Heroin Addiction

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Heroin Addiction Treatment

For heroin addiction, there are heroin addiction treatment centers ready to help you NOW. Your heroin addiction is slowly destroying your body and mind. You need help for your addiction to heroin, which is taking over your life, hurting those closest to you and stealing your dreams. You have tried to stop using heroin, but can't stop. You have always returned, worse than before. We know, we've been there and couldn't do it by ourselves either. Call Recovery Connection® NOW for help. Call 1-800-99-DETOX.

If you are looking for a heroin addiction treatment program or drug rehab center specializing in heroin addiction, please call Recovery Connection® at 1-800-99-DETOX. Help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. GET HELP NOW!

Street terms for heroin: smack, thunder, hell dust, big H, nose drops.

heroin addiction treatment, drug detox

What is Heroin?

Heroin was first synthesized in 1874 from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of poppy plants. Before anything was known about heroin addiction, heroin was marketed in 1898 as a new pain medication and became widely used in medicine in the early 1900s until it became a controlled substance in 1914 under the Harrison Narcotic Act. Heroin is considered the most highly addictive drug and considered the most abused and most rapidly acting opiate. Continued use of heroin will most certainly lead to heroin addiction.

Forms of Heroin

Heroin comes in various forms, but pure heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste. Most illicit heroin comes in powder form in colors ranging from white to dark brown. The colors are due to the impurities left from the manufacturing process or the presence of additives. "Black tar" is another form of heroin that resembles roofing tar or is hard like coal. Color varies from dark brown to black. It is important to remember, that regardless of the form, heroin addiction is a real possibility.

Becoming Heroin Addicted

Heroin can be injected, smoked, or snorted. Over time, most people end up with a heroin addiction, injecting it for the euphoric feeling associated with this method of use. Effects are felt in 7 to 8 seconds. Even though effects for sniffing or smoking develop more slowly, beginning in 10 to 15 minutes, sniffing or smoking heroin has increased in popularity because of the availability of high-purity heroin and the fear of sharing needles. In addition, some users mistakenly believe that sniffing or smoking heroin will not lead to heroin addiction and allow them to control their use. The qualities associated with heroin addiction are much more powerful than a person's willpower and people snorting or smoking heroin will surely become as addicted to the drug as those persons injecting the drug.

The Effects of Heroin and Causes of Heroin Addiction

After ingestion, heroin crosses the blood-brain barrier. While in the brain, heroin converts to morphine and binds rapidly to opioid receptors. Heroin use causes:

Repeated heroin use produces tolerance and a physical dependence – a heroin addiction. Physical dependence causes the user's body to adapt to the presence of the drug and withdrawal symptoms occur if use is reduced.

Medical Consequences of Heroin Addiction

Withdrawal symptoms of Heroin Addiction

Heroin addiction withdrawal symptoms occur within a few hours of the last use and can include:

These heroin addiction withdrawal symptoms subside after about a week. Although not normally fatal, withdrawal from heroin addiction is extremely uncomfortable and very difficult to tolerate without medical help. It is suggested that heroin addicts withdraw from their addiction to heroin in licensed and medically supervised heroin addiction treatment centers and enroll in heroin addiction treatment programs that are capable of providing safe and comfortable detox services.

Consequences of Heroin Use

Street heroin is often diluted or "cut" with substances such as sugar, starch, powdered milk or much more dangerous products such as, strychnine. In many cases, these additives do not dissolve when injected they can clog the blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. This can result in the infection of cells and destruction of vital organs. In addition, many users do not know the actual strength of the heroin they are using which can lead to overdose or death.

Heroin Addiction Treatment

Heroin addiction treatment has involved Methadone used to treat opiate addiction for more than 30 years. Methadone suppresses heroin withdrawal symptoms for 24 to 36 hours. Although the patient remains physically dependent on the opiate, the craving from heroin use is reduced and the highs and lows are blocked. This heroin addiction treatment permits the patient to be free from the uncontrolled, compulsive, and disruptive behavior associated with heroin addiction. While many methadone maintenance clinics (long term methadone use) are available, we believe the most effective use of methadone in heroin addiction treatment is found in utilizing the drug to assist in the gradual withdrawal from heroin addiction.

Other pharmaceutical approaches to heroin addiction treatment and assistance in the withdrawal and detox process include naloxone, naltrexone, and buprenorphine.

Detoxification relieves the withdrawal symptoms experienced when substance use is discontinued. Detoxification is not a treatment for addiction, but the first step in the treatment process, which usually includes participation in a treatment program specializing in the treatment of opiate and heroin addiction.

Back to Drug Information

If you believe you or someone you know is in need of help with heroin addiction, or for immediate assistance finding drug rehab centers that specialize in heroin addiction treatment, please call Recovery Connection® now at 1-800-99-DETOX. Help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Don't wait - GET HELP NOW!

Heroin Addiction Treatment Centers:

If your state doesn't appear on this list, please call Recovery Connection® at 1-800-99-DETOX and we will be happy to assist you.