Answer to your Question

Answered By: Addiction Specialist

Answer: There are three main ways withdrawal from opiates is treated. The first way is to slowly taper the dose. With this approach, withdrawal symptoms are minimized because the body is given sufficient time to adjust to each small decrease in dose. Many addicts find it difficult to have the will power to adhere to a tapering schedule, however, and frequently this is done under a doctor's supervision, often after the patient is switched onto another opiate medication like suboxone or methadone. A second approach is to treat each of the symptoms of withdrawal independently with non-opiate drugs. So, a doctor would prescribe one medication to treat nausea, another to treat diarrhea, another to treat excessive adrenaline release, etc. This method is usually performed on an inpatient basis. A final approach is to put the patient under general anesthesia and to give them an opiate antagonist like naloxone that rapidly and strongly binds opiate receptors preventing the oxycodone or other opiate from binding. This is essentially throwing the addict into immediate full fledged withdrawal and that is why anesthesia is needed. Regardless of the approach used, the best idea is to withdrawal under the care of a doctor who specializes in treating patients with opiate dependence. This will ensure that the withdrawal is done safely and as comfortably as possible.

Answered on: September 29, 2008