It’s common knowledge that withdrawal is an unpleasant, sometimes painful experience. Ask any heavy coffee drinker what missing their morning java is like and you’ll hear about terrible headaches and lousy concentration. Fear of withdrawal is a much more profound force for anyone with an addiction to a drug like heroin. Yet, there are ways of dealing with heroin withdrawal symptoms.
What Are the Heroin Withdrawal Symptoms?
Before jumping into the treatments for heroin withdrawal, it’s important to know the heroin withdrawal symptoms. Let’s start with those who used comparatively modest doses. Their symptoms likely include nausea and cramps, sweats and chills, achiness, and a runny nose.
For those who used bigger doses, the symptoms are more severe. Their symptoms often include vomiting, poor concentration, diarrhea, tremors, and fatigue.
The symptoms most people fear are those that heavy users experience. They can expect symptoms like high blood pressure, muscle spasms, insomnia, intense cravings, and anxiety.
The most dangerous symptoms aren’t the physical symptoms, but the psychological ones. Heroin withdrawal often creates severe depression. That puts a person at much greater risk of suicide.
Treating Heroin Withdrawal Symptoms with Medication
Unlike with most addictions, there are medications that help heroin users deal with their withdrawal symptoms during and after detox.
Methadone is an opioid that activates the same parts of the brain as heroin. Since people use this drug orally, it doesn’t produce the same kind of high. Medical professionals use it as a method of detox and as a long-term step-down approach.
Buprenorphine is also an opioid that helps diminish withdrawal symptoms. Its main advantage from a treatment standpoint is that it offers little in the way of a high.
A third drug, Naltrexone, is one that individuals only use after completing detox. It works by preventing opioids from affecting the brain and reducing cravings.
Treating Heroin Withdrawal with Rehab
Personality and lifestyle at least partially influence heroin addiction, like all addictions. Successfully managing the withdrawal symptoms and their aftermath also calls for standard therapies, such as:
- Group therapy
- Individual counseling
- CBT
- EMDR
- Family therapy
- 12-Step programs
These therapies often provide crucial emotional and mental support that helps those in withdrawal weather the symptoms. That support is also key to helping people make the healthy choices that support their long-term recovery. For example, those in recovery must often make a break with acquaintances who encourage them to use again.
Denver Recovery provides outpatient rehab programs as well as a partial hospitalization program. Our professional staff has expertise in treating heroin addiction.
Don’t let heroin or fear of withdrawal decide what kind of life you’ll live. With a combination of help from the right medications and a good rehab program, you can reclaim your life. Give us a call at (844) 602-3175 and learn how we can help.
