How to Quit Heroin
This article details how to quit heroin, what is heroin, signs of heroin use, reasons to quit, why not to quit cold turkey, how to quit heroin with a heroin rehab center, and the drugs buprenorphine and methadone which are used in heroin rehab.
What is Heroin?
Heroin is a chemical depressant, meaning it suppresses the function of the nervous system. Heroin produces sedation, muscle relaxation, respratory depression, pain relief, and, if administerd through intravaneous injection, feelings of euphoria. It is derived from the morphine alkaloid in opium poppies. Users use heroin by injecting it in their veins with a syringe, "freebasing" it by smoking the white powder, or snorting it, causing the heroin to be absorbed through the thin tissue in the sinus cavity.
Signs of Heroin Use
Heroin users and addicts show distinct signs when under the influence of heroin, the most obvious being:
- Itching and scratching of the skin
- Flushing and rashes
- Dry mouth, medically termed "xerostomia"
- Pupil constriction (the center 'black' portion of the eye becomes smaller)
- Disorientation
- "Track marks" - scars and bumps around major veins
If a loved one is showing signs of heroin use, please contact a heroin rehab center immediately for help. Learning how to quit heroin is important, but what is more important is the saftey of an individual plagued with this destructive physical addiction.
Reasons to Quit Heroin
Heroin use is physically destructive and addictive. Heroin users injecting heroin intravenously can suffer from:
- Fatal blood-borne disease contraction from non-sterile needle sharing like HIV and Hepatitis
- Contraction of bacterial and fungal endocarditis
- Abscesses
- Collapsed veins caused by the acid (usually citric juice) mixed when 'shooting' heroin intravenously.
All heroin users can suffer from:
- Poisoning from contaminants added to the heroin to increase volume (also know as "cutting heroin")
- Decreased kidney function
- Constipation
- Physical tolerance
- Addiction
- Physical dependence - resulting in intense, painful withdrawal symptoms, causing a heroin user to need heroin to feel physically normal
- Fatal overdose - symptoms lasting from minutes to hours caused by the suppression of the breathing reflex as a result of the depressive nature of opiods on the nervous system. This means an individual can suffocate to death from heroin overdose.
Methods to Quit Heroin
Heroin, as with all opiods, is within the most physically addictive category of recreational drugs: depressants. The physical addiction cause by heroin makes quitting heroin extremely hard, with withdrawal symptoms being the most dramatic and painful of all recreational drugs. Common withdrawal symptoms include:
- sweating
- anxiety
- depression
- cramps
- insomnia
- cold sweats
- severe muscle aches (notably in legs)
- nausea
- vomiting
- diarrhea
- fever
Withdrawal symptoms can begin between 6 and 24 hours after the last use of heroin and can last between 3 and 7 days of intense physical withdrawal, with psychological recovery taking anywhere from a month to several months. Don't get in this position: do not try heroin.
Quitting Heroin Cold Turkey
It is almost impossible to quit heroin cold turkey, with withdrawal symptoms causing serious and extreme pain to the individual, severly debilitating them for 3 to 7 days. A user dedicated to quitting must be prepared for these physical maladies which can begin 6 to 24 hours after the last dose of heroin was administered. Opiate withdrawal is rarely fatal, but with proper medical rehab center treatment, withdrawal can be safe, eased with the proper administration of treatment drugs.
A heroin user should visit a doctor and recovery specialist immediately for a proper and safe recovery procedure.
Visit a Heroin Rehab Center
Rehab centers specialize in treating severe physical, psychological, and behavioral addiction, with medical and prescriptive treatment not available outside a medically licensed facility. AllTreatment strongly encourages heroin addicts to visit a rehab center.
Drugs Used to Quit Heroin at Rehab Centers
Buprenorphine and the sublingual (pill version) of the drug named Suboxone are both used for opiod addiction treatment. Like heroin, buprenorphine is a depressant binding to opioid receptors in the brain but unlike heroin, buprenorphine does not produce euphoria or the other desired effects of heroin use. As such it is often used for immediate 'short-term withdrawal management' while a patient stops using heroin but is suffering from the serious phsyical withdrawals associated with quitting heroin.
Methadone is an older and more commonly used chemical to treat opiate addiction and physical dependence. It also stabalizes withdrawal symptoms in heroin addicts by effecting opiod receptors in the brain in a similar manner as heroin without producing the recreational and intoxicating effects.
Both methadone and buprenorphine help users abstain from relapse by greatly reducing the physical craving for heroin and opiods, while not producing the same 'mind-altering' effects of inebration or 'being high'.
Summary
Heroin addicition can be deadly. Learning how to quit heroin is the first step toward a path of sobriety and a healthier experience of life. It is not advised to undergo self-treatment through heroin withdrawal because it is extremely painful and can be dangerous, especially if the subject is alone. AllTreatment strongly recommends heroin addicts visit a heroin rehab center, and for more information, you can contact a heroin rehab center from our directory.
Resources:
- http://www.aafp.org/afp/20000715/tips/1.html
- http://www.heroinaddiction.com/heroin_methadone.html
- http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/drugsatfda/index.cfm
- http://www.nida.nih.gov/researchreports/heroin/heroin5.html
- http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002861.htm
- http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/aha/aha_subabu_bha.htm
- http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/cu12.htm
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17602126
- http://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/Bulletin07/bulletin_on_narcotics_2007_Zerell.pdf
Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/keep-on-moving/