Heroin addiction can cause severe problems to your emotional, psychological, and physical well-being. The addiction can cause social isolation, financial ruin, and damage to vital body organs. If you struggle with this addiction, you need to seek heroin addiction treatment to improve your health and quality of life.
Why Should You Fight Heroin Addiction?
Heroin addiction is associated with poor behaviors like sharing needles, neglecting personal hygiene, and refusing to eat. The addiction can impair individuals’ judgment, increasing their chances of hurting themselves and those around them. Seeking treatment reduces your chances of participating in these risky behaviors and improves your quality of life.
Treatment reduces the risks of battling serious health complications since addiction can impair vital body organs. Heroin addiction can cause your veins to collapse from constant injections. You might also develop kidney and liver disease, or damage your nostrils from constant snorting.
Should You Quit Heroin Cold Turkey?
Quitting heroin cold turkey isn’t recommended. The risk of overdosing when quitting cold turkey is high since the heroin withdrawal cravings can be overwhelming. Instead of trying to quit and overcome addiction by yourself, seek medical supervision. Addiction treatment experts use medication and counseling to make the withdrawal symptoms more manageable and the detox process safer and more effective.
What Does Heroin Addiction Treatment Entail?
Addiction treatment professionals recommend various approaches for different patients. Treatment depends on factors like the period of drug use, your environment, and whether you have co-occurring disorders like depression and anxiety.
The first step in addiction treatment is detox — a process that helps to eliminate drugs from your system. Undergo the detoxification process in an addiction treatment facility for your safety and positive results.
After detox, you need to undertake treatment as an inpatient or outpatient client — your doctor may recommend either, depending on your heroin dependence. Treatments may involve addiction education, medication, therapy, and group meetings. Addiction education and therapy can help you identify the root cause of your addiction, reducing your chances of relapse after treatment. Treatment professionals can also recommend opioids to manage withdrawal symptoms and heroin cravings.
How Long Does Recovery Take?
The heroin recovery timeline differs from person to person, depending on factors like the extent of a person’s dependence, family and peer support, and willingness to stay clean. For instance, it may take longer for a person who’s been using heroin for a long time to recover than for a short-term user. People with poor familial or peer support and who aren’t willing to stop drug use may also have a longer recovery timeline.
Withdrawal symptoms take a few hours to occur and can last between five and seven days. The period might depend on how often you take the heroin, your health, and the amount of heroin in your system. The symptoms may last longer if you take the drug often, are in poor health, and are a long-term heroin user. Some long-term users may even experience withdrawal symptoms for weeks.
Common Withdrawal Symptoms
Dealing with heroin withdrawal symptoms on your own can be challenging, making addiction treatment professionals beneficial. Here are some common symptoms:
- Fever
- Mood changes
- Stomach pain
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Body aches
- Heroin cravings
- Sweating
- Racing heart
- Tremors
- Poor concentration
A treatment expert may help you manage these symptoms using drugs like anti-nausea medication or opioids.
How Do You Stay Clean?
Heroin recovery is a continuous process, so you may need to alter your life and adopt new coping mechanisms to stay clean. For example, you may need to move from your home if your environment contributes to your addiction. Staying close to temptations increases your risk of relapsing.
You can stay clean by keeping busy. Replace your addiction with activities like hiking, running, or spending time with your loved ones. The more occupied you are, the lower your chances of thinking about the temptation to take the drug.
Get Help Now
Heroin is a destructive drug that affects an individual’s health and increases risky behavior. Heroin addiction treatment can help you break the addiction cycle and regain your life. Addiction treatment experts offer addiction education, medication, and behavioral counseling to oversee full recovery. They also offer long-term follow-ups to prevent chances of relapse. Get help from a treatment center you can trust, and give yourself the opportunity for health and healing that you need!