Opioid withdrawal can feel uncomfortable, frightening, and difficult to manage alone. If you are experiencing opioid withdrawal symptoms or researching for someone you love, it takes courage to look for answers and begin thinking about recovery.
Withdrawal from opioids may involve intense physical symptoms, emotional distress, sleep disruption, cravings, nausea, diarrhea, and body pain. While opioid withdrawal is often not life-threatening on its own, symptoms can become dangerous when dehydration, co-occurring medical conditions, severe depression, suicidal thoughts, or polysubstance use are involved.1
Spring Grove Recovery offers medically assisted detox in Colorado Springs, CO, for adults experiencing opioid withdrawal from substances such as prescription painkillers, heroin, fentanyl, and other opioids. Our clinical team provides evidence-based, compassionate care to help clients navigate opioid withdrawal symptoms and move forward into continued recovery support.
Opioid withdrawal can feel uncomfortable, frightening, and difficult to manage alone. If you are experiencing opioid withdrawal symptoms or researching for someone you love, it takes courage to look for answers and begin thinking about recovery.
Withdrawal from opioids may involve intense physical symptoms, emotional distress, sleep disruption, cravings, nausea, diarrhea, and body pain. While opioid withdrawal is often not life-threatening on its own, symptoms can become dangerous when dehydration, co-occurring medical conditions, severe depression, suicidal thoughts, or polysubstance use are involved.1
Spring Grove Recovery offers medically assisted detox in Colorado Springs, CO, for adults experiencing opioid withdrawal from substances such as prescription painkillers, heroin, fentanyl, and other opioids. Our clinical team provides evidence-based, compassionate care to help clients navigate opioid withdrawal symptoms and move forward into continued recovery support.
Opioid withdrawal symptoms may feel like a severe flu, though they are often more intense, distressing, and difficult to push through without support. Symptoms and severity may vary depending on the type of opioid used, how long someone has been using opioids, level of dependence, physical health, mental health, and whether other substances are involved.
Common opioid withdrawal symptoms may include:
These symptoms can feel overwhelming, but opioid withdrawal treatment can help reduce discomfort, manage complications, and provide structure during the early stages of recovery.
Early opioid withdrawal symptoms may begin within several hours after the last dose, especially with short-acting opioids such as heroin or immediate-release oxycodone. Timing may vary depending on the opioid involved, but short-acting opioid withdrawal often begins within about 6 to 12 hours after last use.2
Early signs of opioid withdrawal may include:
During this stage, many people feel uncomfortable and unsettled. They may know withdrawal is beginning, but may not yet be in the most intense phase.
Opioid withdrawal symptoms may peak over the next several days, especially with short-acting opioids. During this stage, symptoms can become more physically and emotionally intense. Gastrointestinal symptoms, cravings, sleep disruption, and body pain may be especially difficult.
Peak opioid withdrawal symptoms may include:
This is often the point when people feel most tempted to return to opioid use just to make the symptoms stop. Medical detox can provide monitoring, symptom management, and support through this difficult window.
Some people may experience post-acute withdrawal syndrome, often called PAWS, after the acute opioid withdrawal phase. PAWS may involve lingering psychological, emotional, and sleep-related symptoms that continue for weeks or months after the most intense physical symptoms improve. SAMHSA describes protracted withdrawal as symptoms that can persist after acute withdrawal and may affect people recovering from opioids and other substances.3
PAWS symptoms after opioid withdrawal may include:
Not everyone experiences PAWS, and symptoms may improve over time. Continued treatment, therapy, relapse prevention planning, and recovery support may help people manage these symptoms without returning to opioid use.
The opioid withdrawal timeline varies by person. How long opioid withdrawal lasts may depend on the specific opioid, dose, duration of use, level of physical dependence, overall health, and whether medications are used during detox.
Short-acting opioids tend to cause withdrawal symptoms sooner. Long-acting opioids may cause symptoms later, and withdrawal may last longer.4
Short-acting opioids include heroin and some immediate-release prescription opioids, such as oxycodone or hydrocodone. Withdrawal from short-acting opioids may begin within 6 to 12 hours after the last dose, peak within the first few days, and largely improve within several days to about 5 to 10 days for many people.
A general short-acting opioid withdrawal timeline may look like:
Fentanyl withdrawal may be less predictable for some people because fentanyl is highly potent and may be involved with other substances. Anyone withdrawing from fentanyl should consider medical support, especially if symptoms are severe or their relapse risk is high.
Long-acting opioids include methadone and some extended-release opioid medications. Withdrawal from long-acting opioids may begin later, sometimes 24 to 72 hours after the last dose, and may last longer than withdrawal from short-acting opioids.
