What is Sub-Acute Detox?

What is Sub-Acute Detox?

Addiction is a complex condition that needs a variety of treatment approaches in order to be properly addressed. When it comes to addiction therapy, your requirements may differ from those of someone else who is struggling with the same issue. People seek therapy at various levels of need. Some people have recently quit using and are seeking assistance for the first time. Others have gone through therapy on multiple occasions and must re-enter it after relapsing. How the body reacts when detoxing is different for everyone. Some people have an easier time than others going through detoxification, while others will need supervision.

What is detoxification?

Detoxification, or detox for short, is critical for starting the addiction recovery process. Detoxing your body eliminates all of the poisons that were deposited there by the drugs you misused throughout your addiction. It might take hours, days, or even weeks to detox. The length of time spent detoxifying is determined by the intensity of the addiction. Because stopping abruptly can be dangerous, detox should be managed under medical care. Sub-acute and acute detox are the two types of detoxification; which one a person experiences is determined by a number of circumstances.

What is the difference between acute and sub-acute?

Acute refers to diseases and symptoms that are sudden and severe and require immediate, high-level care in a hospital. This is due to the increased danger of deadly side effects, respiratory failure, and convulsions. Patients that go to a hospital for detox often have comorbid health conditions or are non-ambulatory. Acute is indicated when there are other medical issues that require a hospital setting to address (such as needing constant IV access for fluids or medications, or multiple providers on site to manage all the co-occurring illnesses).

Sub-acute is detoxification at an overnight clinic that specializes in detox care (and also psychiatric care), but is not a hospital setting. Subacute detox includes in-depth medical care that is instrumental in helping someone transition from a hospital setting into recovery.  Sub-acute merely means that the person needs help to detox even though their symptoms are not enough to be considered acute. Sub-acute detox is also needed for someone who has a history of intense withdrawal symptoms in the past or is considered to have heavy drug and alcohol use. These patients should be monitored over a longer period of time in a safe and controlled environment to safeguard the best results. 

Who needs sub-acute detoxification?

Sub-acute detox is the preferable option for most detox candidates, so long as there aren’t other severe medical conditions that require a hospital (such as liver failure, kidney failure, etc). Otherwise, sub-acute detox is an excellent choice for those who have many co-occurring illnesses. Residential care providers that can attend to these patients in their daily lives on site and teach them strategies to manage their disorder/s while they detox stand to benefit them greatly. Psychological therapies are also less rigorous with sub-acute detox than they are with standard inpatient detox.

People who don't have a significant chance of having severe or life-threatening withdrawal symptoms, but nevertheless need detox might benefit from subacute detox. 

Sub-acute detox is also a good option for those prone to experience post-acute withdrawal symptoms (PAWS). PAWS are unpleasant, and if you try to get through them on your own, you'll increase your chances of relapsing. Sub-acute care provides a protective factor in these situations to help you on your road to recovery.

What happens during the sub-acute detoxification process?

The subacute detoxification process begins with urine and breathalyzer testing to determine your levels of substances in your body. A clinician will also perform detox-related assessments to determine the severity of your symptoms (COWS or CIWA assessments). This helps determine a specific protocol for detox medications. COWS and CIWA assessments are repeated at specific frequencies depending on the drug of abuse daily for the entire duration of detox care. This helps keep the patient safe and helps prevent need for hospitalization in the case of more severe withdrawal symptoms. 

In addition to medication management, the treatment team helps evaluate the pattern of what led to the substance use and addiction behaviors. This helps everyone understand the patient’s usage to not only help with detoxification, but also get a plan of action to help the patient successfully stay sober going forward. This is nearly impossible to do alone. Many attempt to detox off drugs and alcohol at home, but do not have a good chance of staying sober, because of the lack of support, accountability, and the sheer difficulty of managing it alone. To successfully stay sober, patients need to gain appropriate insight, need to gain new coping skills to replace the negative coping of self-medicating, and time and practice to implement those skills. This process begins in the subacute setting, and is continued in aftercare. Those patients that have undergone sub-acute medical detoxification have statistically been shown to have a greater possibility of long-term sobriety. A recent study of 1.5 million residential treatment patients who were discharged revealed a 67% success rate. Even though detoxification may be different for everyone, finding the best treatment for each individual is crucial to their ongoing recovery.

What happens after subacute detoxification?

Most patients should continue to receive care from a competent drug addiction treatment center after completing the sub-acute detox phase. Patients who rely solely on detox to address their drug misuse and addiction issues are frequently unsatisfied. According to research, drug users who received follow-up treatment following detox had much better outcomes. Many people believe that after a drug has been removed from their system, they are free to leave. However, substance abuse alters the way your brain functions. Yes, you will heal eventually, but it will take some time for everything to return to normal. Meanwhile, you'll need to acquire coping mechanisms for the plethora of new feelings and obstacles that come with sobriety.

Furthermore, it's critical to reflect on why you started using it in the first place. It's all too common to self-medicate with alcohol or drugs to deal with problems like depression or anxiety without ever recognizing it. You'll have the opportunity to truly delve in and figure out what pushed you to drugs or alcohol in the first place if you spend time in recovery. That's vital since you'll just be treating the symptoms if any co-occurring issues aren't addressed. A proper treatment can help you get to the bottom of your addiction and give you a new start in life.

Seek help at Solstice Southwest.

Professional assistance is required for safe detoxification. Depending on the substance taken, the detoxification procedure may cause withdrawal symptoms that might be life-threatening. Your safety will be a primary priority throughout detox, and your unpleasant symptoms will be reduced as much as possible. At Solstice, we take pleasure in putting your loved one's needs first, ensuring that their safety and success are prioritized in all treatment choices and professional treatments. For more information on the different treatment options we provide, please contact us now. You may begin your rehabilitation journey with us by completing this simple assessment and verifying your insurance.

Having additional support beyond the detox process will be conducive to keeping someone on the right track of sobriety. Getting personalized help can make the difference after detoxing off drugs and alcohol, allowing one to endure the course of one day at a time.

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