Oxazepam Withdrawal and Detox

Oxazepam Info

• Oxazepam Addiction and Abuse
• Oxazepam Symptoms and Warning Signs
• Oxazepam Treatment and Rehab
• Oxazepam Withdrawal and Detox

Serax is a prescription depressant sold under the brand name Oxazepam. It is commonly prescribed to treat insomnia and anxiety due to its calming qualities. It is a slow-release tablet, meaning it has been formulated to be slow-acting and long-lasting. In other words, it will last twice as long as other benzodiazepines, but take longer to impact your system.

When you take it as prescribed by your physician, Oxazepam can provide significant medical benefits, but like other benzodiazepines can be highly addictive. The slow-release nature of this drug makes it possible for you to quickly build a tolerance. While you would have to use other drugs in the same category for six months or more before tolerance develops, you could start to build tolerance over a short timeframe in the case of Oxazepam.

Even if you begin using Oxazepam just as prescribed by a doctor, you could still find yourself developing both behavioural and chemical dependencies. Due to its tendency to cause dependence, Oxazepam puts you at high risk of experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal can be particularly problematic during detox, which is why it is important to detox in a professional setting such as a detox clinic.

What is Oxazepam Detox?

Detox refers to the process by which your body rids itself of all drug toxins. When you begin rehab or enrol at a detox centre, you will usually be put through medical detox, which is the best way to safely detoxify. While it’s true that not every drug requires medically supervised detox, having professional supervision is crucial if you are trying to quit a benzodiazepine.

We recommend medical detox, because the withdrawal symptoms that come during the detox phase can be dangerous. For instance, seizures can occur without warning. If your medical team deem it necessary, you may be given medication to help relieve your symptoms. You’ll also have the benefit of being monitored by a qualified physician during detox.

Detox is a crucial first step on your journey to a successful recovery and long-term abstinence. If you have any questions regarding detox, please reach out to addiction specialists now by calling 0800 024 1475 or 0203 131 8347.

What is Oxazepam Withdrawal?

experience withdrawal symptoms. Such symptoms are indicative of physical dependence, which is in turn characteristic of addiction.

Withdrawal is the manifestation of your body’s struggle to restore normal functioning in the absence of the substance upon which it has become dependent. Ironically, symptoms of withdrawal can include the same symptoms you wanted to treat in the first place – insomnia and anxiety.

Contributing Factors to Withdrawal

The primary risk factor for withdrawal is the reduction or discontinuation of the drug in question. However, there are other factors that can contribute to the severity and nature of withdrawal. For one, you are likely to experience more intense symptoms if you’ve been taken higher doses than prescribed by your physician.

Your withdrawal symptoms are also likely to be affected if you’ve been using Oxazepam along with other substances such as alcohol, which is also a depressant. In fact, doing this can contribute to dangerous withdrawal symptoms.

Other contributing factors include: taking the drug for many years; struggling with a dual diagnosis of a physical or mental nature; a history of drug use and withdrawal; taking the substance without a prescription, and using the drug frequently. There’s no way to tell exactly how withdrawal will pan out, given any set of contributory factors. Therefore, it’s best to seek treatment in a professional setting in order to prevent any difficult complications.

How Oxazepam Affects the Brain and Body

Like other benzodiazepines, Oxazepam slows down the speed of signal transmission between neurons, which is why it is useful for dealing with seizures or panic attacks. However, by using too much of it too often, you can cause damage to your brain and limit your cognitive abilities. Long-term abuse of Oxazepam has been associated with Alzheimer’s and some forms of cancer.

By abusing Oxazepam on a long-term basis, you will also be putting yourself at risk of developing conditions like psychosis or delirium, memory loss or amnesia, rebound anxiety, suicidal thoughts, depression, blackouts, inability to concentrate and reduced cognition.

One of the most serious effects on your body is overdosing, which is likely to happen if you often mix the medication with other central nervous system (CNS) depressants. If you overdose, you could experience shallow breathing, slurred speech, blurred vision, delirium, or even go into a coma. If you take particularly high doses, you might be exposing yourself to potential liver damage.

