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Dilaudid Addiction Treatment

Dilaudid is a hydromorphone painkilling drug used for treating pain including painful coughing. While many doctors prescribe this drug as an effective substitute for morphine, many people recreationally use it as an alternative to heroin. Dilaudid is clinically found to be two to four times stronger than morphine but the addiction rate associated with this drug is lower. However, it was also found out that this prescription drug is increasingly abused, and this has contributed to increasing death rates among drug addicts.

Categorized as a Schedule II narcotic substance, abuse of Dilaudid may cause adverse side effects including respiratory and circulatory depression, cardiac arrest and shock. It is used for suppressing cough reflex but overdosing it may cause suffocation. Dilaudid overdose can lead to respiratory shutdown, cardiac arrest, coma, skeletal breakdown and even death. Combining this drug with other depressant drugs and alcohol may cause respiratory arrest which can lead to heart failure.

It's easy for anyone to become addicted to Dilaudid and any form of such drug. When it is abused and the addiction transpires, dangerous side effects can occur. The symptoms associated with Dilaudid addiction include shortness of breath, nausea, restlessness, drowsiness, reduced blood pressure, weak pulse, bluish skin and lips, dizziness, skin rashes, muscle twitching, cold clammy skin, dark urine, unexplained weight loss, sweating, light headedness, muscle weakness, hallucinations, local tissue irritation, social withdrawal, depression, confusion and disinterest in food. These symptoms will occur after a few moments of pleasure.

An addicted person withdrawing from Dilaudid may experience withdrawal symptoms similar to withdrawing from Vicodin or Oxydone but the severity of the symptoms depends on the amount of drugs taken and length of use. Dilaudid has a short length of action, and withdrawal from this drug is often brief but intense. If the drug was not injected and the usage was minimal, a person may experience less severe withdrawal symptoms.

Dilaudid addiction treatment may involve immediate stoppage of drug use or tapering off its use, whichever the physician deems fit. When the dosage is tapered off, the drug is gradually removed from the patient's system with minimal effect of the withdrawal symptoms. As the patient is being weaned off Dilaudid, psychological help is essential to prevent being addicted again to it in the future.

Many health experts recommend that Dilaudid addiction treatment be done under the proper care of trained medical staff at a medical treatment facility or a quality treatment center. People addicted to drugs generally don't care about their proper health as they go through withdrawal symptoms. As such, their body may not endure the strain of the withdrawal symptoms and the treatment. They may experience the peak of withdrawal symptoms between 48 and 72 hours of treatment. For this reason, medical attention becomes necessary.

A treatment center will conduct full physical evaluation on the patient in order to determine the appropriate Dilaudid addiction treatment which includes a detoxifying method for flushing out the drugs from the patient's system. This method is designed to correct chemical imbalances in the patient's body caused by the addiction. The process of detoxifying is accompanied with psychological support and proper medical care to address the patient's cravings for Dilaudid.

During the detoxification process of the Dilaudid addiction treatment, physicians reduce the Dilaudid substance in the patient's body while minimizing the withdrawal symptoms at the same time. For the treatment to be effective, the patient has to successfully deal with the cravings for Dilaudid and the withdrawal symptoms. After a successful detoxification treatment method, the patients are advised to go through behavioral modification therapy. They may also undergo opioid treatment by using drugs such as Naltrexone, Methadone, Naloxone and Buprenorphine to reduce their cravings for Dilaudid and other hydromorphone drugs.

For people who may not afford or may not want to undergo Dilaudid addiction treatment in detox centers, there are treatment methods that can be done at home but still need the supervision of a physician. One of the outpatient treatment methods is the use of Xanax, valium or other forms of benzodiazephine for reducing the cravings of Dilaudid and for preventing insomnia. Other complementary drugs may also help with the discomfort associated with the withdrawal symptoms, such as Imodium for diarrhea, L-Tyrosine for extreme exhaustion and also Vitamin B6 for easy absorption of L-Tyrosine. Restlessness can be relieved by mineral supplements that contain potassium, zinc, magnesium, copper and phosphorous.

For chronic drug addiction, however, many experts don't consider self-detoxification as a viable alternative to intensive Dilaudid addiction treatment done in medical facilities or rehabilitation centers because the success of home treatment for chronic drug addiction is not guaranteed.

Facts

  • Ketamine is available as a liquid, one of the most potent ways of administration and users inject it intramuscularly or intravenously.
  • The risk of seizures and death due to withdrawal is probably more severe with barbiturates than with benzodiazepines.
  • Methadone which can be obtained illegally is of uncertain purity and dosage, and individuals have no idea what they are actually buying or if the drug has been tampered with.
  • Individuals who abuse drugs may be more vulnerable to infection, and both drug effects and withdrawal symptoms may mask the need for urgent treatment for another condition.