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Posted by: The mom on 2008-02-09, 04:06:38
I've never gone through it, but I do have contact with a colleague who did work in a center that did it for a while. That is, if you are referring to the rapid detox done under anesthetic. I can understand why an addict might want to do it this way, because the traditional method of detoxing is not quick nor painless, and it takes a lot longer than just 2 or 3 days to go through. But honestly, the process scared me and her- which is why she's not working with it now. You are basically put to sleep, for anywhere between one day and up to 48 hours. While you are under anesthesia, they administer large doses of drugs to rapidly physically detox the body. You would need to be asleep for that, otherwise you wouldn't be able to stand the process. If it's successful, at the end of that time you are awoken clean- that is physically anyway. Unfortunately, that's as far as a lot of the programs will take you, and addiction isn't that simple. It's not just the physical addiction you have to deal with, it's the mental side of things, and the fact that a person's life may have been changed to revolve around the drug use. And unless those are addressed, you just aren't going to stay clean and free. At best, some of them will dismiss you with a prescription for a drug to help prevent a relapse- naltrexone, which is an opiate antagonist. If you slip up and do drugs with that in your system, you will really regret it. And it can also kill you. I think the jury is still out on how safe it is. I do know the facility she worked at did have a couple fatalities as a result of the detox process - but don't know the exact details. If you are looking at a program that is not being conducted in a hospital setting, by doctors and staff who are trained to do it, I would not recommend it at all. You also want to be very clear on what is included in the price tag as well- if it will only cover the detox process, or if there is additional support and therapy afterwards. Or if they are just in the business of doing the physical detox and then you are on your own afterwards. You can detox over a weekend, yes- but come Monday morning, there will be other things that still need help. I'm not, nor have I ever been an addict, so I can't really offer you any insight from that perspective. I've worked only with the traditional detox programs. So I certainly understand why you might not find the traditional detox program attractive. But I'm not sold that it's something you can do in just a weekend either. Addiction just isn't that simple, if just cleaning house and saying no afterwards worked, there wouldn't be such a problem with it. But if it means the difference between continuing an addiction or getting clean, and you could arrange for after care to attend to the rest of the addiction issues, then I couldn't blame you for giving it a shot. Just give yourself the best shot at whipping the addiction by making sure you have assistance for whipping all the addiction, and not just the physical side of it. One final consideration, for what it's worth- none of the medical insurance companies will pay for this particular therapy, at least none that I am aware of. It's not because it costs more, because as a rule it doesn't cost any more than the traditional programs do. They say it is still experimental, and it is very controversial in the addiction treatment circles. So whichever way you choose to go, just be smart choosing one and be sure there is support for afterwards. Otherwise, it most likely won't work for you. |
