Heroin Addiction

What is heroin?

Heroin is an illegal opioid drug made from morphine, an extracted substance from the seed pod of opium poppy plants from Southeast and Southwest Asia, Mexico, and Colombia. Heroin can be a white or brown powder, or a black sticky substance known as black tar heroin.

How do people use heroin?

Most opioids are used medically for relief from major trauma, pain and in operations. People abuse heroin by injecting, sniffing, snorting, or smoking in joints or bongs or chasing the dragon (smoke) on foils. Some people mix heroin with crack cocaine, a practice called speedballing.

What are the effects of heroin?

Opioids are misused for their painkiller and euphoria generating effects. Heroin rapidly affects the opioid receptors in the brain by binding to those involved in regulating feelings of pain and pleasure and in controlling heart rate, sleeping, and breathing. When used for this purpose, one can become physically and psychologically severely dependent as the tolerance for the drug increases by sustained use. Sustained use is forced due to the severe withdrawals experienced as the effect wears off.

Short-Term Effects

People who use heroin report feeling a “rush” (a surge of pleasure, or euphoria). This rush however, is accompanied before or after by other common effects, like:

• dry mouth
• nausea and vomiting
• slowed breathing
• dilated pupils and droopy eyes
• warm flushing of the skin
• heavy feeling in the arms and legs
• severe itching
• clouded mental functioning
• going “on the nod,” a back-and-forth state of being conscious and semiconscious
• emotional numbing

Long-Term Effects

People who use heroin over the long term may develop:

• insomnia
• collapsed veins for people who inject the drug
• damaged tissue inside the nose for people who sniff or snort it
• infection of the heart lining and valves
• abscesses (swollen tissue filled with pus)
• constipation and stomach cramping
• liver and kidney disease
• lung complications, including pneumonia
• mental disorders such as depression and antisocial personality disorder
• sexual dysfunction for men
• irregular menstrual cycles for women
• HIV and Hepatitis C due to sharing of needles and other risky acts
• Researchers studying the long-term effects of opioid addiction on the brain have shown some loss of the brain’s white matter associated with heroin use, which may affect decision-making, behavior control, and responses to stressful situations.

Can a person overdose on heroin?

Yes, a person can overdose on heroin. A heroin overdose occurs when a person uses enough of the drug to produce a life-threatening reaction or death. Heroin overdoses have increased in recent years. When people overdose on heroin, their breathing often slows or stops. This can decrease the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain, a condition called hypoxia. Hypoxia can have short- and long-term mental effects and effects on the nervous system, including coma and permanent brain damage.

Can a heroin overdose be treated?

Overdoses can be fatal unless they are treated quickly. It is very important to get the person to an emergency department or a doctor. An overdose usually kills because the drug makes the person stop breathing.

Naloxone is a medicine that can treat an opioid overdose when given right away. It works by rapidly binding to opioid receptors and blocking the effects of heroin and other opioid drugs. Sometimes more than one dose may be needed to help a person start breathing again.

Is heroin addictive?

Heroin is highly addictive. People who regularly use heroin often develop a tolerance, which means that they need higher and/or more frequent doses of the drug to get the desired effects. They get withdrawal symptoms very shortly after their last use. A substance use disorder (SUD) is when continued use of the drug causes issues, such as health problems and failure to meet responsibilities at work, school, or home. An SUD can range from mild to severe, the most severe form being addiction.

Does Heroin use have withdrawal symptoms?

Those who are addicted to heroin and stop using the drug abruptly may have severe withdrawal. Withdrawal symptoms—which can begin as early as a few hours after the drug was last taken—include:

• restlessness
• severe muscle and bone pain
• sleep problems
• diarrhea and vomiting
• cold flashes with goose bumps (“cold turkey”)
• uncontrollable leg movements (“kicking the habit”)
• severe heroin cravings
• blood pressure fluctuations

How is heroin addiction treated?

A range of treatments including medically assisted detoxification in a hospital. There are medicines being developed to help with the withdrawal process, non-opioid medicine designed to reduce opioid withdrawal symptoms.

This should be followed by behavioral, cognitive and other therapies in a drug rehabilitation center in Pune like Zorbacare the best luxury rehab in India. Behavioral therapies for heroin addiction include methods called cognitive-behavioral therapy and Relapse prevention programs.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps modify the patient’s drug-use expectations and behaviors, and helps effectively manage triggers and stress and are effective in helping people stop heroin use. It’s important to match the best treatment approach to meet the particular needs of each individual patient.

Points to Remember

• Heroin is an opioid drug made from morphine, a natural substance taken from the seed pod of various opium poppy plants.
• Heroin can be a white or brown powder, or a black sticky substance known as black tar heroin.
• People inject, sniff, snort, or smoke heroin. Some people mix heroin with crack cocaine, called speedballing.
• Heroin enters the brain rapidly and binds to opioid receptors on cells located in many areas, especially those involved in feelings of pain and pleasure and in controlling heart rate, sleeping, and breathing.
• People who use heroin report feeling a “rush” (or euphoria). Other common effects include dry mouth, heavy feelings in the arms and legs, and clouded mental functioning.
• Long-term effects may include collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, and lung complications.
• Research suggests that misuse of prescription opioid pain medicine is a risk factor for starting heroin use.
• A person can overdose on heroin. Naloxone is a medicine that can treat a heroin overdose when given right away, though more than one dose may be needed.
• Heroin can lead to addiction, a form of substance use disorder. Withdrawal symptoms include severe muscle and bone pain, sleep problems, diarrhea and vomiting, and severe heroin cravings.
• A range of treatments including medicines and behavioral therapies are effective in helping people stop heroin use. However, treatment plans should include Rehabilitation and be individualized to meet the needs of the patient.