How Oxazepam Withdrawal is Diagnosed

Withdrawal can be diagnosed using various methods. A medical professional will perform a thorough physical examination and correlate that with a complete medical history, including your social and family history.

In addition to your physical exam, you may have to take blood and urine tests, via which you will be screened for the presence of drugs in your system. There are other tests you may have to complete, depending on whether or not your doctor is concerned about any other medical issues.

Other tests you may have to do include liver function and blood chemistry tests like CHEM-20 and CBC (Complete Blood Count). You may be subject to even further tests to rule out other possible conditions and reach a definitive diagnosis.

Physical symptoms of Oxazepam withdrawal and detox

Even though Oxazepam works by affecting the brain, withdrawal can manifest as physical symptoms. You may be given medication to ease some of the symptoms you experience, particularly the more problematic ones. Some of the physical symptoms you may experience include the following:

You may experience less common symptoms such as: an aching jaw; menstrual problems; having a metallic taste or losing taste entirely; changes in appetite; increased saliva; urgent or inconsistent urine; hyperactivity; hypersensitivity to sound; difficulty swallowing; diarrhoea; and constipation. While rare, you could also experience symptoms such as sinus pain, rectal bleeding, hypersensitivity to touch, haemorrhoids, falling hair and burning along the spine.

Psychological symptoms of Oxazepam withdrawal

Even after your physical symptoms have passed, psychological symptoms can persist for an extended period of time afterwards, which is known as protracted withdrawal. In particular, anxiety may return or even worsen. Some psychological symptoms you could experience during detox include:

There are other psychological withdrawal symptoms that are less common than those listed above. They include: craving for sweet food; depersonalisation (feeling that you don’t know who you are); suicidal thoughts; unpleasant memories; paranoia; outbursts of aggression or rage; morbid thoughts; visual and auditory hallucinations; feeling the ground moving; or becoming unusually sensitive such that you can’t bear to even watch the news.

How Long Does It Take to Detox from Oxazepam?

taken off Oxazepam suddenly, as tapering could be a better option. Tapering involves weaning you off the medication gradually with smaller doses.

While tapering can take a few days, detox can be shortened to only a few days using a method called rapid detox. If you detox this way, you’ll be placed under anesthetic whilst having medications passed through your bloodstream to expunge all traces of drugs. Once the procedure is complete, you’re likely to be given replacement medication to help suppress withdrawal.

Oxazepam Withdrawal: Timeline of Symptoms

There is no specific timeline set in stone for withdrawal, as everyone’s experience is different. Subsequently, varying factors will determine your withdrawal timeline. However, you can find a general guide to what to expect below:

Days 1 to 3

If you consider yourself a heavy user, you can expect to start experiencing withdrawal symptoms in as little as one day after taking your last dose. You may have to deal with symptoms such as anxiety, rapid heart rate, and excessive sweating. However, it is possible for you not to experience any physical symptoms at all at this stage.

Days 4 to 7

During this period, most of your physical symptoms will begin to fade, but you may also begin to experience anxiety and insomnia.

Week 2

By the second week, you could begin to experience rebound symptoms and this period can be the most painful. More serious side effects can arise, including muscle pain, nausea and seizures.

After the first few weeks

Beyond the first few weeks, you will begin to recover as your symptoms abate, but you might experience protracted withdrawal, also known as post-acute withdrawal symptoms (PAWS). The symptoms you experience during this period will be mostly psychological, such as irritability, depression and cravings. They can continue for months, especially if you’ve been a user for a long time, but continued treatment can help.

What is Acute Oxazepam Withdrawal?

This is the phase of withdrawal that starts a few days after quitting and it follows early withdrawal. It is the stage that we generally refer to when we say ‘withdrawal’, because it constitutes the bulk of the process as a whole.

During the acute withdrawal phase, you could benefit most from medications administered to target some of the symptoms. Depending on how heavily you’ve been using (amongst other factors), you can experience acute withdrawal anywhere from two weeks to several months.

