Barbiturates - Treatment for Habitual Users

Treatment for Habitual Users

When addicted users stop taking barbiturates, their bodies must adapt to the lack of drugs in their systems. This process is known as withdrawal. If the users have taken barbiturates in large doses or for an extended period of time, a physician should be consulted about the withdrawal process. An attempt to withdraw abruptly from barbiturates can be fatal.

Withdrawal symptoms usually begin eight to sixteen hours after the last pill was taken. Symptoms in users with a long history of barbiturate use may last up to fifteen days, but the severity of the symptoms decreases as the body rids itself of the drug. During withdrawal, users feel anxious, weak, dizzy, and nauseated. They may also experience shakes, tremors, and even seizures. In addition, users could possibly have hallucinationsVisions or other perceptions of things that are not really present. and become violent or hostile.

Dream Time

Barbiturates bring on sleep in people who take them. This slumber, however, differs from normal sleep. Barbiturate use decreases the amount of dream time during sleep known as the rapid eye movement (REM) stage. This phase of sleep is necessary for maintaining good health.

In some cases, withdrawal symptoms can be deadly. A physician must establish a plan of gradual withdrawal from this type of drug, usually decreasing the dosage by about 10 percent each day over a ten-day to two-week period. The withdrawal process may occur in a hospital, or treatment may be given on an outpatient basis. Either way, counseling is vital. Users who are treated successfully for their physical addiction must follow through with psychological rehabilitation. Behavioral treatment helps former users avoid barbiturates so

In a scene from the movie Valley of the Dolls (1967), a young woman in a mental institution reaches for a bottle of sleeping pills. The movie follows the lives of three women trying to make it big in New York City and deals with drug addiction.
In a scene from the movie Valley of the Dolls (1967), a young woman in a mental institution reaches for a bottle of sleeping pills. The movie follows the lives of three women trying to make it big in New York City and deals with drug addiction. The "dolls" in the movie title refer to drugs. © 20th Century Fox/The Kobal Collection.

they can remain drug free even when faced with cravings. Long-term support can be found in twelve-step programs and other support groups that meet regularly.