Getting ready to detox

If you talk through your feelings and plans, you are going to be more likely to get off and, if you want to, stay off.

If you have detoxed before it can be useful to look back on past detoxes to see what worked - and what didn’t work - to see if there are any lessons you can learn.

The best time is when things are as good as they are likely to get, in terms of support, housing and your state of mind, etc. But if things don’t look like they’ll get any better - the best time may be now.

Giving up opiates is like anything - the more often you do it the better you get at it. Planning will usually increase your chances of success. But if you get an unexpected chance to detox - for instance admission to hospital or prison - or if you decide that enough is enough, you may want to go for it.

The more you want to do it for yourself the more likely you are to succeed. It can help to want to get off for your partner, children, parents or because you haven’t got any money left. But, in the long run, it will probably be the reasons why you want to do it for yourself that will get you through the hard times.

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