Fentanyl Addiction Recovery: 5 Tips To Combat Withdrawal Symptoms

Have you ever heard about the drug fentanyl? How about fentanyl addiction? While this particular condition isn’t as common as the other addictions like opium and alcohol abuse, it’s worth mentioning that these drugs can cause great harm to one’s body in many ways.

Fentanyl is a type of prescription drug that’s considered more potent than opium. Widely recognized for being the synthetic version of opium, fentanyl is one of the most potent drugs in the world. Being 10 times more potent than opium, 50 times deadlier than heroin, and 100 times more damaging than morphine, there’s no denying the peril it can induce in one’s overall health.

If you’re one of those struggling with fentanyl addiction, it’s best to find addiction treatment nearby your area. Apart from that, continue reading this article to have a better understanding of the severity of this addiction.

What You Need To Know About Fentanyl

You’ve probably heard about fentanyl before, as they’re commonly known under different brand names. While they’re originally prescribed and used to treat patients with severe chronic aches, many health professionals have noticed the adverse effects these drugs can cause to people.

Intrinsically, fentanyl is a popular type of analgesic drug that brings more harm than good to anyone who uses them. While it shares some similarities with opium and morphine, it’s important to note that fentanyl proves to be much damaging than its relative opiates. Particularly, these drugs could be extremely dangerous once taken in reckless amounts.

Combined with other types of drugs, fentanyl could be cause unimaginable damages to one’s body. Most importantly, the effects of this drug could act up faster on one’s body faster than any other similar medical drug.

At some point, their fast aftereffects might be one of the reasons why people are compelled to use them, to the point of abuse. In some cases, physicians use fentanyl to treat certain health issues. They could be administered via injection and could be found in various forms, such as pills and powder. On the other hand, some people tend to chew, eat or smoke the fentanyl patch.

What Is Fentanyl Addiction?

It’s never easy dealing with fentanyl addiction. Just as much as it’s difficult to recover from other types of addiction, fentanyl dependence may affect not just your normal functioning but also overwhelm your central nervous system (CNV).

People suffering from fentanyl addiction may experience difficulty in their breathing and struggle with their heart function, not to mention the risks of dying from an overdose. To better know how to manage fentanyl addiction, you must know first its early symptoms. To help you out, here are some early signs of fentanyl abuse you need to be wary about:

• Anxiety
• Hallucinations
• Irregular heartbeat
• Nausea
• Persistent headaches
• Exhaustion and lethargy
• Respiratory issues
• Fainting

Just like its counterpart drugs, fentanyl primarily affects one’s opiate receptors. These are mainly responsible for managing emotions and pain sensations. Upon binding to the brain receptors, these could affect the production of dopamine and might influence the person to feel relaxed. However, one can experience intense euphoria due to a fentanyl overdose.

Coping With Fentanyl Withdrawal

When one becomes overly dependent on fentanyl, they’re more likely to suffer from withdrawal symptoms, especially after quitting from it. During that time, their system has already been accustomed to the drug and is completely dependent on it.

Before you formulate your course of action to combat withdrawal, know that those symptoms could range from mild to severe body pain, anorexia, and extreme anxiety. Consequently, you’ll have to undergo detoxification to be rid of fentanyl.

While it could be extremely difficult to handle, note that fentanyl addiction is treatable, as well as its withdrawal symptoms. With the right people to ask for help from, you’ll have better chances of fighting your urges. Here are ways you can do to cope with withdrawal and start a healthier lifestyle:

1. Start Eating Healthy

When it comes to battling the risks of withdrawal symptoms, one important point you mustn’t forget is your health. Particularly, you must take extra measures to ensure taking sufficient amount of nutrients to help keep your body at its healthiest while undergoing detoxification.

Apart from that, you also need to boost your nutritional intake to ensure that your body is getting much-needed nutrients to aid in its recovery. Whether you believe it or not, fentanyl addiction and its withdrawal symptoms could cause extensive damage to your gastrointestinal (GI) tracts once left untreated. To better prevent such dangers, you must know how to counter its adverse effects.

For starters, you might want to consider maintaining healthy eating practices and prioritize consuming foods that are suitable for your body’s needs. You may also take on proteins, vitamin-enriched foods, and other healthy meals to speed up your recovery. Following a healthy diet could also significantly keep your body in shape during your rehabilitation.

2. Engage In Physical Activities

Aside from bolstering your nutritional intake, another crucial aspect you must consider includes enhancing your physical health. Engaging in physical activities is one of the most efficient methods to help you get through your condition.

Particularly, doing regular exercises could help strengthen your immune system, increase your body’s resistance against complications, and keep your body in shape. Not to mention the role of working out in keeping you occupied to prevent relapse.

During your first weeks of quitting fentanyl, you’re most likely to feel intense cravings and thirst for it. It could even border to persistent sensations and inexplicable pains. To better prepare your body for the aftereffects, you must keep your body in a good condition. Additionally, incorporating workout routines could elevate your mood and take away your attention from your cravings.

3. Discover New Hobbies

To better keep yourself busy and occupied, one efficient way you can do is to allot some of your time discovering new hobbies. Specifically, it’d be better to keep your mind from the intrusive thoughts that could hinder your recovery from fentanyl addiction.

Apart from that, you can also use your free time developing new skills in certain aspects and find your purpose in life. Besides that, you can also consider establishing stronger relationships with other people and rebuilding connections with the people around you who can serve as your support group.

4. Seek Help From Professionals

While it’s been stated that dealing with any type of addiction could be a challenging task for many people, note that seeking help from professionals could create a huge difference in your journey to recovery. Particularly, it could help you determine the root causes of your condition, as well as identify the proper treatment option suitable for your situation.

As a rule of thumb, you must ask for help from registered psychologists, counselors, and psychiatrists who can help manage your addiction and its withdrawal symptoms. Aside from that, you can also consult your physician about how to deal with the complications that you might experience.

During your rehabilitation, you should exert effort to maximize your counseling sessions and get the most out of your addiction treatments to better prevent relapses.

5. Undergo Psychological Treatments And Psychotherapy

Upon seeking professional help, you might also want to consider undergoing certain psychological treatments and psychotherapy to efficiently manage your condition. Particularly, you can go through the following treatments to effectively curb the aftereffects of fentanyl addiction:

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT)
• Dual diagnosis treatment
• Experiential and adventure therapy
• Family therapy

Bottom Line

Recovering from fentanyl addiction and managing its withdrawal symptoms can be challenging for many people, especially for those who have limited knowledge on this. Fortunately, there are numerous alternatives you can do to get through your addiction, including seeking professional help. With the help of the tips in this article, you can efficiently manage the withdrawal symptoms of fentanyl addiction.