Ready for Recovery?
A better future is within reach. Call now to get help.
Dilaudid is one of the most potent opioid medications created to treat severe pain after surgery. While it possesses benefits to treat chronic pain and some injuries, it can be extremely addictive when abused. If you develop a chemical dependency on the drug, abrupt cessation may result in uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. Unfortunately, going through Dilaudid withdrawal is only the first step on your road to recovery.
What Are the Dilaudid Withdrawal Symptoms?
Since Dilaudid is considered a potent opioid, you can expect withdrawal symptoms to range from uncomfortable to severe. When compared to benzodiazepines or alcohol, opioid withdrawal symptoms are not deadly, but the unpleasant symptoms are nearly impossible to overcome alone. In some instances, it can be dangerous if you have a medical condition, which can cause complications.
Former Dilaudid users report symptoms that resemble the flu. Those struggling with a severe addiction to opioids explain that symptoms are like the worst flu you’ll ever have.
The most common Dilaudid withdrawal symptoms might consist of:
Stages of the Dilaudid Withdrawal Timeline
Many factors will influence the length and severity of your Dilaudid withdrawal symptoms. If you are on a planned tapering of the substance, your withdrawal period may be longer than usual, but much less intense. If you stopped abruptly, which is known as cold turkey, the symptoms might be much more intense.
You may experience the initial symptoms faster if you are tolerant to high doses of Dilaudid, or if you’ve used the drug for a more extended time. If the last dose you consumed was smaller than usual, you might experience symptoms faster.
Those who stop all at once will experience a similar pattern, which consists of:
Why Should I Detox?
Dilaudid is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant that causes unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Opioid withdrawal will affect your entire body, which means withdrawals are more than just psychological.
The most dangerous part of Dilaudid withdrawal is the potential for dehydration.
To avoid these uncomfortable or potentially dangerous symptoms, you must check into medical detox.
Doctors will provide medications and monitor your vitals to make sure you are safe.
What Is the Next Treatment Step?
Once you finish detox, you will move through the necessary levels of care. While detox is crucial, it’s not enough to address your addiction needs. The clinicians in the first stage of treatment will help you determine the necessary level of care moving forward tailored to your specific needs.
Dilaudid Addiction
Dilaudid is a brand name for an opioid medication called hydromorphone. As a prescription opioid, it has a significant potential for dependence and addiction. The abuse of prescription opioids is linked to the later use of illicit opioid drugs like heroin, and it may be one influence in the nation’s current opioid addiction epidemic.
Dilaudid is prescribed to treat mild-to-moderate pain symptoms that result from injuries, diseases, or surgery. However, it can also create a euphoric high when taken in high enough doses.
Dilaudid binds to opioid receptors in the brain that are designed to bind with your own naturally occurring endorphins, which are very similar to morphine. Opioids mimic endorphins and also affect other chemical messengers in the brain like dopamine. These chemicals are linked to the reward center of the brain, the part of the brain that addiction affects.
Drug addiction is characterized by compulsive use of a substance despite harmful consequences. Dilaudid addiction is treatable with the right therapy options. Learn more about the signs of addiction and how it can be treated.
What Are the Signs of Dilaudid Addiction?
Dilaudid addiction can come with many of the same consequences that other opioid use disorders do. Long-term use of the drug can cause you to spend the majority of your time intoxicated, trying to manage your addiction and looking for your next source of the drug. It can start to have an impact on your health and well-being.
Recognizing the signs of addiction and seeking treatment as early as possible can help prevent the worst consequences of the disease like overdose, financial ruin, or strained relationships. Signs of Dilaudid addiction include:
Addiction is a progressive disease, which means it can get worse if it’s not addressed. Severe substance use disorders can start to affect your health, relationships, finances, and legal standing unless it’s treated.
What Is Involved in Dilaudid Addiction Treatment?
Dilaudid addiction can be treated with several therapy options depending on your needs. Effective addiction treatment is tailored to your individual needs, which are determined through medical and clinical evaluations when you first enter treatment.
If you have medical needs that require 24-hour care, you may go through a medical detox program, the highest level of care in addiction treatment. If you don’t need constant medically managed treatment, but you do need around-the-clock monitoring, you may go through an inpatient program.
When you’re ready to live on your own, you might consider entering an outpatient program.
Treatment may include individual, group, and family therapy options that address the underlying causes of addiction, such as mental health disorders.
You may also learn coping mechanisms to help deal with cravings without relapsing.
How Dangerous Is Dilaudid?
As an opioid, Dilaudid can be dangerous when it’s abused. Abuse and overuse of the drug may lead to addiction and the use of more dangerous illicit opioids. It may also increase your risk of a deadly overdose. High doses can slow your heart rate and cause respiratory depression.
Prescription opioids were involved in 35 percent of all opioid-related deaths in 2017. Dilaudid is even more dangerous when it’s mixed with alcohol in central nervous system depressants.