Home Detox Kits: Real or Fake

These days everyone is advertising some form of at home drug and alcohol detox kit. The majority of them say that they will detox your body in a few hours or days depending on the type of kit and form of advertising. Unfortunately, these claims are rarely true. Although some drugs can be safely detoxed from at home, others are simply too dangerous. There are however some safe ways to detox your body from certain drugs with or without home detox kits.

Drugs that you should Not Try Home Detox Kits for

Detoxing from alcohol is dangerous; seek professional treatment today!

There are certain drugs that sudden withdrawal is extremely dangerous and should only be done either by tapering off the drug or with hospital and medical supervision. These drugs are:

Alcohol

Alcohol withdrawal is extremely dangerous, particularly if you are a heavy drinker.

• Most heavy drinkers or binge drinkers who try to quit suddenly are thrown into Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome. This syndrome is characterized by ever increasing dangerous symptoms such as: heart palpitations, high blood pressure, heart failure, and possible death.
• Delirium tremens or DTs, according to the National Library of Medicine, this is a delirious state that is brought on by the absence of alcohol in heavy users. DTs are characterized by: tremors, hallucinations, confusion, disorientation, fear, stupor, mood changes, seizures, and death.
• Less than 5% of people withdrawing from alcohol experience delirium tremens.

Benzodiazepines

Drugs like Xanax and diazepam cannot be detoxed from without tapering after long term use. Benzo withdrawal consists of several very dangerous symptoms like:

• Convulsions
• Tremors
• Seizures
• Elevated blood pressure
• Confusion
• Insomnia
• Possible death due to heart failure or stroke

These are not the only two drugs that they sell detox kits for where home detox is not safe. There are others depending on your health at the time of withdrawal. The detox kits that they sell for these drugs are not only fake, they are dangerous.

Home Detox Kits for Other Substances

They sell home detox kits for drugs like marijuana, opiates, and cocaine as well as alcohol and other drugs. Although these drugs are not dangerous to detox from the kits themselves are often just combinations that flush the body most of them contain:

• Goldenseal – a herb that is a diuretic and can help flush the kidneys and bladder
• Vinegar – common household red vinegar
• Niacin – this helps with the feelings of depression and anxiety but nothing near the medications that are given during an inpatient or outpatient detox
• Vitamin C – helps to strengthen the immune system
• Activated charcoal – a compound commonly used in hospitals to flush the digestive track

Although these will affect the body some, they will not help with withdrawal symptoms or the metabolic and neurological changes the body goes through during withdrawal.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, the majority of the home drug or alcohol detox kits have not been evaluated for effectiveness or safety. The majority of these kits also contain herbs that have not been evaluated either.

For more information on detoxing safely please call our helpline toll-free at 800-996-6135(Who Answers?) .

Sources

1. U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2017). Delirium Tremens.
2. London: Royal College of Physicians (UK). (2010). Alcohol Use Disorders: Diagnosis and Clinical Management of Alcohol-Related Physical Complications: Acute Alcohol Withdrawal.
3. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. (2017). “Detoxes” and “Cleanses.”