The symptoms you might experience during acute withdrawal include: twitching, cravings, agitation, mood swings, clouded thinking, trouble concentrating, impairment of your short-term memory, hallucinations, seizures, blurred vision, diarrhoea, insomnia, and panic, amongst others. Suicidal thoughts and other serious psychological symptoms can also surface, making therapy particularly useful during this phase.

Possible Complications

One of the reasons we advocate getting treatment in a professional medical facility over detoxing at home is that you may encounter complications that you’ll be unable to handle on your own. These may include seizures, suicidal thoughts or behaviours, and overdosing in the event of a relapse.

Suicidal thoughts and behaviour can be particularly dangerous, especially when they are intense. It can also be perilous if you’re alone and experience loss of bodily control or seizures. If you happen to experience any such complications during withdrawal on your own, please seek medical assistance immediately.

One of the symptoms of withdrawal is cravings. If they persist long enough, you may be unable to resist and end up using Oxazepam again. If that happens, you can easily overdose, as your tolerance will have been reduced. Another possible complication is aspiration, during which you inhale your own vomit, which can cause electrolyte instabilities, dehydration, and lung infection. It’s best to detox in a clinic to avoid having to deal with any of these problems.

Melatonin Remedies for Natural Oxazepam Withdrawal Symptoms

symptoms such as poor moods and trouble sleeping. Taking a melatonin supplement helps to protect your brain cells from oxidative damage, which can contribute to various withdrawal symptoms such as headaches and erratic sleeping habits.

There are a few other benefits of taking a melatonin supplement, including helping your body to heal, boosting immune function, and reducing the incidence of headaches, which are all possible due to the power of melatonin in allowing you to sleep.

Finding the Right Treatment

There is no shortage of treatment programmes available in the UK and abroad, but it may not be easy to access the help you need due to difficulty accessing treatment, as well as your individual needs and circumstances.

In order to find a good treatment centre that is the right fit, you need to ask a number of questions to make an informed choice. You’ll need to find out whether the rehab facility provides adequate treatment and support services, facilities, staff licensure, the cost, amenities, rules and restrictions, visitation policies, distance from home, staff-to-patient ratio, and success rates.

You don’t have to worry about going through the hassle of finding the right treatment centre amongst the many options available. Addiction Helper has affiliated rehab facilities all across the UK, so we can help you access one that’s close home and the right fit for you. We also have rehabs abroad if you would rather receive treatment in a different country. Call our team now to get started finding the help you need.

Home Detox for Oxazepam Abusers: How Safe is it?

We understand that detoxing at home may have the appeal of being cheap and easy, but please don’t be tempted to go down that route. You can’t simply quit, especially if you’ve been using Oxazepam for several months or years.

You may find information online stating you can detox at home employing the tapering method or even worse, using other drugs to take care of withdrawal symptoms. However, following that advice can be dangerous, because there is no telling exactly how you will be affected during withdrawal and you may have to deal with complications you’re not equipped to handle.

Quitting on your own can be particularly dangerous. It’s best therefore to see a doctor before attempting to discontinue usage. Depending on the severity of your addiction, you could secure outpatient treatment, which is cheaper than inpatient detox, but still provides some level of medical support and supervision.

Medication assisted therapy for Oxazepam dependency

During this time, you may be given medication to help ease your withdrawal symptoms.

Another method involves replacing the medication entirely with phenobarbitals. The purpose of this is to ease withdrawal, whilst allowing your body to detox from Serax. Most importantly, medication assisted therapy ensures you have medical supervision when you need it most.

After detox: staying off Oxazepam

What happens after detox is crucial, because it can make all the difference between success and failure. This is why rehab centres don’t stop at detox, but make provision for therapy sessions, both in group and individual settings.

Alongside formal therapy, attending 12-step programmes or other such support groups is also important. During sessions, you’ll get to share and connect with others who’ve gone through what you have and can understand perhaps even better than those closest to you.

Support from your friends and family is also important after detox, so allow them to help you in whatever way they can. Also, you must take charge and implement lifestyle changes such as exercising regularly and eating healthily, as well as avoiding people, places, or situations that could prompt you to use Oxazepam again.

FAQs

External Links List

• https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/
• https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/seeking-drug-abuse-treatment-know-what-to-ask/additional-treatment-resources