In the short term, heroin offers users feelings of euphoria. These feelings
keep users coming back, with every use making it more difficult to feel
“normal” without heroin in their systems. Long-term, heroin
can lead to collapsed veins, heart infections, renal disease, coma, and
death. According to the
National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 10,000 people in the U.S. die of heroin overdoses annually.
From 1999 to 2018, there was a more-than six-fold increase in these types
of deaths.
We strongly encourage people addicted to heroin to not wait until rock bottom to seek help. While we can accept people at any stage of addiction, we believe that there is no time like the present to seek help. Long-term consequences can worsen the longer use continues.
What is Heroin?
Heroin is an opioid drug, that is made from morphine. Heroin can be a white or brown powder, or a black sticky substance known as black tar heroin.
Struggling or know someone struggling with heroin addiction? Contact Turning Point, Inc. online or call us today at (973) 380-0905 to learn more about our heroin rehab programs in New Jersey.
The severity of heroin withdrawal symptoms makes it difficult for those with heroin dependency to quit. You may have tried several times to overcome your heroin addiction but were stopped short of your body's physical dependency on heroin.
Common heroin withdrawal symptoms include:
Symptoms of heroin withdrawal usually begin within the first 6-12 hours of detox and can be difficult to manage alone. Because heroin withdrawal symptoms can be dangerous, we strongly encourage those struggling with dependency on heroin to seek professional help for detox and rehabilitation.
Turning Point in New Jersey has a wide range of opiate rehab programs available to those seeking to end heroin addiction. We have detoxification programs, short-term residential, outpatient treatment, transitional living, family wellness programs, and more! View all of our treatment programs.
Addiction can stop here. Get in touch with Turning Point today to make that goal a reality!
Becoming addicted to heroin after a single dose is highly unlikely, but it is not outright impossible. Physical dependence on a narcotic occurs when your body begins to rely on the drug’s presence in your system to function “normally,” which can happen if your body stops producing the chemicals that the drug is adding. This sort of dependence cannot happen with a single dose. However, psychological dependence occurs when you feel mentally drawn to a substance and convince yourself that you need it to feel “okay.” The risk of psychological dependence varies significantly from person to person because it is affected by all facets of their personality, experiences, expectations, and so on. With this in mind, it is possible to create an addiction to heroin on some level after a single dose.
Heroin is a narcotic that affects mu-opioid receptors (MORs) in the brain. Specifically, they stimulate MORs to produce and transmit dopamine, so, initially and for only a brief period, the user feels “better.” Once the high of heroin fades, it is immediately followed by a feeling of lethargy, dry mouth, and, in many cases, vomiting and itching. As heroin use is continued, the brain’s natural ability to create dopamine worsens, so feeling happy and content naturally becomes more and more difficult. Continued heroin abuse can also cause brain damage, resulting in a coma or death, among other serious health complications.
Withdrawal from a heroin dose can begin shortly after taking it. The “rush” that people describe when using heroin is often short-lived. It is not uncommon for withdrawal symptoms to begin in less than an hour, sometimes within only a matter of minutes. Withdrawal can cause nausea, sweating, stomach cramps, full-body shaking, lethargy, and a sudden sense of dread. Hospitalization may be required if withdrawal causes severe vomiting, high fever, or unconsciousness.
At Turning Point, our CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) accredited drug rehab center provides safe, effective medical detox for heroin addiction. Our program is managed 24 hours a day, seven days a week at our location in Paterson, NJ.
Why medical detox? By using medication to assist your body through detox, we can make the very unpleasant process of purging heroin from your system more comfortable, giving you a better chance at successful recovery.
How long is medical detox? We begin our medical detox before the heroin completely leaves your system and it typically lasts between 5-14 days, depending on the amount of heroin in your system.
If you have questions about our heroin detox program, call (973) 380-0905. We'd love to answer your questions and assist you with the admissions process!
