If you are dependent on drugs that are prescribed by a doctor, then you have an ally in your detoxification project. Talk over your plans with the doctor and tell him or her what you are planning to do.

If you feel that you are dependent upon Benzodiazepines or Barbiturates, and are on high doses, or have been using them for a long time, then it may be unwise to attempt to stop without medical supervision. Both drugs can cause severe fitting when they are withdrawn, and deaths have been caused by barbiturate withdrawal so it is not a good idea to attempt to stop immediately. With the Barbiturates, it is usual to change over to Phenobarbitone before attempting a gradual reduction, whereas with the Benzodiazepines, it is usually best if the prescription is changed to Diazepam.

If you are dependent upon an Opiate, then many people find it helpful to change over to either Methadone or Dihydrocodine (DHC or DF118) for detoxification. Again, if you are receiving your supplies from a doctor or a clinic, talk your plans over with them. They can help you by rationing your supplies for you. during the course of your detox, and by offering more flexible options should you experience difficulty with your plans.

If you are dependent on black-market drugs such as heroin or cocaine, you may find it difficult to persuade a doctor to prescribe for you. This can be a good thing, as if you go on a script, it can make it too easy to continue using for a long time. Once again, it is crucial to stress that you need to know what you want. If you want to stop using, then it may be easiest to attempt a home detox. Should you find it too difficult, then you can always seek help from a doctor or drugs agency afterwards. If you wish to continue using, then you may well benefit from a visit to a drugs agency in order to discuss ways of stabilizing your drug use or reducing the risks that you run.


What will the withdrawals be like?

Withdrawal symptoms will differ with the drugs that you use. Cocaine users will not experience physical withdrawals, but they may experience intense craving, irritability, inability to sleep, mood swings and panic attacks.

Heroin users, on the other hand, will experience all of the psychological symptoms, accompanied by physical withdrawal symptoms. Some clever-dick drugs workers claim that withdrawal is no worse than a dose of bad flu. That might be true, except when did anybody suffer a dose of flu that stopped you from sleeping or even getting comfortable for more than a minute at a time? A dose of flu that can be cured in minutes by the consumption of a little bag of powder?

With opiate withdrawal, although the symptoms are the same for everybody, everyone seems to focus on one particular aspect as the thing that they experience as the worst. For one person it may be pains in the muscles or joints, for others it could be the inability to get comfortable. Others have difficulty coping with the lack of sleep. The range of symptoms for opiate withdrawal includes sweating, restlessness, nausea, diarrhea, stomach cramps, muscle pains, sleep disturbance, hot and cold flushes. It is undoubtedly unpleasant. However, fear of withdrawals makes them seem worse than they actually are. Almost everybody can cope with the severity of their withdrawal, regardless of how much they have been using.

Some people do really stupid things and claim the fact that they were in withdrawal is an excuse. It isn't that they can't deal with the sickness though - the real reason that they do these things is because they aren't really committed to stopping. It's hard to sit and suffer if you know that as soon as you get money, you are going to get sorted, and therefore you'll have to go through the whole thing again. You, on the other hand, are different. If you have decided to stop using drugs, this will be the last time that you suffer this way. Not only will you feel the pain, you will embrace it as you kiss it goodbye, safe in the knowledge that after you have finished your detox all that will be behind you.


How do I go about it?

Once you have decided to stop using, don't just say "that's it, no more" as you are bound to fail. You need to plan your detox properly. Decide a time when you are going to do it. It could be relatively soon, or it could be some time in the future. Whenever it is, put aside at least two weeks when you don't need to do anything stressful and you don't have any responsibilities. If you have children, send them to their grandparents or to a friend for a holiday. They won't enjoy spending this time with you, and you'll be glad not to have to worry about them.

Tell everybody about your decision to stop using. People who love and care about you will give you support through this period. Other users may resent your ability to break the habit and try to tempt you into using. If you suspect that this is the case, explain what you are doing, and tell them that you would rather they didn't come around during this period. You can decide later whether you still want to see them, but if they insist on trying to tempt you, you can be certain that they don't really care about you, so don't feel guilty about excluding them from your life.

Try to put some money aside. You need to be able to pamper yourself with rewards during this period. Giving up drugs is a very brave and difficult decision, so you shouldn't feel guilty about indulging yourself in other, less destructive ways. If you are unemployed, perhaps you could avoid paying the rent for a week and make up the arrears a bit at a time later on.

Finally, find a comfortable place in which to do your detox. One of the
main reasons for doing a detox as an in-patient is that some people don't have anywhere comfortable that they can detox. For most people though, detoxification is much easier if you can make a drink in your own kitchen, watch your own T.V., read your own books and listen to your own stereo. If the place where you live isn't very nice, see if you can go back home to your parents, or if you can stay with non-addicted friends for a couple of weeks.

Personally, I think you should regard a detox as being like a prison
sentence. Rather than focusing how long you have felt lousy, focus on how much closer you are to feeling better. Make a calendar and tick off the days, or keep a diary and write down how you feel. Identify landmark points so that you can look back over it and see how much progress you have made. Stopping using drugs is one of the major decisions in your life - it will be nice to look back and see how you managed to overcome each of the obstacles, or even just how much you suffered without quitting.

Every time you complete a certain period, congratulate yourself for having made it. Give yourself a reward. For each day you complete it could be something small, like something special to eat or drink. For each week that passes, do something really nice for yourself. Buy yourself something to wear or go out for a meal. Think about both the detoxification and the rewards as investments in the new you - the person that you want to become rather than the person that you were.

One of the most difficult aspects of opiate withdrawal is the lack of
sleep. Some people might be tempted to use sleeping tablets in a desperate attempt to get some respite. Personally, I find that they don't really help, they just dope you up so that rather than lying around withdrawing, you are lying around feeling doped-up and withdrawing. You still won't sleep and benzodiazepines are addictive too, so you could end up replacing one habit with another. Remember, there are no easy solutions, you've just got to bite the bullet and ride it out.

Finally, don't get hung up thinking about the length of time that a detox is going to take. Like they say in Alcoholics Anonymous, just try to get through one day at a time. It's difficult trying to imagine a life without drugs, but far easier to make it through to the end of a day. Then you can again start afresh tomorrow. Remember, every day that you manage to stay clean is an investment in your own future - and if you can't be bothered to invest in yourself, you can be pretty damn certain that nobody else will.