Oxycodone withdrawal can be uncomfortable and dangerous. Despite this, the use of opioids like oxycodone is constantly on the rise, causing a simultaneous rise in overdose deaths and people who need help with detoxing from Oxycodone and other opioid narcotics.
What Is Oxycodone?
Oxycodone, also called Oxycontin, is a powerful opioid drug often prescribed by doctors to treat pain related to an injury or surgery.
Opioid drugs act on the opioid receptors of your brain and central nervous system to block pain signals being transmitted from the parts of your body that have been injured. When taken at high doses or more frequently than prescribed, oxycodone can cause temporary feelings of euphoria and wellbeing.
What Is Oxycodone Withdrawal?
The excessive or extensive use of oxycodone can result in your body building up tolerance toward the drug. This means you need to take more and more to deal with your pain or get the same high as before.
Eventually, tolerance leads to physical and psychological dependence that makes it nearly impossible for you to function without regular doses of the drug.
At this point, if you try to stop or reduce your usage of oxycodone, you may experience negative withdrawal symptoms as your body struggles to adjust to functioning without its effects.
What Are the Oxycodone Withdrawal Symptoms?
Oxycodone withdrawal can begin within 24 hours of your last dose and may continue for up to a week.
The effects of Oxycodone withdrawal include:1
- Muscle and body pain
- Restlessness
- Anxiety
- Difficulty sleeping
- Excessive sweating
- Yawning a lot
- Teary or watery eyes
- Abdominal pain
- Runny nose
- Rapid heartbeat
- Nausea and vomiting
- Goosebumps
- Blurry vision
Why You Shouldn’t Quit Oxycodone Cold Turkey
Oxycodone withdrawal can also cause extremely strong cravings to use the drug again. Quitting oxycodone cold turkey causes all traces of the drug to be removed from your body in what is known as an oxycodone detox.
If you relapse and use oxycodone again after completing detox, your body may not be used to the large doses you took before quitting. If you take the same amount as before, you could overdose on oxycodone, which is a serious health risk and could lead to death.
Treatment for Oxycodone Withdrawal
Oxycodone treatment typically involves a medically supervised detox from drugs. A medical oxycodone rehab typically involves gradually tapering down your dose until you can quit entirely. During this time, a doctor can prescribe oxycodone withdrawal drugs to help reduce withdrawal symptoms, cravings, and the likelihood of a relapse.
These drugs include:
- Clonidine to reduce withdrawal symptoms like agitation and anxiety
- Suboxone to reduce cravings
- Naltrexone to reduce the effects opioids have on your body and help reduce cravings while prolonging recovery.
Getting professional medical treatment if you are addicted to opioids is vital to the recovery process.
Are you or a loved one struggling with addiction or withdrawal? Get in touch with our experienced team at (833) 489-5577 today to get the help and advice you need to obtain treatment.
