Heroin abuse can cause severe health problems in users. In addition to changes in brain functionality, heroin damages the mind, body, relationships, and financial security. The best way to heal is with heroin abuse treatment.
Contact the friendly team at Aftermath Addiction Treatment Center online or by calling us at 781.587.3636 today. Learn more about how our personal experience with drug addiction helps us compassionately treat patients through heroin abuse treatment in Wakefield, MA. Don’t wait. Let us help today.
What Is Heroin?
Heroin is a central nervous system depressant that slows down brain function and affects a person’s breathing, causing it to slow down or stop. A person using heroin will experience a drop in both body temperature and blood pressure, and their heartbeat can become irregular. Heroin abuse may also cause a loss of consciousness or the user to lapse into a coma.
Signs of heroin abuse include:
- Slowed or stopped breathing
- Low blood pressure
- Irregular heartbeat
- Drowsiness or confusion
- Loss of consciousness
This highly addictive, mind-altering drug is an opioid that is derived from morphine. It’s in a class of drugs that also includes prescription pain relievers like oxycodone and hydrocodone. When heroin is used, it attaches to opioid receptors in the brain and body, primarily in locations irresponsible for controlling the perception of pain and pleasure. Heroin instructs your nervous system to produce intense feelings of euphoria and pleasure. Heroin also offers temporary relief from severe physical pain. The drug is typically injected but can also be smoked and snorted. People injecting heroin are at a higher risk of serious, long-term viral infections such as:
- HIV
- Hepatitis C
- Hepatitis B
- Bacterial infections of the skin, bloodstream, and heart
At Aftermath Addiction Treatment Center, we understand the complex medical and emotional issues accompanying heroin abuse and its effects on the body.
Why Do People Abuse Heroin
When understanding why people abuse heroin, the primary reason is temporarily escaping from unbearable pain. Heroin delivers pleasurable feelings and almost instant relief from physical pain. But the immediate effects wear off quickly. The chase to achieve these results again, to escape your pain, can lead to heroin abuse.
Short-term effects of heroin abuse can last a few hours but give the user a rush of good feelings while their breathing and heart rate slows down. When the desired effects of heroin wear off, the scary impact of withdrawal begins. When you don’t have heroin in your system, you may become depressed and have intense cravings to do more of the drug. In no time, a person’s entire life can become about heroin – finding it and taking it repeatedly. It can take over your life because the pain of heroin withdrawal becomes worse than the pain of living with depression or physical pain. Some of the typical symptoms of heroin withdrawal include:
- Intense cravings
- Anxiety
- Insomnia and restlessness
- Nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhea
- Dilated pupils
- High blood pressure
- Chills and body aches
- Agitation and moods swings
If this sounds familiar, you may already be struggling with heroin abuse. You may feel alone and think that you are beyond being helped, but heroin abuse treatment has the potential to break the cycle of heroin abuse and addiction.
Learn More at Aftermath Addiction Treatment Center
The rush of pleasurable feelings and the relief from physical pain got you hooked on heroin, but heroin abuse treatment can pull you back. You can overcome heroin abuse and addiction. Our compassionate team has personal experience with your journey, and our heroin abuse treatment is where your recovery journey begins. Contact us using our secure online form or call us confidentially at 781.587.3636 today.
