Hitting Rock Bottom: When I Need Heroin Detox to Save My Life
Heroin is highly addictive, and many people who experiment with it will soon become addicted to this drug that comes from the opium poppy. Because heroin is often mixed with other drugs, including fentanyl, people who use heroin are at a high risk of an overdose. Even if that doesn’t happen, using heroin takes a heavy toll on the person’s mental and physical health, as well as their relationships. That’s why it’s so important to get help for overcoming heroin addiction — but it’s also essential to understand what to expect when you go through heroin detox. Addiction treatment centers like Resurgence Behavioral Health offer a medical detox program that can provide medications and medical support to help you or a loved one detox from heroin safely and become stable enough to work on the mental side of addiction with therapy. Let’s explore how heroin detox can save your life.
What Is a Heroin Habit?
Heroin has been illegal in the United States for 100 years. While it’s derived from morphine, which is a natural opiate from the seed of the opium poppy, a chemical process is required to make it heroin, according to WebMD. Because it is an illicit substance, it’s often cut with other substances to make it cheaper or more powerful — including fentanyl, which can cause a fatal overdose with just a tiny dosage. According to WebMD, about 1.1 million people — 0.4% of the American population — are estimated to use heroin each year. Tragically, about 10,000 people die each year from a heroin-involved overdose. It can be consumed in multiple ways, including smoking, snorting, or injecting it. Heroin use has grown considerably over the last two decades in the United States as people became addicted to prescription opioid painkillers and eventually switched to this cheaper way of getting high.
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What Are the Behavioral Effects of Heroin?
Before we explain how heroin detox works, let’s explore some of the long-term effects of heroin use, including how it can change the user’s mental health and cognitive abilities. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, some studies have suggested that using heroin can change the physical structure and physiology of the brain, including deterioration of the brain’s white matter — and that can affect the person’s abilities to make decisions, control their behavior, and respond to stress or challenges. According to the institute, these brain changes cause imbalances in neurons and hormones, and that’s not easy to reverse.
Changes to how the brain works also fuel addiction to heroin because of rising tolerance or the need to use more of the drug in order to feel the same high. Using heroin regularly for just a couple of weeks can lead to addiction, and even if someone wants to quit, they can suffer from strong cravings and withdrawal symptoms when they stop.
How Do You Treat Heroin Addiction?
Heroin addiction treatment will almost always begin with a medically supervised heroin detox program, during which patients can get medications to help them manage cravings for more of the drug and also deal with the potentially severe withdrawal symptoms they’d experience without treatment. While there are several therapies and medications that are available for heroin addiction treatment, the National Institute on Drug Abuse says research shows that the most effective treatment will include a combination of therapy and pharmaceuticals, not just one or the other.
After getting through heroin detox, addiction treatment programs will often involve the use of medications like methadone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone that can block or dampen how the brain’s opioid receptors respond to drugs and help patients avoid strong cravings. A major component of treatment will be behavioral therapies, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), that will help patients address underlying causes and contributing factors to their addictions and learn new coping skills to deal with challenges in the future. Even after completing a rehab program, people benefit from continuing therapy and support from aftercare programs or support groups as they start their new lives in recovery.
What Are the Symptoms of Withdrawal from Heroin?
Heroin withdrawal detox is a crucial first step for addiction treatment because, without professional help, most people will experience strong cravings and severe withdrawal symptoms that will more than likely cause them to relapse. Heroin detox is typically not a good idea for someone to do alone at home because, at a detox facility like Resurgence Behavioral Health, they can get medications and support to more comfortably and safely get through this experience.
Heroin withdrawal symptoms, including powerful cravings for the drug, can start just a few hours after the last use. According to WebMD, these symptoms can include:
- Jitters, restless legs, and uncontrollable leg movements.
- Chills and hot or cold flashes.
- Vomiting.
- Diarrhea.
- Pain and cramping.
- Anxiety.
- Rapid heartbeat.
- Sweating.
- Difficulty sleeping.
Get Heroin Detox and Addiction Treatment at Resurgence Behavioral Health
Choosing Resurgence Behavioral Health to help you detox from heroin in Riverside means choosing to have access to the medications and medical support you need to get through this short but crucial first step to overcoming addiction. Our heroin detox program can help you stabilize and become mentally ready to start working on the psychological aspect of addiction, giving you a solid footing to start your new life in recovery. Take the first step toward a better future today by calling us at 855-458-0050.
External Sources
- WebMD — Heroin
- National Institute on Drug Abuse — What Are the Long-Term Effects of Heroin Use?
- National Institute on Drug Abuse — What Are the Treatments for Heroin Use Disorder?
