Heroin Addiction Treatment

Heroin is an illegal, extremely addictive drug, which has no approved medical use. It is a rapidly acting opiate and produces profound euphoria - which is its draw to those predisposed to addiction.  It is typically sold as a white or brownish powder or as the black sticky substance known on the streets as "black tar heroin." Heroin is a derivative of morphine. 

Most of the heroin that people use is not that pure, tending to be "cut" with other drugs or with substances such as sugar, starch, powdered milk, or quinine. It can also be tainted with strychnine or other poisons, putting the user at risk of serious injury or death. It's impossible to know the actual strength of any given batch of heroin, which will put the user at extreme risk of overdose and death. Heroin also poses special problems because of the transmission of HIV and other diseases that can occur from sharing needles or other injection equipment.

Heroin is usually injected, sniffed/snorted, or smoked. Users can use many times per day because the drug is so short acting. This creates a mental phenomena where the addicted person feels he is always "chasing" after his next fix. His entire life becomes consumed by his use. Isolation grows over time, with neglect of family and job obligations.

Intravenous injection provides the greatest intensity and most rapid onset of euphoria (7 to 8 seconds), while intramuscular injection produces a relatively slow onset of euphoria (5 to 8 minutes). When heroin is sniffed or smoked, peak effects are usually felt within 10 to 15 minutes.

Soon after injection (or inhalation), heroin crosses the blood-brain barrier. In the brain, heroin is converted to morphine and binds rapidly to opioid receptors. Abusers typically report feeling a surge of pleasurable sensation - a "rush." The intensity of the rush is a function of how much drug is taken and how rapidly the drug enters the brain and binds to the natural opioid receptors. Heroin is particularly addictive because it enters the brain so rapidly. With heroin, the rush is usually accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and a heavy feeling in the extremities, which may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and severe itching. After the initial effects, abusers usually will be drowsy for several hours. Mental function is clouded by heroin's effect on the central nervous system. Cardiac function slows. Breathing is also severely slowed, sometimes to the point of death. Heroin overdose is a particular risk on the street, where the amount and purity of the drug cannot be accurately known.

In the case of smoked heroin, there is an additional potentially serious medical concern. there have been reports of death from brain damage. It is not clear why, but is belived to be due to some change that occurs to the heroin when it is heated up.

Buprenorphine can be very effective in the treatment of heroin addiction. The transition from heroin to buprenorphine is usually smooth. Discuss this with your addiction treatment physician.

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