Heroin Addiction

Heroin addiction withdrawal symptoms

Much like a heroin ‘high’, heroin withdrawal symptoms are severe but oftentimes short-lasting. While heroin withdrawal symptoms may only last a week or two, a person will often become incapacitated for this time and will experience symptoms like:

Extreme nausea and vomiting

Abdominal pain

Sweating

Shaking

Nervousness, irritability and irrationality

Severe depression

Muscle spasms and intense cravings for drugs

To alleviate these withdrawal symptoms, professionals will often prescribe medication to ease symptoms and many long-term heroin addicts will be prescribed drugs like Tramadol, Naloxone and in severe cases low doses of morphine.

What to do if you think someone is using

While the prevalence of this drug is real, a heroin user might be difficult to spot. Although side effects are ever-present in a person, they are easy symptoms to cover up. Collapsed veins, for example, can be covered up with clothing, and vomiting can be excused as sickness or fever that is unrelated to heroin use.

Normally, an addict will almost always seem sleepy, and when they’re not using, they will seem irritable and anxious. If these polar opposite behavioural traits are present in somebody for a longer period, it might be time to investigate.

Before we move on, if you think someone is overdosing on heroin, call 000 immediately and seek emergency medical detox assistance.

Intervention will be required within minutes in order to reduce the risk of fatality.

Treatment for heroin addiction

Treating heroin addiction is like any other substance abuse problem, including alcohol addiction. Rehab treatment programs are effective and long-lasting solutions to heroin addiction. They will help a person overcome their habit in a safe, guided and clinical environment.

There are a variety of effective treatment options available, too. For example, group therapy, individual therapy and CBT help address the root causes of addiction. More pharmacological treatments, like detoxing and taking medication, help to lessen withdrawal symptoms.

Approaches to overcoming heroin addiction are effective. They help restore an addict to a ‘normal’ state of mind, and a rehab environment will help address any severe side effects of sobering up. This includes treating mental health issues like depression and anxiety. In turn, this will reduce relapse rates and give someone the tool kit they need to walk forward in life as a happier, healthier human.

To find out more about how Salt Recovery House can help you or a loved one overcome a heroin addiction, contact us today.