Cocaine Detox

Cocaine detox at Abbington House is the first part of a residential stay. We assess what has been happening, support you through the first days without cocaine, and begin treatment early. The aim is not simply to stop using, but to understand what keeps taking you back there.

Call

01438 583222

One of the things we hear a lot from people coming in for cocaine is that stopping wasn’t actually the hardest part.

They’ve stopped before. Sometimes because the money ran out. Sometimes after a heavy few days. Sometimes because things got frightening enough to make them swear they were finished with it.

Then a few days pass, the mood drops, normal life starts again, and somehow they end up back there.

That is a big part of what cocaine detox at Abbington House is there to help with.

Detox is the first part of a residential stay here. We don’t offer it as a separate service because, with cocaine, simply getting through the first few days usually doesn’t deal with the bigger problem.

What we mean bycocaine detox

It is worth being clear about what we mean by detox.
We are not talking about drinks, supplements or anything that claims to clear cocaine from your body faster.
There is no substitute medication for cocaine either. There is nothing to taper and no reducing prescription in the way there can be with some other substances.
You stop using cocaine and your body and brain start adjusting to that.
Our job is to make sure you are properly assessed, that there are people around you while that is happening, and that anything needing clinical attention is picked up rather than missed.

What happens when you come in

Before you arrive, we need a clear picture of what has been going on.

How often are you using? How much? How long has this been happening? Are you drinking as well? Are prescription drugs or other substances involved?

We also ask about your physical and mental health and what usually happens when you try to stop.

Once you are here, there is some structure around you again.

You sleep in a proper bed. You eat at normal times. Staff are around during the day and through the night. If your mood suddenly drops or you are not coping as well as you expected, somebody notices.

Some of the team have been through addiction themselves, so you do not have to explain every part of what it feels like to somebody who has only ever read about it.

Anything that needs clinical attention is assessed. If medication is appropriate for a particular problem such as sleep or mood, that can be considered by the prescriber.

And treatment starts early.

We do not wait for some imaginary point where detox is “finished” before talking about why cocaine became such a big part of your life.

With cocaine, that work is a major part of treatment.

That is why detox here leads straight into residential treatment for cocaine addiction.

The first few days

After stopping cocaine, people can feel exhausted, flat, restless, unable to sleep properly or desperate to use again.

The experience varies.

What matters is recognising when something needs more attention.

A very low mood, thoughts of harming yourself, paranoia, chest pain or other worrying symptoms should not just be brushed off as part of coming down.

For more detail on the symptoms and how they can change over time, see our guide to cocaine withdrawal.

Sometimes the low also tells us something useful.

If somebody stops cocaine and what is underneath looks very familiar — depression, anxiety, trauma, something that was there long before the drug — we do not put that to one side and say we will deal with it later.

For example, depression and addiction can be treated alongside each other.

Can you detox from cocaine at home?

Yes. Plenty of people do. A lot of the people who come here have done it several times already.

The problem is often what happens afterwards.

You get through a few days, start feeling a bit better, go back to the same people, the same phone, the same stress, the same routine, and eventually the same opportunity comes up again.

My drugs were different, but that part I recognise.

I stopped more times than I could count before anything really changed. It was not that I suddenly found more willpower. I needed distance from the way I was living and people around me who understood what was happening.

That is what a residential setting can offer. You may already know you can stop for a few days.

The question is what needs to change so that you do not keep ending up back in the same place.

Cocaine andalcohol

For a lot of people, cocaine and alcohol become tied together.
A few drinks turn into cocaine, the cocaine keeps the drinking going, and after a while it becomes hard to imagine one without the other.
We have written more about that on our page about cocaine and alcohol.
It also matters when we are planning treatment.
If somebody is dependent on alcohol as well as using cocaine, the alcohol side may need medically assisted withdrawal management.
That can happen as part of the same residential admission.
You can read more about alcohol detox here.

How long does cocaine detox take?

There is no

set number of days that works for everybody. It depends on how heavily you have been using, how long it has been going on, whether other substances are involved and how you are physically and mentally when you arrive.

That is why

we assess you rather than work from a fixed timetable. Most residential stays at Abbington House are around 28 days,depending on the person.

The early period

after stopping cocaine sits at the beginning of that stay. Treatment carries on around it rather than waiting for it to be over.

What does cocaine detox cost?

Cocaine detox is included as part of the residential stay at Abbington House.

It is not charged separately. Your stay also includes therapy, family support and one year of aftercare.

You can see the current fee and information about funding on our rehab costs page.

Talking it through

You do not need to work out for yourself whether you need detox before calling us. Just tell us what has been happening.

What have you been using? How often? Is alcohol involved? What happened the other times you stopped? That usually tells us far more than somebody trying to decide whether they fit a particular label.

If residential treatment makes sense, we will explain why.

If it does not, we will tell you that too.

Call 01438 583222 or request a confidential callback.

You can also read about how assessment and admission work.

Contact us