Heroin Detox
Author : Beth
I am not a medical professional. I’m not here to dispense medical advice. I wanted to understand more about drug detoxification and thought I would share what I’m learning.
Posts: 10
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