Symptoms of Opioid Withdrawal

A licensed medical practitioner in Virginia, Dr. Joel Match has served as the director of medical practice for the Addiction Care and Treatment Center, near Washington DC, since 2016. Prior to joining this Center, he established and maintained a medical practice for four decades. Dr. Joel Match studied at the University of Miami in Florida and then completed his medical degree at the Autonomous University of Guadalajara in Mexico. He has also delivered lectures and speeches to large pharmaceutical businesses on the topic of opioid addiction.

Three cell-based receptor molecules are activated by opioids and referred to by the letters of the Greek alphabet, delta, kappa, and mu. Dependent on the time for a particular opioid molecule to degrade, symptoms of opioid withdrawal may appear 8 to 10 hours after use. The onset of these symptoms is influenced by the dosage type and route of entry.

Acute withdrawal symptoms include excess tears, drainage from the nose, yawning, and sweating, and can last 7 to 10 days. Other symptoms typically appear later as part of the intiial phrase of withdrawal, such as restless sleep, weakness, nausea, and involuntary movement. Hypotension, drop in body temperature, slow heart rate, and impaired respiratory function are signs of the next phase of withdrawal. This latter phase may last approximately 26 to 30 weeks.