Detoxes and Drug Tests: What You Need to Know

Drug abuse and addiction are major problems for society. You, or people you know, are eager to start a new chapter in life, but actually passing a drug test is the tip of the iceberg. Here is what you need to know about detoxes and drug tests…

Drug addiction negatively impacts every aspect of a person’s life from their livelihood, to the physical and psychological state. Therefore, is crucial that individuals seek help and attempt recovery if they are to have any hope of keeping a job and functioning in society without coming into conflict with the legal system.

Besides counseling and drug treatment centers, a person needs to detox. The drugs that have been abused by an individual need to be removed from the body. Hence, in other words, the body needs to be detoxed.

Drugs are toxins that place a huge strain on the functioning of the kidneys and liver, and thus detoxing will have many benefits for a person. Besides no longer being under the influence of mind-altering substances, the body will physically be healthier.

Drug testing and employment

Considering that most employers do drug test potential employees before hiring, you begin to realize the importance of being drug-free. It should also be remembered that alcohol is also a drug that is likely to be screened for. Individuals who need to use certain social services such as entering a homeless shelter are also usually screened for drugs, including alcohol.

Drug testing can be done in several ways.

Drug testing may take the form of urine samples or breathalyzers. However, blood tests may also be done to detect abnormal drugs or unusually high levels of certain narcotic drugs.

Depending on the type of drug, it may stay in the body and be detected after a few days or even after several days. The sooner a person chooses to detox the better as this will set them on the road to recovery and towards gaining employment.

There has been a great deal of publicity and information made available about the rise of opioid addiction. However, these are not the only drugs that are being abused or that people are addicted to. Individuals still use stimulant-type drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamines.

Drug tests are designed to detect a range of drugs including stimulants and opioids, and may often include tests for prescription narcotics such as oxycodone, which are commonly abused.

How is methadone used for detox?

Studies have shown that methadone is a viable option for those individuals recovering from cocaine addiction, but that having an incentive increases the odds of individuals overcoming the addiction¹.

Methadone clinics are useful for patients addicted to many types of drugs, and researchers in London have found that some individuals were able to detox from opiates on their own. Although 61% of patients said they had tried self-detoxification, only about 41% were successful in the short term².

Should methadone be used for short-term or long-term detox?

Methadone is a recommended treatment for short term detox of heroin³. It helps patients get over the hardest parts of drug withdrawal. However, methadone itself is a type of opioid. Thus, it is important that patients do not remain on methadone since they may end up replacing heroin with methadone as their drug of choice.

A responsible drug addiction clinic should be aware of the potential problem with using methadone during detox. Some scientists recommend using a combination of methadone and clonidine since patents experience less anxiety and can be detoxed in about 10 days with this combination of medication³.

A study was done in which patients in California were sent to either a 21-day methadone detoxification program or a 6-month methadone maintenance program ⁴.  Patients were carefully tapered off methadone and heroin use was compared among the two groups.

It was found that the 6-month program worked better than the shorter-term detox with methadone in terms of how much heroin use there was immediately after the treatment⁵.

Narcan for rapid detox?

Some drugs have been developed to quickly reverse the effects of opioids. This is particularly useful in the case of drug overdoses, intentional or accidental. The drug naloxone, commonly known by the brand name Narcan is the treatment of choice for opioid reversal in an emergency room setting⁵.

Narcan is very good at quickly reversing the effects of opioids⁶. The drug works within about 1 to 2 minutes and is so effective that it is now available as a spray as well. It works by competing with the opioid for the cell receptors to which the drug binds.

In fact, naloxone also helps with problems such as constipation which is a common side effect of taking large doses of opioid medications.

The naloxone does reverse the effects of the opioid and offers a good rapid detox option in an emergency situation where a person may have overdosed and is dangerously sedated.

Can alcohol detox be safely done at home?

Long-term users of alcohol can suffer severe withdrawal symptoms when they attempt to stop drinking on their own. This can actually be dangerous so it is advisable that the person seek medical help with the detox process.

Additionally, medications such as carbamezapine and lorazapam are often used to alleviate serious symptoms that result when a person is withdrawing from alcohol⁷. The first step in recovering from alcohol addiction is to detox in a medical facility, and then complete follow up treatment including counseling.

Lastly, alcohol detox can be dangerous and thus should always be done in an approved medical facility where the person can be closely monitored.

Remember, there is always help for addiction. You, yourself, have to be willing to detox to overcome the addiction and, ultimately, to start a new chapter in life.

References

1. Sigmon, S. C., Correia, C. J., & Stitzer, M. L. (2004). Cocaine abstinence during methadone maintenance: effects of repeated brief exposure to voucher-based reinforcement. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 12(4), 269. doi.org/10.1037/1064-1297.12.4.269
2. Noble, A., Best, D., Man, L. H., Gossop, M., & Strang, J. (2002). Self-detoxification attempts among methadone maintenance patients: what methods and what success? Addictive Behaviors, 27(4), 575-584. doi.org/10.1016/S0306-4603(01)00194-0
3. Camí, J., de Torres, S., San, L., Solé, À., Guerra, D., & Ugena, B. (1985). Efficacy of clonidine and of methadone in the rapid detoxification of patients dependent on heroin. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 38(3), 336-341. doi.org/10.1038/clpt.1985.182.
4. Gruber, V. A., Delucchi, K. L., Kielstein, A., & Batki, S. L. (2008). A randomized trial of 6-month methadone maintenance with standard or minimal counseling versus 21-day methadone detoxification. Drug and alcohol dependence, 94(1-3), 199-206. doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2007.11.021
5. Li, K., Armenian, P., Mason, J., & Grock, A. (2018). Narcan or Nar-can’t: Tips and Tricks to Safely Reversing Opioid Toxicity. Annals of emergency medicine, 72(1), 9-11. doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2018.05.010
6. Barrie, J., & May, G. (2006). Diagnosis of drug overdose by rapid reversal with naloxone. Emergency Medicine Journal, 23(11), 874-875. doi.org/10.1136/emj.2006.042176
7. Malcolm, R., Myrick, H., Roberts, J., Wang, W., & Anton, R. F. (2002). The differential effects of medication on mood, sleep disturbance, and work ability in outpatient alcohol detoxification. American Journal on Addictions, 11(2), 141-150. doi.org/10.1080/10550490290087910.