Speedball combines two illegal drugs together. These are heroin, which is a depressant, and cocaine, which is a stimulant. Users mistakenly think that combining two drugs with opposite modes of action will cancel out each other’s negative side effects.
In reality, the side effects get amplified. The push-pull effects of speedballing can even lead to life-threatening cases of respiratory failure.
Speedball is also highly addictive – more so than heroin or cocaine by themselves. Polydrug abuse, or taking more than one addictive substance at the same time, is always quicker to cause addictions. It takes only a few doses of speedball to get addicted. In some cases, the first try has led straight to addiction.
If you have been addicted to speedball, detox is in order. Read on to find out whether it’s safe to detox at home or not.
What happens during speedball detox?
The goal of detox is to get rid of all traces of speedall from your body. The process is medically assisted, as you will be monitored by doctors and nurses throughout the procedure. They will make sure that the process remains as safe and painless as possible. If you develop any life-threatening complications, you will get medical help right away.
In nearly all drug detox procedures, medical professionals recommend “tapering off” from speedball instead of quitting “cold turkey.” A gradual taper minimizes the likelihood of severe withdrawal symptoms from developing. This method allows your body time to adjust to decreasing quantities of the drug.
In comparison, the cold turkey method will produce the worst withdrawal symptoms. Here, your body will not have time to adjust, so the sudden absence of an addictive substance will cause your body to struggle. It will be “shocked”, and with it comes more pronounced discomfort.
Speedball addiction is a case of polydrug abuse, meaning you are using more than one drug at the same time. This makes the tapering method the safest for detoxing from speedball. Patients with cases of polydrug abuse often develop extreme withdrawal symptoms when quitting drugs cold turkey, so the latter is not recommended.
Withdrawal symptoms
Even under the controlled environment of medically-assisted detox, you may still encounter some speedball withdrawal symptoms. These include:
Agitation- Abdominal pain
- Shaking
- Sweating
- Restlessness
- Nervousness
- Fatigue
- Muscle spasms
- Vivid, unpleasant dreams
- Depression
- Nausea
- Depression
- Drug cravings
- Agitation
- Decreased alertness and activity level
- Increased appetite
- General discomfort
Withdrawal symptoms happen normally whenever you try to quit any substance. These are signs that your body is trying to get accustomed to the drugs’ absence. But these symptoms can sometimes become unbearable, which may hamper the detox process.
Doctors may give you medications at this point to ease the discomfort. This way, you can continue with the process of detox safely. These medications counteract the rewarding effects you get from speedball, and they may be similar medications to those prescribed for patients detoxing from heroin or cocaine. Some target specific withdrawal symptoms like muscle spasms or depression.
Here are examples of those medications:
- Gabapentin
- Vigabatrin
- Naltrexone
- Modafinil
- Methadone
- Topiramate
- Buprenorphine
- Baclofen
Speedball detox may take more than a week. In comparison, most drug detoxes take only a week or less. Since speedball is a combination of two drugs, detoxing from it requires more time and care.
Is it safe to have a speedball detox at home?
The ideal scenario in speedball detox is an environment under medical supervision. At home, you do not have the privilege of 24/7 medical personnel ready to assist you at a moment’s notice. You may be putting your health and life in danger.
Your family may help out, but they cannot adequately give aid if they have no medical training. You may instruct them to call for an ambulance when you develop a medical emergency, but the few minutes it takes for paramedics to get to your home and transport you to a hospital may mean the difference between life and death.
Also, you may put your family in danger by detoxing at home. Sometimes, withdrawal might cause you to behave violently, causing unintentional verbal or physical harm to your loved ones. Your children, in particular, may find these incidents scarring for life.
Despite these risks, you can still detox from speedball at home. The key is having medical staff stay with you at home while you complete the procedure.
Home detox actually has a good deal of benefits, such as:
- Less stress due to a comfortable and familiar environment
- Access to your family at any time
- Having a good mood while at home
- Not having to move to a different location, which is ideal for senior citizens or persons with disabilities
- Having familiar people to talk to
If you decide to have speedball detox at home, make sure you have medical personnel with you. Never try to do it on your own because you will be endangering both yourself and your family.
What comes next after detox?
The road to a full recovery does not end with detox. This is only the beginning; you still need a way to address the psychological impact of speedball addiction. For that reason, a complete recovery program includes a variety of behavioral therapies.
Mainly, there are two kinds of rehabs: outpatient and inpatient. If you’re in an outpatient program, you will go to the rehab center only on your scheduled therapy sessions. This could be a few days per week. After each session, you are free to go back home. Outpatient rehab is ideal if you do not want to take an extended leave from work, school, or your family.
On the other hand, with inpatient rehab, you will spend the entire time in a rehab facility. Inpatient treatment can last anywhere between one and three months, depending on how severe your addiction is.
Inpatient rehab centers provide controlled environments that maximize your chances of recovering successfully. There, you will learn to develop good habits that pull you away from drugs.
After treatment is over, you should be able to live a sober life on your own again.
