Heroin Detox
Jump to:
1. Typical Withdrawal Symptoms
2. Goals of Treatment
3. Medications Used
4. Other Types of Therapies
5. Final Thoughts on Detoxification
For people who don’t use heroin on a regular basis, the drug is a form of poison. If they take in the drug, they’ll experience a wide variety of symptoms including euphoria and sleepiness. It’s potent and hard to ignore, as the body isn’t quite sure what to do with the drug and it moves through a series of steps to try to process the heroin and clear it from the body.
People who use heroin on a regular basis have an entirely different experience when they use it. Their bodies, by contrast, are accustomed to being flooded with heroin, and in fact, these people may experience debilitating symptoms when the body doesn’t have any available heroin. It’s a bit like a normal body’s system turned upside-down. Where a healthy body reacts to the presence of heroin, an addict’s body reacts to the absence.
This reaction in the body of the addict forms the basis of the detoxification process. Heroin detoxification programs can help the addict to manage the symptoms the body tosses up as it heals and learns to survive without heroin.
Typical Withdrawal Symptoms
People who abuse heroin may experience withdrawal symptoms several times per day, as their bodies tend to clamor for the drug between hits. Therefore, it’s likely that the addict is already quite familiar with the symptoms of withdrawal, and he or she might be a bit scared of these symptoms. Sometimes, the fear of the symptoms can keep an addict from even entering a treatment program. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), these symptoms can include:
- Restlessness
- Deep pain in the bones
- Jerking movements in the legs
- Diarrhea and vomiting
- Goose bumps and cold flashes
In addition to these symptoms, the addict often feels a longing for the drug. The craving may punch through the addict’s thoughts, awake and asleep, and the urge to use heroin may seem to grow stronger and stronger with time. Some addicts feel cravings like this for months, according to the NIDA.
Goals of Treatment
Detoxification alone is not a cure for heroin addiction. When the addict emerges from a detoxification program, he or she might have a system that’s free of heroin, but the addiction is still there. If an addict left a detoxification program and headed right back home, it’s likely the addict would walk right back into the arms of the addiction. In fact, according to a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, of 78 people studied who completed a detoxification program for heroin, many relapsed within one week of completion. Without a set of tools to use in the real world to fight off the addiction, the relapse becomes much more likely. Therefore, one of the main jobs of the staff members of a detoxification facility is to encourage the addict to enter a formal treatment program when detox is done. This is a message the staff is likely to repeat over and over.
In addition to pushing the addict on to further treatment, the staff tries to keep the addict comfortable during the uncomfortable process of detoxification. At a gut level, this makes perfect sense. After all, most people enter detoxification programs on a completely voluntary basis, and they can walk out at any time. If the treatments are incredibly uncomfortable or unpleasant, they’re much more likely to simply walk out without completing the program. By keeping the patients comfortable, the staff keeps them compliant with treatment.
The staff also tries to assess whether the addict has other health concerns as a result of drug use. According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, people who use heroin are often in poor health, with:
- Infections of the heart and lungs
- Skin abscesses
- HIV and/or hepatitis B and C
- Collapsed veins
These conditions must also be treated, so the addict feels strong enough to fight off the addiction. Most detoxification programs will do a complete health screening, just to make sure that these health problems are identified. Treatments for these conditions can last throughout detoxification and heroin rehabilitation.
Once the staff has a plan of action for the detoxification, they explain it fully to the addict. They might point out how long the program will take, what the addict is expected to feel and when the addict might need to ask for more help. Being clear and direct is important here, as the addict is just learning to take control of the disease and his or her health. This conversation can help the addict learn to do just that.
Medications Used in Detox
Medications
Thankfully, addicts don’t have to endure all of these symptoms without help. In fact, there are a wide variety of medications doctors can use to help manage withdrawal symptoms during heroin detoxification. One of the oldest medications of this type is methadone. This medication works much like heroin, attaching to the same receptors, but it doesn’t cause the same elevated sense of euphoria and sleepiness. Instead, it can simply help the addict feel focus and not so frantic. Some people take methadone at a high dose when they first enter detoxification, and then they taper off to no dose at all by the end of treatment. Other people remain on methadone through the end of detoxification and into heroin treatments. A study published in the journal Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior found that heroin cravings remained intense for months after detoxification for some patients, but they were able to deal with the cravings and avoid relapse with the help of methadone. This could be a valuable way to help addicts stay clean of street drugs once detoxification is over.
Some therapists choose a different drug for detoxification called buprenorphine. Again, this drug attaches to the same receptors as heroin, but it also doesn’t cause euphoria. According to the NIDA, buprenorphine is an important drug in detoxification, as many patients don’t seem to form an attachment to it. Some heavy users of heroin, however, don’t seem to respond to buprenorphine treatment.
Other Types of Therapies
Other Therapies
Medications aren’t the only tools used in detoxification. Often, when the addict feels stable enough to talk to others and participate in social activities, he or she is asked to attend group meetings with other addicts or individual sessions with a counselor. These are the sorts of activities the addict will complete when he or she is through with detoxification, so it’s important to introduce them early. In addition, these activities can have a big impact on helping the addict deal with emotional changes during detoxification. Studies seem to support this theory. A study published by The Cochrane Library found that the addition of these sorts of psychosocial treatments in detoxification programs significantly reduced the dropout rate. Patients seemed to need these interventions early and often.
Final Thoughts
Detoxification programs can be a significant help for people struggling with a heroin addiction. In fact, entering a detoxification program such as the one we offer at Alta Mira might be the best way for a heroin addict to get well and leave addiction behind. If the addict tries to tackle the project alone, the symptoms of withdrawal and the cravings could drive a relapse. But if the addict gets help, and symptoms and cravings are minimized, the addict is more likely to finish the detox and go on to complete a full heroin recovery program. Detoxification is the first step on the way to a new life that is free of heroin.