If you think you or What Is Heroin a loved one has developed an addiction to heroin, talk with your doctor or another healthcare provider. They can help you with an assessment and provide further resources for help and recovery. Using multiple forms of treatment is often more effective than just using one. Addiction can happen to anyone, and anyone who takes opioids can be at risk for developing an opioid use disorder.
Physiological effects
Recognizing the signs of heroin use can be the first step toward helping someone get the treatment they need. Some types of heroin, especially when it’s very pure, can be snorted or smoked, which might seem more appealing to people trying heroin for the first time. Rajnandini is a psychologist and writer dedicated to making mental health knowledge accessible.
Who’s at risk for a heroin addiction?
In practice, the entire class of pain medications is simply referred to as opioids. Heroin is considered to be an opioid, even though it is no longer used for medicinal purposes in the U.S. Heroin rapidly became the drug of choice to treat common and painful respiratory conditions. Heroin was often prescribed to relieve cough and pain and for sedation, even as its addictive properties became well-known. People usually have to visit a clinic to get methadone, but treatment regimens and lengths vary.
Risks and Dangers
If detox is physically impossible to endure, further treatment will be less effective. To enhance the safety of detox, it’s best the person is medically supervised. Because of this, medication can ease cravings and physical withdrawal symptoms, reducing the likelihood of using heroin during detox. Going through detox from heroin can be painful and uncomfortable, on top of intense cravings for the drug. People sometimes use heroin to stop the pain from withdrawal and detox itself. Over time, heroin users have suffered countless toxic effects from contaminants and countless infectious diseases from unsanitary injections, ranging from skin infections to hepatitis to HIV/AIDS.
- Like other opioid-based painkillers, heroin binds to opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord, especially to receptors that are located along the reward pathway, such as the nucleus accumbens, according to NIDA.
- At the start of the 21st century, the leading opium-producing countries included Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), and Laos.
- Opium poppies and their derivatives — including the painkillers codeine and laudanum, the cough-suppressant noscapine, as well as morphine — have been renowned throughout human history.
- Initially, it was marketed as a cough suppressant and a non-addictive substitute for morphine.
What to Do if You Suspect Someone Is Using Heroin
Some detox centers even offer counseling or integration with an addiction treatment program to address the psychological aspects of detox and set you up for recovery success. Heroin overdoses are most common through injection because of how quickly the drug absorbs into the body. For people who inject regularly, harm reduction specialists recommend “sampling” heroin via less intense methods1 to test its potency. Symptoms usually last for about a week, but some people may continue to feel withdrawal symptoms for much longer.
The ancient Sumerians referred to the poppy as hul gil (the “joy plant”), and ancient Egyptian, Greek, Minoan and Sanskrit texts document the use of poppy-derived medicines. The intensity of these effects can vary depending on factors such as the purity of the drug, the method of administration, and the individual’s tolerance. The opium poppy was cultivated in lower Mesopotamia as long ago as 3400 BC.91 The chemical analysis of opium in the 19th century revealed that most of its activity could be ascribed to the alkaloids codeine and morphine. Little research has been focused on the suppository (anal insertion), also known as “plugging”. These methods of administration are commonly carried out using an oral syringe.
Techniques vary, but most growers use either the seedpods or the straw chaff of the flowering plant to extract a light-brown powder containing concentrated morphine. When dissolved in water, it can be injected subcutaneously (skin-popping) or intravenously (mainlining). But heroin addicts, as opposed to novice users of the drug, almost invariably inject it intravenously, because this produces the most rapid and intense euphoric effects. It’s important to note that these signs and symptoms may vary among individuals, and not everyone will display all of these indicators.
- These usually last for at least a few hours, during which the body’s systems slow down significantly, making it harder to make decisions or react to your surroundings.
- The fentanyl found in tainted heroin was determined to have been produced in illicit labs.
- If you yourself are using, you might realize that you need to ingest more and more heroin to achieve the same pleasurable feeling you used to get with less of the drug.
- Without the help of most drugs, withdrawal from heroin use can be a difficult and lengthy process — symptoms can include extreme pain, insomnia, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the NIH.
Instead, let your loved one know you’re there for them, encourage them to get professional help, and have resources available. Share information about treatment options and harm reduction so they know support is there when they’re ready. While medication-assisted treatment helps with the physical side of addiction, counseling and therapy are just as important for its emotional and mental aspects.
Behavioral Signs
It is important to note that all methods of heroin use carry significant risks, including overdose, addiction, and harm to physical and mental health. Seeking professional help and treatment is crucial for individuals struggling with heroin use or addiction. Many people believe smoking is a less harmful method, especially for first-time users. But smoking heroin still presents serious health risks, including damage to the lungs, addiction potential, and overdose. People who smoke heroin can quickly build tolerance, dependence, and eventually, addiction. It is an opioid, a class of drugs that includes morphine, codeine, oxycodone, and hydrocodone, among others.
With over five years of experience in the field, she specializes in translating research into evidence-based, easy-to-understand content. The two main forms of opioid use disorder treatment are pharmacological (medication) and behavioral. It’s important to remember, though, that even if you or someone you care about has one or even many of these risk factors, that doesn’t mean they’ll develop a substance use disorder. While not everyone who takes legal painkillers or recreational substances becomes addicted, some people won’t be able to stop taking them. The ambulance arrived on the scene and the paramedics administered naloxone, a specific antidote that can quickly reverse the effects of opioids. The patient woke up, her breathing improved, and she was transported to the hospital.
Some individuals do react negatively to heroin, experiencing only anxiety, nausea, and depression. By combining these efforts, it is hoped that the impact of heroin on individuals and society can be mitigated. It is crucial to continue advocating for evidence-based approaches and to support individuals struggling with heroin addiction to prevent further harm.
If you suspect that someone may be struggling with heroin addiction, it’s crucial to encourage them to seek professional help. Possession of diamorphine for the purpose of trafficking is an indictable offense and subject to imprisonment for life. In the US, the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was passed in 1914 to control the sale and distribution of diacetylmorphine and other opioids, which allowed the drug to be prescribed and sold for medical purposes. In 1924, the United States Congress banned its sale, importation, or manufacture. It is now a Schedule I substance, which makes it illegal for non-medical use in signatory nations of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs treaty, including the United States. Large doses of heroin can cause fatal respiratory depression, and the drug has been used for suicide or as a murder weapon.
Initially, it was marketed as a cough suppressant and a non-addictive substitute for morphine. However, it was soon discovered that heroin was even more potent and addictive than its predecessor. As a result, it was eventually banned in many countries due to its detrimental effects on health and society. The Soviet-Afghan war led to increased production in the Pakistani-Afghan border regions, as US-backed mujaheddin militants raised money for arms from selling opium, contributing heavily to the modern Golden Crescent creation.