It is quite dangerous to detox on your own, depending on the drug. If you are detoxing from an alcohol addiction, this can bring on a phenomena called delirium tremens, which consists of uncontrollable shaking and other movements, as well as intense sweating, raised blood pressure, and a rapid heart rate. Delirium tremens is a state of confusion that can include various types of hallucinations and general disorientation.

Even more dangerously, the hyperactivity and skyrocketing heart rates and blood pressure characteristic of delirium tremens can bring on fevers, high blood pressure, which can then lead to seizure and stroke. When addicted to alcohol, your body becomes dependent on the drug to function—in order to simply get from point A to point B, or to feel pleasure, you must put alcohol into your system.

While most alcoholics go through withdrawal symptoms, 3-5% of recovering alcoholics experience delirium tremens at some point in recovery. It all depends on how much you used, what you used, and when you used it. If you haven’t been using as much and have been tapering off your use for some time now, there’s a chance that detox might not be as difficult as you thought.

But for a large number of addicts, it’s crucial to undergo detox in a supervised, medicated, medically assisted environment. Even for milder withdrawal symptoms, such as general shakiness, headaches, nausea, lighter tremors, anxiety, and so on, undergoing medically assisted detox can assure that your symptoms will be handled in a safe place.

Typically, for other drugs like cocaine, withdrawal symptoms are not as significant. But it can still be very important to undergo detox treatment in order to stay as safe as possible. And if an addict has been using multiple drugs, it’s likely that withdrawal from them will be painful and exhausting.