According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), up to six percent of people with opioid use disorder switch to heroin. Heroin addiction is challenging to overcome, but proper treatment can save lives. That being said, there is no one-size-fits-all treatment for heroin addiction. There are, however, several effective treatments available to help a person get into and through recovery from heroin use disorder.

Heroin is an opioid that comes from morphine, which is a substance that comes from opium poppy plants. It can be injected, sniffed, snorted, or smoked. Also called opioid use disorder, it is an illness that involves changes in the brain and behavior as a result of heroin abuse.

If you have a substance use disorder, like most people, you may have been hiding it from yourself and others for quite a while now.

If you find yourself reading this page, there is good chance that you or someone you love is addicted to heroin. We want you to know that while heroin addiction is challenging, it does not have to be terminal. North Jersey Recovery Center has helped thousands of people recover from heroin addiction. We can help you or the person you love too.

Heroin Addiction Treatment

Medical science has not yet found a definitive “cure for addiction” as of yet. But there are several effective ways to treat heroin addiction to help a person overcome their dependence and live a healthy, productive life in recovery. There is no reason they would need to return to using heroin ever again, provided they practice a recovery lifestyle to maintain their sobriety.

The exactly course of heroin addiction treatment will depend on:

• The individual
• The substances they are dependent on
• Co-occurring mental health disorders

What Substance Abuse Treatment Works Best to Stop Heroin Addiction?

Both behavioral and pharmacological (medications) treatment options help restore some degree of normalcy to brain function and behavior.

Although both treatments are useful when used alone, research shows that for most people, Combining both types of treatments, with medical supervision, is the most effective method. This is then following by the adoption of a recovery-oriented lifestyle in order to maintain sobriety.

It is important to understand that treatment for heroin addiction cannot cure addiction or make someone invulnerable to a recurrence of use. What heroin treatment can do is get a person safely off of the drug and give them all the tools they need to stay sober, provided they continue to do the work of recovery.

Heroin Detox: Treatment for Heroin Addiction

People suffering from opioid dependence experience withdrawal symptoms when they first quit, which may be severe. Medication-assisted treatments help during the detoxification stage to ease craving and other physical dependence symptoms that often cause a person to relapse. Heroin is highly addictive and these symptoms can begin only after a few uses. Withdrawal symptoms include:

• Pain
• Diarrhea
• Nausea and vomiting
• Restlessness
• Severe muscle pain
• Sleep problems

Lofexidine has been used to treat high blood pressure in the past but is now more commonly used to help with physical opioid withdrawal symptoms. It’s not the main treatment for heroin addiction but is a useful aid in detoxification when followed up with an evidence-based treatment plan.

Inpatient Treatment for Heroin Addiction

Inpatient (residential treatment) is generally the most essential form of treatment for those addicted to heroin. Inpatient rehabilitation is a fully monitored and live-in style of program. Most patients will begin their detox phase at the inpatient or residential level while 24-hour medical supervision is needed.

After the detox phase is completed, patients may move forward into a partial-care program and later an intensive outpatient program. These phases are designed to ease a person back into everyday living. Heroin addiction treatment typically lasts between 30 and 90 days overall but can be extended to fit the individual’s needs.

Inpatient treatment consists of several programs and therapies all designed to help the individual overcome their addiction. Treatment centers typically utilize medication-assisted treatment is used in conjunction with the program.

Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)

Research has shown that MAT increases the likelihood of patients remaining in treatment programs and decreases drug use, infectious disease transmission, and criminal activity.

There are several medications developed to treat opioid addiction that work through the same opioid receptors in the brain as the addictive drug. The difference is that they are safer because they do not create a “high” or the peaks and valleys associated with addiction. Instead, they quell cravings and make the harmful behaviors characteristic of substance use disorders less likely.

