Opioids Addiction Recovery: A Timeline
Why Opioids Cause Addiction
Opioid drugs are incredibly addictive, either naturally derived from the poppy plant or made synthetically in a lab, making opioids addiction recovery extremely difficult. They are prescribed in liquid injectable form, lozenges, nasal sprays, sublingual pills, and skin patches, and when made illegally, they can be purchased in liquid, powder, pill, and blotter form. Opioid drugs fit into the brain’s opioid receptors, chemically altering the brain and binding to the places that control pain and emotions while at the same time lowering heart rate and breathing rate, producing a feeling of a blissful high and calmness. They also produce nausea, confusion, and sedation.
Opioids cause people to quickly build a tolerance, especially when they are being abused (but also when used as prescribed, especially when given over a period longer than two weeks), leading to physical dependence as the brain’s natural pathways to the dopamine receptors and other parts of the nervous system become physically altered. This means you need to take an increasing amount of the drug to be able to feel normal and avoid withdrawal symptoms. Physical dependence turns into addiction when drug use becomes compulsive and begins to cause issues in your work, relationships, and health, impeding your ability to live a normal life.
Opioids addiction recovery is usually a long road, as they have serious withdrawal symptoms, drug cravings, and emotional and psychological symptoms that need to be dealt with in a long-term comprehensive program.
A Complete Timeline of Opioids Addiction Recovery
While everybody has their own unique psychiatric and medical needs while in addiction recovery, people working to overcome an opioid use disorder may require a longer-term and more intensive care program than people with milder addictions. Opioids addiction recovery and drug withdrawal symptoms can come back weeks, months, and even years after treatment is over, making it important to keep in touch with rehab centers, therapists, support groups, and other forms of support, even if you are feeling better after rehab.
Detox: 1 to 2 weeks
When you first begin opioid recovery treatments, you will detox. Acute detox symptoms like nausea, achy muscles, flu-like symptoms, joint pain, tremors, rapid heart rate, and other symptoms will appear around 8 to 12 hours after your last use and peak within 1 to 3 days, lasting for up to 7 days total. This will be a difficult week to get through, and most people quitting opioids require a stay in an inpatient medical detox program to keep them safe, healthy, and comfortable. Some longer-lasting opioids like morphine, hydrocodone, and fentanyl may require up to 14 days of medical detox.
Inpatient rehab: 30 to 90 days
After detox is complete, 30 to 90 days inside an inpatient rehab facility is usually recommended for opioid users, not only because of the risk of relapse being so high but also because there are likely traumas, emotional and mental health issues, and other underlying causes of addiction that need to be addressed through therapy inside a supportive and non-judgmental environment. Inpatient rehab is an important step that will keep you away from drugs and alcohol and provide healthy habits and routines like sleeping well and eating right. You will grow to understand yourself better while you rest your body and regain your strength, reframing your mindset and learning helpful relapse prevention and life skills.
Partial hospitalization program: A few weeks
Once your time in inpatient rehab is complete, you will likely want a slow and supported transition back into your everyday life. Many people go into a partial hospitalization program, which is a day program, meaning they live outside the rehab center but come in as though it were their full-time job to get therapy and treatment. This program provides a good balance between personal responsibility and clinical care.
Intensive outpatient program: A few months
The IOP is a flexible outpatient program with treatments given a few hours a day, a few times per week. Many IOP treatments can happen in the evenings and on weekends, allowing you to go to work and take care of responsibilities as you continue to get medical care, therapy, group support, and other treatments, keeping you connected to a strong support system as you live your life.
See which foods help with drug withdrawal here:
Addiction Therapy for Opioid Addiction
At the Muse treatment center for drug and alcohol addiction, we have a wide variety of treatment therapies and programs that can help you overcome not only the cravings and physical discomfort that come with detoxing but also the psychological, emotional, and social issues that contribute to your addiction in the first place. Some of the therapies we offer are:
- Behavioral health treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy
- Group therapy, process groups, and family therapy
- One-on-one therapy sessions (psychotherapy)
- Nutrition and fitness programs
- Spirituality with or without 12-step programs
- Relapse prevention training and other life skills programs
- Dual-diagnosis treatments for co-occurring disorders like PTSD, anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder
- Mindfulness practice
- EMDR
- Art therapy
- Educational programs and lectures
With a combination of holistic treatments, spirituality, medical care, psychological treatments, and a medication-assisted tapering schedule, along with structured daily living that reinforces healthy living and good habits, you will have the best possible chance of quitting opioid drug use for good.
Aftercare Programs to Maintain Your Sobriety
Aftercare programs are crucial to many people’s long-term recovery and relapse avoidance, especially when it comes to opioid drugs.
Our outpatient and aftercare programs provide resources and programs that include:
- Case management services to help you get social services, work, housing, etc.
- Connections to local 12-step programs and other groups in your area for peer support like guided support groups and alumni gatherings
- Ongoing therapy and connections to medical care as needed
- Medication management services for those in medication-assisted treatment (MAT) programs (a medication-based program that helps you taper off opioid drug use in a safe, measured way, overseen by doctors)
- An open invitation to always come back to Muse for further inpatient or outpatient opioids addiction recovery services if you are finding that you are struggling with staying sober because addiction is a chronic disease that takes work to manage
Overcome Your Opioid Addiction with Muse
If you are interested in opioid addiction recovery, please contact the Muse drug and alcohol rehab center today. We offer a high level of care provided by a highly trained team of industry professionals dedicated to your wellness within a safe, supportive, and easy-to-access rehab center. We want to help anybody who needs it, providing care, support, medical and mental health services, and long-term rehab treatments for addiction.
Call Muse Treatment at (800) 426-1818 today to learn more about how we can help you stop using drugs if you want to verify your insurance coverage or if you have any questions about detox, therapy, inpatient treatments, or outpatient rehabilitation programs.
Our rehab center provides a full continuum of care for convenient movement between detox, inpatient, and outpatient rehab. Each patient will receive a customized program tailored to suit their individual needs, helping them face their addiction straight on as they work to gain new healthy habits and overcome the underlying roots of their addiction. We will be there for you as long as you need support through continuing care programs that will help you stay in recovery for the long term without needing to turn back to opioid abuse ever again.
(800) 426-1818