A dose of hope for opioid withdrawal.
The process of getting clean from opioid addiction can bring on intense physical symptoms that can last for weeks.
But promising new research suggests one zen activity could cut the time of opioid withdrawal in half, slashing symptoms like heart rate variability, anxiety, sleep issues and pain.
Typically, doctors may prescribe medications to treat the various symptoms of withdrawal, whether it’s for insomnia, diarrhea or opioid cravings.
And now a study published today in JAMA Psychiatry can add some downward dog to treatment options, with results showing the withdrawal timeline was significantly cut down.
“Yoga is all about self-awareness and self-control,” Dr. Manassa Hany, director of the Addiction Psychiatry Division at Zucker Hillside and South Oaks hospitals, Northwell Health, and director of the system’s Education Psychiatry Fellowship program, told The Post.
“Focusing on being in the moment, which leads to a much more relaxed demeanor and postures that will subsequently affect the exaggerated response of opioid withdrawal that people experience,” she said.
The study looked at 59 adults between 18 and 50 years old experiencing mild to moderate withdrawal symptoms.
One group had 45-minute yoga sessions for 10 days over the course of two weeks, along with standard buprenorphine treatment, while the second group only received the medication.
The yoga-practicing group saw faster recovery, had fewer symptoms and better heart rates within five days, compared to the medication-only group that recovered in nine days.
One big issue of opioid withdrawal is the possibility of relapse, whether it’s from alcohol or a common pain reliever — something regular practice could mitigate, according to Hany.
“One of the biggest problems is that people relapse after leaving the detox units because of the exaggerated response of anxiety and hyperstimulation,” she said. “If you have an element that’s added to the cocktail of medications and interventions, that will also help calm down the nervous system and make the process shorter and much more tolerable.”
Withdrawal can also be difficult to treat, as doctors have previously turned to tapering, a process where the amount of a drug someone is on is gradually reduced.
“It’s free, accessible, doable and practically has no side effects.”
Dr. Manassa Hany
However, there can be issues with this method.
“The best way to do it is to do what we call maintenance therapy or medication for opioid use disorder for an extended period of time,” Hany said. “From experience and evidence… the chances of relapsing and using again is over 90 percent. Eventually, we can taper it off.”
She also noted that yoga in particular addresses the cause of withdrawal, whether someone quits cold turkey or gradually reduces how much they use.
“It’s related to the hyperstimulation of the autonomic nervous system’s heart rate,” she explained. “If you’re able to address that at its core, it will subsequently cause the symptoms to be less intense.”
There can also be a “vicious circle” of symptoms, with a high heart rate affecting the ability to fall asleep, causing more anxiety.
“If you’re able to control hyperstimulation… and the heart rate, it will cut down on this vicious circle,” Hany said. “And I think that yoga is doing this.”
While the results of the study are promising in reducing withdrawal time, they can vary from person to person and depend on what type of opioid was used.
The first signs of alcohol withdrawal can occur within hours and last up to just over a week, while benzodiazepines like Xanax can peak within the first two weeks and may remain for months.
And although the initial study only looked at a small group of men, the results were promising, particularly because of the pros around Vinyasa flows.
“It’s free, accessible, doable and practically has no side effects,” Hany said. “There’s nothing negative about including and incorporating the yoga and the treatment as usual with the withdrawal.”
