Heroin Drug Addiction Treatment

A broad range of options for heroin drug addiction treatment is available, including medications as well as behavioral therapies. When medication treatment is integrated with other supportive services, patients are often able to stop heroin (or other opiates) use.

The classic medication used to help heroin addicts is Methadone. Methadone is a synthetic opiate medication that blocks the effects of heroin for about 24 hours. Suboxone and Subutex are newer, more effective treatments for opioid drug addiction treatment. Other approved medications are Naloxone, used to treat cases of overdose, and Naltrexone. Both of these medications block the effects of morphine, heroin, and other opiates. Several other medications for use in heroin drug addiction treatment programs are also under study.

There are many effective behavioral treatments available for heroin drug addiction. These can include residential and outpatient approaches. Several new behavioral therapies are showing particular promise for heroin drug addiction. Contingency management therapy uses a voucher-based system, where patients earn “points” based on negative drug tests. In turn, they can exchange points for items that encourage healthful living. Cognitive-behavioral interventions are designed to help modify thinking, expectancies, and behaviors and increase skills in coping with life stressors.

Heroin Tolerance and Withdrawal

With regular heroin use, tolerance develops. This means the abuser must use more heroin to achieve the same intensity or effect. Users become physically dependent and develop addiction with each higher dose.

Withdrawal may occur as early as a few hours after the last administration. Symptoms may include drug craving, restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes, and kicking movements, among others. Major withdrawal symptoms peak between 48 and 72 hours after the last dose and subside after about a week. Sudden withdrawal by heavily dependent users in poor health is occasionally fatal, although heroin withdrawal is considered less dangerous than alcohol or barbiturate withdrawal.

Health Hazards of Heroin Abuse and Addiction

Serious health conditions like a fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion, collapsed veins, and infectious diseases are causes of heroin addiction.

The short-term effects of heroin abuse appear soon after a single dose and disappear in a few hours. After an injection, the user reports feeling a surge of euphoria accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth and heavy extremities. Following this initial euphoria, the user goes “on the nod,” an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Mental functioning becomes clouded due to the depression of the central nervous system. Long-term effects of heroin appear after repeated use for some period of time.

Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, cellulitis, and liver disease. Pulmonary complications including pneumonia may result from the abuser’s poor health condition or from the drug’s depressing effects on respiration.In addition, street heroin may have additives that do not readily dissolve, clogging blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain.This can cause infection or even death of small patches of cells in vital organs.