Heroin Detox
Beth on 10 Nov 2009
Heroin withdrawal symptoms are not necessarily medically dangerous, but they can be distinctly unpleasant. All opiates (heroin, morphine, oxycodone, codeine, and methadone) produce similar withdrawal symptoms. How bad the withdrawal symptoms are depends on several factors.
For instance, heroin withdrawal typically begins 8 to 12 hours after the last heroin dose and subsides within a period of 3 to 5 days. If someone is trying to detox on their own, without medical aid, it might be longer than the normal 3 to 5 days. Unlike alcohol detox, uncomplicated heroin withdrawal is not life-threatening. Certainly symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea can lead to dehydration, but most people can be treated with fluids, especially fluids containing electrolytes. If the person has a history of heart trouble, that could be cause for concern because of increased blood pressure and pulse rate that tends to come with withdrawal.
A fever could seem like the least of your worries as you deal with heroin detox, but a fever should be treated seriously, particularly with intravenous users, because of possible HIV infection, viral hepatitis, abscesses and/or infected injection sites. Also, any painful injuries, back aches or tooth aches somehow get worse as you go through withdrawal. It’s always going to be better to seek medical help with detox and treatment, but here’s how to handle the general aches and pains…. Headache, muscle aches, and bone pain can be managed with aspirin, or ibuprofen as needed. Maalox can be administered for gastric complaints and Pepto-Bismol for diarrhea. Constipation usually can be managed with milk of magnesia.
Any doctor will tell you that the only way to achieve lasting recovery from heroin is with a medically controlled detox. The most common way is with methadone. US federal regulations almost completely restrict the use of methadone to specially licensed programs. While methadone is most frequently used, a newer medication, buprenorphine is often used. Studies have shown it may be more effective for long term results. The drug clonidine is often used to treat the racing pulse and high blood pressure that can accompany heroin detox. It doesn’t, however, help with the insomnia, body aches and headaches.
Be wary of any “ultrarapid” detox solutions. People always want a quick solution. There’s no data to prove that rapid methods of opiate detoxification help in long term sustained recovery. But who doesn’t want this to be shorter and easier? For the medical profession this is because they want more people in treatment (fewer than one in five people with substance use disorders in the United States are in treatment at any time). There’s also a long standing belief that detox is most of the cure. So you shoot through the detox and you’re done. It’s somehow cemented itself into our culture, this idea that once the toxins are gone, the body will run like a well oiled machine. It’s not so simple and yet, anyone who’s kicked a drug habit knows that surviving detox is half the battle and if you get that far, why stop? Keep on keeping on.
Photo credit: swanksalot
All stats come from this document:
Detoxification and Substance Abuse Treatment
by Norman S. Miller, M.D. & Steven S. Kipnis, M.D.
http://download.ncadi.samhsa.gov/prevline/pdfs/DTXTIP45%283-30-06%29.PDF
Comments
Great post!
Whenever i have diarrhea, i just take some Diatabs or Imodium tablets and it gives me some relief after a few minutes.`,”
What is the best way to recover from Substance Abuse ?;’,
Drug Addiction will not only ruin your body but it would also mess up your life.”*;
Hepatitis could lead to liver cirrhosis if you did not maintain a healthy lifestyle.-,,
ibuprofen is definitely the best OTC painkiller for me. It helps me a lot to deal with my muscular pain.::;
drug addiction is really a very bad problem of the society, it destroys the life of a person;`.
I have found one of the best things to help with the muscular pains is Deep heat cream or a not over the counter cream called Movelat Cream which is like deep heat but ten times better. Im on day 3 of a detox and i have been able to sleep and have had no pains in legs arms etc because of this cream….to take my mind off the actual wanting to go and score i am using Cannabis, Now i know some people will bitch and moan but i have found that Cannabis + Xbox + deep heat is getting me through this, I’ve realised im mucking my life up and at 25 it’s my last time to stop it, say no and go and live my life and be happy and have my natural high back! Im doing this by myself (well with the odd bit of help from parents) and it is easier than i thought, i know still got a long way to go but i want to do this and i will do this, and to anyone else using, google questions you have, read what other people do, what to expect, and when your detoxing keep reading and looking at it you’ll know what to expect so when it happens it aint that bad…strange i know but its true!, it will also reasure you that you can do it, it aint that bad, and it aint that long, If you want it that bad you’ll do it end off!!
Thanks for the words of advice, Cal and for sharing. One step at a time, right?
ibuprofen is really effective in keeping the pain out.-`:
Hi Hannah, yeah — you can try to kick heroin at home with some great over the counter stuff including Advil and stuff. I have friends who’ve been successful. Thankfully.
Well it’s day 8 tomorrow, and im now feeling ontop of the world!!! i can say for sure i wont be going back, i’ve rediscovered me who’s been lost for 5 years and i like me being back, things have massively improved for me in these past 8 days!! and the past week has been hard, but i feel amazing for it!!! i got through it with the above things and also Eminem’s new album recovery, listen to the words of most songs (Changes and 25-life) if your serious about quitting just use these as if its about Heroin, Hard to explain but just listen. Plus music that chills you out is a must, i’ve not watched tv, just listened to music, some xbox some weed and gone for it.
I know 8 days aint much, but i would bet £10,000,000 i will be saying the same each and every year till i die. Im glad i made the choice and wil not look back!!! Good luck to anyone giving it ago, if you want it, beleive you can do it you will!!
All right, Cal! Woo-hoo!!! I love Eminem, but I haven’t gotten the new album. I read about it and wow, sounds kinda timely. Love and light to you, man.
substance abuse could sometimes be deadly and it always destroys lives-,,
day one, again….wish me luck was clean for a year and relapsed a month ago, my problem is the crack but can’t do one without the other hoping that my baby is gona be enough motivation again but its so hard sometimes, i’m on meth but my dose is too low since i started using again, weed definitely helps but i’m skint til next week so gona have to ride it out, wish me luck.
Hi Sarah, Yes — best of luck! You can do this! Feeling like you have people you can’t let down is important, but don’t forget that this is about you loving yourself. You might find Byron Katie’s work inspirational. Go to thework.com to read more. Namaste
hepatitis can be prevented by avoiding sharing of needles and proper sterilization of cutting tools*-~
substance abuse is a very common problem these days and the solution can be costly;-~
there are variants of Hepatitis which are very difficult to cure, take for example Hep-B and Hep-C,’`
oh i just thought that paracetamol is safer than ibuprofen-::
substance abuse will always to more addiction which causes overdose and then later on — DEATH,:~
i had a friend who is a drug addict and he was able to recover from it. now he is drug free”~
you can get hepatitis-A from contaminated food and Hepatitis-B from contaminated blood,~*
substance abuse should always be monitored if you know someone who is an addict, substance abuse can lead to massive health pro”:
drug addiction is a menace to the society, it destroys lives and it destroys the community -;.
we should always be very careful about getting hepatitis because this disease is very very dangerous and deadly “`-
ibuprofen is a good pain reliever but i heard that this one have nasty side effects too -*”