Overcoming Withdrawal From Dilaudid Addiction

Many addicts who are suffering from dilaudid addiction have a very difficult time overcoming it due to the withdrawal symptoms.  These symptoms will mirror the withdrawal signs from any opiate withdrawal and will be similar to heroin withdrawal as well.  Nausea, stomach cramping, sweats, chills, anxiety, and other flu like symptoms are what you can typically expect.

Depending on how much of the drug you have been taking and for how long will determine how severe your withdrawal symptoms are.  They can last anywhere from a day or two up to a week or two, but most people will be through most of it in 3 to 5 days.

photo credit: slapjack

Now the key for many addicts is to try to find something better than just plain old cold turkey for getting off of Dilaudid pills.  There are some options available to you, and the main one is to go to a medical detox of some sort.

Drug rehab is not free but you may be able to go even if you do not have much money.  For example, many rehabs will accept Medicaid if you have that and some of them (if they are hospital based) will also accept Medicare.

If you do not have private insurance or Medicaid or Medicare, then you still might be able to go to rehab and get help for your problem.  The best thing to do is to call local rehabs and ask them questions.  Find out what you have to do to get funding, or if it is even available.  In most cases it will be but you might have to jump through some hoops or do an assessment over the phone.

If you keep getting no for answer, keep trying.  Call other places and ask questions.  Be polite.  Remember that you are not entitled to free help.  Treatment is very expensive.  Ask questions and try to get them to direct you to your next step in the process.  It is very rare that you will run out of options entirely and not have anywhere to turn to for help.

Once you secure funding for rehab then you have a huge opportunity.  In detox they will give you medicine that will help you to get through the withdrawal process without being overly sick.  After that, it is up to you to learn how to live a clean and sober life without resorting to self medicating again.

Many people who are in this situation in getting rid of Dilaudid will still have an issue once they get clean: chronic pain.  This is the reason that they got on the pills to begin with, and now they have to figure out a way to deal with the pain without resorting to opiate medications.

One solution that some people have used in the past who suffer from chronic pain issues is to use Suboxone in order to medicate their pain.  This is a possible long term solution, but it is expensive, and many people cannot afford it.  But in some situations this medicine represents the best solution in terms of both keeping the chronic pain under control, and also keeping the addict off of other, more harmful opiates.

Staying clean in the long run requires more than pain management, however.  The fact is that most addicts have come to rely on their drug of choice to medicate their emotions, their boredom, their frustrations, and their fears–rather than just simply their pain.  In order to stay clean in the long run, the recovering addict has to take real steps in order to learn how to deal with these other issues.  Even if they do not think they were medicating themselves in this way, over time, a deep psychological addiction will form to opiate drugs.

Recommended Reading

• Overcoming Addiction
• Holistic Addiction Treatment Center