Heroin withdrawal symptoms are what make most people go back to using drugs many times after they decide to quit. The duration of withdrawal varies due to certain factors like how long it was used, the amount used each time, and how it was abused. Most doctors will agree that seeking help with the withdrawal process is necessary because of the dangers of going through heroin withdrawal symptoms on your own. A heroin detox center is where you can go to get help with these symptoms.
Why is it Hard to Quit Heroin
Heroin operates in such a way that it suppresses most functions of the central nervous system like respiration, heart rate, temperature regulation, and blood pressure. It also increases some chemicals in the brain which are responsible for feelings of pleasure due to how it binds opioid receptors. During heroin withdrawal, the opposite happens whereby the individual may experience rapid heart rate, anxiety and be very moody.
Common Heroin Withdrawal Symptoms
Heroin withdrawal symptoms differ in severity according to how dependent you were to it and how long you used it. For those who used it for a short while and in small doses, the symptoms may include:
- Muscle bone aches
- Runny nose
- Abdominal pains
- Nausea
Those who abused it for long and in large quantities may go through more severe heroin withdrawal symptoms such as:
- Rapid heart rate
- Hypertension
- Depression
- Hallucination
- Tremors and convulsions
- Muscle spasms
- Vomiting and diarrhea
With this, it is not a journey you should walk on your own without a doctor’s assistance.
Heroin Detox Centers in Arizona
Though heroin withdrawal is not necessarily life-threatening, what might be life-threatening however is the medical and psychological symptoms. The good news is that to help an addict successfully get past the drug dependence, there are many quality heroin detox centers in Arizona.
Another good thing with heroin treatments that it is an opioid that takes effect rapidly but also leaves the bloodstream just as fast. It is estimated that after 6-12 hours of the last dose, the heroin withdrawal starts. The withdrawal symptoms will be at its peak 2-3 days and the last 5-10days in total.
Medical Heroin Detox
So as to help manage heroin withdrawal symptoms, visit a heroin detox in Arizona. The best and most comfortable way to withdraw from heroin is medical detox. The medical detox usually takes between 5 days to a week and it yields better results when it’s done before the heroin leaves the system completely. The medical detox includes therapy and some medications to help your brain to stop depending on heroin. As a measure of making sure the addicts are safe at all times, breathing, heart rate, and body temperature are monitored at all times.
There is a way whereby the withdrawal symptoms and drug cravings may be eased and this is by replacing the heroin by and by a longer-acting opioid. Methadone is one example of a longer-lasting opioid used heroin addiction treatment centers. Methadone is a federally regulated drug that is used to minimize heroin withdrawals. This is possible since just as heroin itself, it activates the opioid receptors.
Drug assessment must be done upon entering the heroin detox center and the user should be very honest with their drug use history and be very honest in saying when they last used the drug in order to avoid precipitated heroin withdrawal symptoms.