What is Heroin?
Heroin is an addictive morphinan opioid drug synthesised from the opium poppy seeds. These seeds naturally contain morphine, which is processed into heroin in illegal drug labs. Pure heroin looks like a white powder that has a bitter taste, but impure heroin will often look like a brown powder or black tar. Even pure heroin is not always clean, as it can be cut with other substances to make it cheaper to produce. This cutting of the drug can be incredibly dangerous when other drugs or hash substances are involved.
How is heroin used?
The pure form of heroin can be snorted or smoked in its powdered form. While still dangerous, impure heroin comes with many more complications. The brown powder or black tar is often dissolved, diluted and injected via a syringe. This increases the risk of overdose as it gets into the body at a much faster rate, while adding additional risk factors that we will discuss later on.
However, in practice, some medical aids are negotiating lower reimbursement rates for addiction treatment services. While cost management is an important aspect of healthcare sustainability, these practices can place financial pressure on rehab centers striving to maintain high-quality care standards.
The mental and physical effects of heroin use.
Heroin works by binding to and activating mu-opioid receptors. These receptors are present in the brain, spinal cord and intestinal tract. Once heroin enters the body, it rapidly binds to these receptors, activating the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. This increase in dopamine creates a feeling of pleasure. It’s the feel-good neurotransmitter that makes heroin so addictive.
Short-term effects.
Heroin users first experience a wave of pleasure from the increase in dopamine, which is often referred to as the Rush. Immediately following this, a warm flush, dry mouth and a heavy feeling in the limbs can be experienced. Heroin makes users relaxed and happy, but some side effects, like nausea and itching, can also occur.
After the initial rush, drowsiness and mental clouding will be experienced with a slowing of the heart and rate of breathing. Heroin is a depressant, which means it slows things down in the body. It’s this trait that makes it life-threatening, as the reduced breathing can lead to suffocation or permanent brain damage.
Long-term effects.
Chronic or repeated use of heroin causes changes to the brain, creating an imbalance in neuronal and hormonal systems. When dealing with addiction, deterioration of the white matter in the brain is common, which leads to changes in behaviour.
Heroin is a powerful drug that the body responds to with high levels of tolerance and dependence. As the body is exposed to heroin, it tries its best to bring itself to a more “normal” state, making users require more of the drug to experience the same high. This also means that when the user no longer has heroin, there is an extreme dependence that causes craving and withdrawal if none of the drug is ingested.
Long-term use of the drug can cause an addiction that goes beyond tolerance and dependence. Heroin Use Disorder is a chronic, relapsing disease that causes drug-seeking behaviour regardless of addiction, even after successful rehabilitation.
Related issues with heroin.
While not a direct side effect of heroin use, addicts may find themselves with additional health complications or performing acts that can put them at risk. Some more effects of heroin can include insomnia, constipation and lung complications. The changes to the brain can create mental disorders and sexual dysfunction. In women, it can create irregular cycles and even miscarriages.
Additives added to heroin can create more complications, as not all of them can dissolve into the bloodstream, making them clog up arteries to vital organs.
Heroin users often reuse or share injection equipment, which can lead to infections and shared diseases like hepatitis B and C and HIV.
Finally, addiction creates a need to find a fix. When an addict can’t afford their addiction anymore, they may seek out dangerous or criminal activities to find the money needed to buy more heroin.
Related issues with heroin.
To summarise the effects, a heroin addict may suffer from these signs of use:
- Mood disorders.
- Agitation and irritability.
- Social withdrawal.
- Rapid weight loss.
- Skin picking and infections.
- Delusions.
- Decreased attention.
- Difficulty sleeping.
- Apathy.
- Slurred speech.
- Respiratory issues.
- Constricted pupils.
- Itching.
- Flushed skin.
Heroin withdrawal effects and symptoms.
Addiction creates a physical dependence as the body adapts to having the drug. Once it has adapted and the drug isn’t present, the user will experience withdrawal symptoms. Depending on the person and the stage of addiction, symptoms can occur within a few hours of use and can last up to a whole week, sometimes even a few months. These symptoms include:
- Restlessness.
- Muscle pain.
- Bone pain.
- Insomnia.
- Diarrhea.
- Vomiting.
- Cold flashes.
- Involuntary movement.
Heroin overdose symptoms and treatment.
An overdose, or OD, occurs when the body has too much of a drug, like heroin, in the system at any point. As a depressant, heroin can slow the heart and breathing down so much that the body can no longer provide blood and oxygen, resulting in death without medical intervention.
A heroin overdose can be spotted when the user suffers from extreme drowsiness, pinpoint pupils that don’t respond to light, slow or irregular heart rate, no breathing and cold skin.
One of the body’s responses to extreme amounts of any drug is to vomit. This brings up another complication as the drug practically paralyses the body while unconscious, making it possible to wake up when there is vomit, blocking the breathing passage. This can cause suffocation and death.
An immediate response to any overdose should be to call the local emergency response, place the affected person on their side and do your best to allow them to breathe with as much ease as possible.
In cases of heroin overdose, naloxone can be administered. This is an opioid receptor antagonist that blocks the opioid receptors so that the drug cannot bind. This medication can eliminate all signs of opioid intoxication and reverse an overdose.
How is heroin addiction treated with rehab?
Heroin addiction is treated with behavioural and pharmacological methods. During a safe detox within a drug rehab clinic, like the one we have at The Way Recovery, professionals can assist patients with withdrawal symptoms, offering them help with cravings and medication to ease the harsh symptoms. This is the best way to clear the system of heroin without relapse.
At The Way Recovery, we use the tried and tested 12-step addiction recovery process to assist patients with mental recovery after detox. This method, as well as the support that it creates, allows individuals to walk away from the destructive cycle of addiction.
If you or someone you know suffers from heroin addiction, contact The Way Recovery today and one of our rehab professionals will walk you through the process you can take to find freedom from addiction.
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