The first step in addressing a heroin addiction is heroin detox. Understanding the details involved in heroin detox means understanding heroin addiction, heroin withdrawal, and the process for addiction recovery.

Developing a Heroin Addiction

Most people who take heroin develop an addiction or opioid use disorder. Due to its highly addictive nature, very few people are weekend heroin users. A person experiencing adverse effects on their health, social life, financial stability, home life, or academic career while using heroin is typically addicted.  

Important Heroin Withdrawal Indicators

A person who uses heroin will experience the same withdrawal symptoms as someone who has been using an opiate like Vicodin or OxyCodone. What starts as feeling mildly ill often turns into more severe symptoms such as:

  • Nausea, vomiting, and other digestive symptoms

  • Diarrhea and bowel troubles

  • Cold flashes and chills

  • Insomnia and irregular sleeping patterns

  • Uncontrollable or unexpected leg motions

  • Anxiety

  • Muscular and skeletal pain

  • Pupil dilation

The Heroin Withdrawal Process

Once a person decides to stop using heroin, it may only take four hours to start experiencing the signals of heroin withdrawal. In addition to the physical symptoms, many people will experience intense cravings for heroin. The initial stage of heroin withdrawal usually lasts for seven days. It is incredibly intense after two or three days. Once the physical symptoms subside, moving from detox to heroin rehab treatment is more comfortable.

Treatments for Heroin Withdrawal Symptoms

There are some health risks attached to heroin withdrawal, even though most people get through it safely. A person may develop and infections as a result of aspiration, dehydration, and electrolyte imbalances can also occur. While less serious than an infection, they can still cause issues for someone who needs to recover physically and emotionally from an opiate use disorder.

Some medications make the withdrawal process less exhausting and strenuous and can help patients withdraw from heroin more successfully.

  • Clonidine: The patients who take clonidine as part of the withdrawal process will feel less anxious. They will also experience fewer muscle cramps and aches. Some people may even sweat less, making them less uncomfortable.

  • Methadone: Recovering patients can alleviate some of their pain when they take methadone, which also helps patients with their severe cravings. A single dose can last for as long as 36 hours.

  • Suboxone: Prescribed as either a sublingual film or tablet, patients who receive suboxone, a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone, are placed on a medication taper (lowering doses over a period of time) that helps to minimize opioid and opiate withdrawal symptoms and reduce cravings.

  • Lofexidine: This is a newer type of medication that has shown some promise in helping patients get through the worst stages of heroin withdrawal. This drug is not an opioid itself, making it incredibly valuable for people recovering from opiate addictions.

Advice for Heroin Detox Patients

The heroin detox process is different for each person. While people may know others who have gone through the process, they should remember that it will not necessarily be the same. There are some things one can do while detoxing from heroin to begin recovering.

It is always valuable to drink more water. The body is healing itself and trying to remove chemicals from various organ systems, and an increased water intake can help. Electrolytes, such as salt, potassium, and calcium, can become imbalanced from using heroin or detoxing from heroin. Severe electrolyte imbalances can cause serious problems such as coma, seizures, or cardiac arrest. Restoring the body's balance of electrolytes through drinking Gatorade or Pedialyte can help restore these vital compounds.

The Heroin Detox Process

Most of the symptoms of detox will be milder after the first week of detox. A person may still experience nausea, have difficulty sleeping or eating, and may lose weight.  

Following detox, many people opt for medications to help manage cravings and block the effects of the drug if someone relapses. Naltrexone (oral) and Vivitrol (shot) are recommended for people to help them while they recover. By blocking the brain's receptor sites, heroin can't bind to the opioid receptors, and there is no high from using heroin.

Heroin Detox is an Essential Next Step

In 2015, 13,000 people died from heroin overdoses. Increasingly more heroin users are overdosing from fentanyl, which is often mixed with heroin. People who buy heroin unknowingly receive fentanyl because it is a cheaper substitute for dealers. Most people can get through the heroin withdrawal process safely, especially if they are under medical supervision at the time. 

Thousands of people die because of heroin addiction, yet hundreds of thousands of people have been treated for heroin addiction. Many people go on to lead healthy lives in recovery.  

Are you or a loved one struggling with heroin addiction? You are not alone. We are here for you, and we are here to help.