How Do The Various Medications Used In Alcohol Detox In West Virginia Act?

Detoxification means flushing the body of all the toxins assimilated in the body due to many years of substance abuse. Medically, this is done with a complete cessation of alcohol intake. This is the first step in any type of alcohol or drug addiction treatment programs. Due to this process, the body of the patient may get withdrawal symptoms and may react violently. For the same, to reduce the withdrawal symptoms the patient is given medications. A variety of medications can be used in the alcohol detox in West Virginia. The detox period as such is. These medications may depend on various factors like the patient's dependability on alcohol, how violent are his withdrawal symptom, etc. The medications have a dual responsibility, to reduce the withdrawal symptoms and also to reduce the temptations for alcohol. Therefore these medications need to be given with intense precision. Let us look at some of the medical therapies used in alcohol detox in West Virginia.

1. Antabuse:

The drug Antabuse is chemically disulfiram. This drug contains acetaldehyde, which is released in the body when consumed. Acetaldehyde is the substance that is responsible for creating a hangover after alcohol abuse. Thus, when the patient consumes alcohol, and when he or she is on an Antabuse medication, the effects of the hangover are intensified. Due to this, the patient becomes uncomfortable and starts to reduce the amount of alcohol that he or she consumes. This inconvenience may make the patient stop the alcohol consumption. This is actually very helpful to help the patient come out of the alcohol addiction.

2. Campral:

Campral is another form of medication. Campral is nothing but acamprosate, a chemical which when consumed by the patient, helps to balance the chemical reactions that are a result of the alcohol consumption. These reactions take place inside the brain of the patient. One of the chemical reactions that Campral helps to moderate is the release of dopamine, the hormone that the brain releases to get the false feeling of happiness after any kind of substance abuse.

Some patients are highly dependent on alcohol for their emotional states. The different emotions they feel like happiness or sadness or irritability are directly linked with their alcohol consumption. The Campral treatment helps these chemical reactions to be kept away from their systems. This medication is very useful as it helps balance the reactions in the mind of the patient, who is going through a lot of physiological changes due to the complete cessation of alcohol.

3. Naltrexone and Nalmefene:

The Naltrexone and Nalmefene medications are used as a pharmacological extinction theory. The substance endorphins are produced in the body as a result of alcohol consumption. These endorphins are responsible for creating urges for alcohol. This is because these endorphins become the memory maps for the body. Thus they remind the body of the pleasure they received while consuming alcohol and thus help create the temptations. The consumption of the Naltrexone and Nalmefene medications help reduce the amount of these endorphins in the body. Thus the temptations too are reduced. And so the patient begins to consume less and less of alcohol.

4. Topamax:

Topamax is another medicine used with alcohol detoxification process in West Virginia. In scientific terms it is known as topiramate. This is a substance that is very similar to the acamprosate medication. When the patient is put into the Topamax treatment, it reduces the production of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine produced in the body due to alcohol consumption, is responsible for giving pleasures to the body. Thus if they are reduced, the body will not feel any pleasure in the consumption of alcohol. Thus, slowly the temptation caused by dopamine is reduced and the patient will gradually stop taking alcohol. This will thus smoothen the actual addiction treatment.

These are the most popular medications that are used in alcohol detox in West Virginia. These drugs are mostly introduced in the body with the actual detoxification process. The medications are however not stopped with the end of the detoxification process. They usually are even given after the treatment is complete, depending on the patient's condition, his or her dependability on alcohol and the extent of his withdrawal symptom. This is because; extra care needs to be taken to avoid making the patient dependable on the medications itself.