There are three types of medications used in MAT:

• Opioid agonists—Agonists activate the opioid receptors in the brain. Methadone is a slow-acting opioid agonist. Methadone is only available through approved outpatient treatment programs and is dispensed on a daily basis. Lofexidine is also in this class.
• Partial agonists—Also activate the opioid receptors but produce a limited response. Buprenorphine (Suboxone) is a partial agonist that relieves drug cravings without producing the “high” or dangerous side effects. The FDA has approved a 6-month buprenorphine implant and a once-monthly injection, which ends the need for daily dosing.
• Antagonists—Antagonists block the receptor and prevent the rewarding effects of opioids. Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist. It blocks the action of opioids, is not addictive or sedating, and doesn’t result in physical heroin dependence. There is now a long-lasting injectable formula (Vivitrol) that is given once a month, eliminating the need for daily dosing.

Medications are selected based on the patient’s specific medical needs and other factors during heroin treatment.

Behavioral Therapy

MAT and other forms of treatment for heroin dependence are most effective when paired with behavioral therapies. Behavioral therapies offer emotional support and help patients understand themselves and their triggers better. Behavioral therapies like CBT help patients learn new ways of thinking and managing their emotions more effectively.

Behavioral therapies include:

• Individual and group therapy—These therapies help the person identify their personal triggers for drug use, including any issues that might be causing emotional discomfort. Groups can help an individual build coping skills and develop ways to deal with a relapse.
• Contingency management—Contingency management uses a voucher system where patients can earn points based on clean drug tests. The points earned can be exchanged for items that encourage healthy living such as gym memberships, dinner at a local restaurant, etc.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)—CBT is designed to help adjust the patient’s expectations and behavior as it relates to drug use. It also helps increase skills in coping with various life stressors.

If you have been using heroin, you are aware of the surge of pleasure called a “rush.” There are other common effects, including short-term effects like:

• Dry mouth
• Warm flushing of the skin
• Heavy feeling in the arms and legs
• Nausea and vomiting
• Severe itching
• Clouded thinking
• Going in and out of consciousness called “on the nod.”

For people who have been using heroin over the long term, these effects 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 (infections at injection sites)
• Constipation and stomach cramping
• Liver and kidney disease
• Lung complications, including pneumonia
• Mental health issues such as depression
• Sexual dysfunction for men
• Irregular menstrual cycles for women

Anyone who takes opioids for an extended period of time runs the risk of developing opioid addiction. Even taking opioids as prescribed for more than a few weeks in a row often leads to some form of physical dependence. Anyone who takes opioids regularly will eventually develop a physical dependence on them. Some factors increase the risk of developing a drug addiction. According to the Mayo Clinic, some of the risk factors include:

• Heavy tobacco use
• Unemployment
• History of severe depression or anxiety
• Family or personal history of addiction to other substances
• Exposure to high-risk environments and people
• History of risk-taking behavior

It needs to be mentioned, though, that even if you or someone you care for has one or many of the risk factors, it doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily develop a drug abuse problem. Addiction has many facets. It includes genetic, psychological, and environmental factors.

Diagnosing opioid use disorders, including heroin use disorder, is done through a complete examination and evaluation by a psychiatrist or psychologist. In some states, a licensed drug and alcohol counselor may make the diagnosis.

Lab tests, such as blood and urine tests, are used along with a clinical interview. If you suspect that you or someone you care about has a heroin addiction, talk to a professional. A licensed drug or alcohol counselor, a social worker, a physician, or a psychiatrist will be able to answer questions and help you get the help you need.

Call North Jersey Recovery Center anytime at (877) 632-5541 for confidential guidance on heroin addiction and treatment.

In the earlier stages of heroin addiction, symptoms and signs may not be immediately apparent. People who are addicted to heroin or other drugs are often very good at hiding these signs from others. They are often in denial about the seriousness of the problem themselves as well. As the use increases, it becomes more difficult to hide.