A general long-acting opioid withdrawal timeline may look like:
People taking methadone or other long-acting opioids should not stop suddenly without medical guidance. A supervised plan may help reduce discomfort and support safer opioid withdrawal management.
Opioid withdrawal happens because the brain and body adapt to the ongoing presence of opioids. Opioids attach to receptors in the brain and nervous system that influence pain, mood, reward, stress, breathing, and gastrointestinal function.
Over time, the body may become physically dependent on opioids. This means the nervous system has adjusted to functioning with opioids present. When opioids are reduced or stopped, the nervous system may overcorrect, creating the uncomfortable symptoms associated with opioid withdrawal.
This is why opioid withdrawal can affect so many parts of the body at once, including:
Physical dependence is not the same thing as a moral failure. It is a medical condition that can happen when the body adapts to opioids. Opioid dependence treatment can help people move through withdrawal and begin addressing the underlying patterns of opioid use.
Opioid withdrawal is rarely life-threatening by itself, but several factors may make supervised medical detox the safest and most appropriate option. Medical detox may help manage symptoms, reduce complications, and provide support when cravings or emotional distress feel hard to control.
You may need medical detox for opioid withdrawal if you are experiencing:
Medical detox may also be appropriate if you have tried to stop using opioids before but returned to use because withdrawal symptoms were too painful or overwhelming.
Spring Grove Recovery provides medical detox in Colorado Springs for adults who need structured support during withdrawal. A supervised setting can help clients manage opioid detox symptoms while preparing for the next step in treatment.
Spring Grove Recovery’s medical detox program in Colorado Springs provides medically supervised, evidence-based care for individuals going through opioid withdrawal. Our clinical team offers 24/7 monitoring, medication support when appropriate, and individualized care to help clients move through detox as safely and comfortably as possible.
Opioid withdrawal treatment at Spring Grove Recovery may include:
Opioid withdrawal medication may be used in some treatment settings to reduce withdrawal symptoms and cravings. ASAM’s opioid use disorder guidance discusses medications such as methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone as part of opioid use disorder treatment, depending on the person’s needs and clinical fit.5 Spring Grove Recovery offers medication-assisted treatment (MAT) options, including Subutex (buprenorphine), Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone), Vivitrol (naltrexone), and methadone.
Detox is often the first step, not the whole recovery process. After opioid detox, continued care may help address cravings, relapse risk, trauma, mental health symptoms, family stress, and the habits connected to opioid use.
Spring Grove Recovery supports adults in Colorado Springs, El Paso County, and surrounding communities with medical detox, residential treatment, co-occurring disorder care, and compassionate support through each stage of recovery.
Choosing to ask for help can be the hardest step. If you or someone you love is experiencing opioid withdrawal symptoms, Spring Grove Recovery’s medical detox team in Colorado Springs is ready to help you move through withdrawal with safety, structure, and compassion.
Call Spring Grove Recovery today or visit our contact page to speak with someone about opioid detox and next steps for treatment.
Lindsay Dean currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Spring Grove Recovery. With more than 10 years of experience in behavioral health, Lindsay is deeply committed to expanding access to ethical, high-quality treatment and building systems of care that support long-term, sustainable recovery through compassionate, trauma-informed practices.
Lindsay began her career in direct patient care, where early experience as a mental health technician, crisis intervention specialist, and group/ individual counselor shaped her understanding of how trauma impacts engagement, trust, and openness to treatment. This clinical foundation continues to inform her leadership philosophy, reinforcing the belief that effective treatment systems must be grounded in safety, dignity, and respect.
As Lindsay progressed into senior leadership, her focus shifted toward building and strengthening treatment programs that balance clinical excellence with operational and regulatory integrity. She served as Program Director at one of the largest Opioid Treatment Programs (OTP) in Colorado Springs, where she led multidisciplinary teams, expanded access to evidence-based services for priority populations via increased grant funding, and ensured adherence to state and federal regulations.
Most recently, Lindsay served as Assistant Executive Director of Spring Grove Recovery, where she aligned clinical, operational, and administrative teams to strengthen continuity between inpatient and outpatient levels of care. Her leadership emphasized collaboration, sustainability, and the reduction of barriers to treatment access.
Lindsay’s leadership is grounded in operational excellence, regulatory integrity, and trauma-informed systems of care that prioritize patient safety and engagement. She has successfully guided organizations through extensive state and federal oversight, managed and expanded state grant funding, and strengthened services for underserved and vulnerable populations.
Lindsay holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Personal Health and is a Certified Addiction Specialist. As CEO, she leads Spring Grove Recovery with a clear mission: to cultivate a trauma-informed, collaborative, and compassionate treatment environment where individuals are empowered to heal, engage meaningfully in their own care, and sustain recovery long after residential treatment ends.
