’re referring to painkillers, heroin, and street drugs that mimic painkillers. Within the first 24 hours of quitting opioids, you may experience the following:
- Muscle aches and cramps
- Anxiety
- Watery eyes
- Runny nose
- Sweating
- Yawning
- Nausea and vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Stomach upset
- High blood pressure
As you can see by this list, the symptoms of opioid withdrawal are often described as flu-like.
Benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms
This group of central nervous system depressants, such as Xanax, can create very serious withdrawal symptoms if you’ve been using them for six months or more. Again, in order of severity, you may experience the following:
- Headaches
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Tremors
- Sweating
- Heart palpitations
- Muscle spasms or cramps
- Nausea and vomiting
- Panic attacks
- Hallucinations or visual disturbances
- Delirium
- Grand mal seizures
Like alcohol withdrawal, the withdrawal from benzodiazepines can be life-threatening if you experience seizures, though this is not a common occurrence.
Weathering withdrawal symptoms
If your withdrawal symptoms are preventing you from breaking free from your substance use disorder, we urge you not to go it alone. We offer comprehensive medical detox services in which we can ease the withdrawal period with:
- Medication-assisted treatment using FDA-approved prescription addiction medication
- Antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications
- NAD IV therapy
At the same time as we work to relieve or reduce your withdrawal symptoms, we offer full recovery support through therapy, counseling, and group sessions.
If you choose to withdraw in a safe and well-monitored environment, we recommend that you enrol in our treatment program. By staying with us, you have access to care and support 24 hours a day and our staff is with you every step of the way as you clear the withdrawal hurdle and get on the road to recovery.
To learn more, contact our office in San Juan Capistrano, California.