Signs of Heroin Use Disorder Can Include:

• Depression
• Constipation
• Slurred speech
• Memory problems
• Reduced sense of pain
• Agitation or drowsiness
• Problems at school or work
• Risky or dangerous behavior
• Constricted (smaller) pupils
• Needle marks (if injecting heroin)
• Runny nose or nose sores (if snorting heroin)
• Changes in appearance or lack of personal hygiene
• Changes in behavior like secrecy or aggression
• Money issues such as missing money or needing money without a good explanation

One of the distinctive features of addiction is a person not being able to stop in spite of multiple attempts and the negative consequences associated with continuing. This is what addiction is in a nutshell. Being physically and/or psychotically dependent on a substance to the degree that you will continue to use it, even in the face of negative consequences.

No matter how you got it into your body, heroin gets to the brain quickly. After using it just one or two times, it can be difficult to stop yourself from using it again. Heroin use disorder can absolutely develop that quickly.

Heroin is a highly addictive opioid that binds to receptors in the brain to release the chemical dopamine. Dopamine is used by your nervous system to send messages between nerve cells. Dopamine plays a role in how we experience pleasure and pain. You may think and walk slowly. The whole world slows down. Because it blocks you from getting pain messages and slows your heart rate and breathing, if you overdose, you may die.

Your body sends it along four pathways in the brain. Heroin enters the brain rapidly and increases the activity of the reward pathway by increasing dopamine transmission. Because heroin and other drugs activate the pathway for reward, they can cause a person to reorder their priorities in an unnatural way. Over time, heroin becomes more important than almost anything else.

Many, if not most people who become addicted to heroin these days do not begin with heroin. Often, an individual is prescribed opioid pain medication by their doctor. When the prescription runs out, and the doctor won’t prescribe more, the craving for the pleasure and pain relief the opioids afforded remains. Heroin is cheaper and stronger than prescription opioids and easier to get.

If a person repeatedly engages in heroin abuse, over time the brain won’t naturally produce dopamine the way it used to. This results in the person taking higher and more frequent doses to achieve the same level of pleasure. It creates a vicious cycle wherein the person is forever chasing the feeling of their first high, never able to achieve it again.

This terrible phenomenon also raises the risk of fatal overdose, as does the presence of fentanyl in most street heroin and even fake prescription opioid tablets in the U.S. Much of the street heroin in the U.S. is also sometimes mixed with Xylazine, which makes overdoses much harder to reverse and can cause tissue necrosis in IV heroin users.

In addition to other dangerous drugs like Xylazine (tranq) or fentanyl, street heroin often contains other inert substances which can cau sugar, starch, powdered milk, and even rat poision, blood vessels leading to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain can become permanently damaged.

Sharing drug injection equipment and having impaired judgment from drug use increases the risk of contracting infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis.

One of the most common complications you may face is a relapse after treatment for heroin addiction. Addiction is a complex condition, and recovery often includes setbacks. Rates of relapse are between 40- to 60%. This is similar to relapse rates with other chronic diseases like asthma, hypertension, and Type 1 Diabetes.

People relapse for many reasons, but the major one is the person’s belief that he has gotten control of his addiction and wants to test it out. Other reasons include:

• Thinking that one last time can’t hurt.
• An inability to cope with stress
• Difficulty managing physical or emotional pain
• Substituting one drug for another
• Difficulty addressing triggers

If you relapse, you are more susceptible to overdose. A dose of heroin you once used regularly may now be fatal.

A heroin overdose happens when a person uses enough of the drug to produce a life-threatening reaction or death. Heroin overdoses have increased in recent years. Overdose deaths doubled between 2010 and 2012. When a person overdoses, their breathing slows or stops. This decreases the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain. This can have short- and long-term mental effects as well as effects on the nervous system, including permanent brain damage.

Sometimes heroin is laced with other drugs. A rise in overdose deaths in 2014 is believed to be due to heroin being laced with the painkiller fentanyl. Even though it’s illegal, to meet the demand, traffickers have intensified their production and increased the amount smuggled into the U.S.