Heroin Addiction Treatment

RECO Intensive is committed to helping people overcome heroin addiction. We provide highly innovative and intensely personal treatment options that include outpatient rehab. If you or someone you care about is struggling with the devastating effects of heroin dependency, you can reach us by phone at 844-955-3042 or contact us through our website to receive confidential treatment assistance. You can also learn more about opioid use disorder and about treatment for heroin addiction at our respected treatment center by reading the brief overview below.

The Vicious Cycle of Heroin Addiction

Heroin is a drug that most often appears in the form of a white or brown powder and that can wreak havoc on the lives of those it touches. Recent decades have seen the long-existing heroin problem turn into an epidemic, part of a widespread epidemic of abuse of opioid drugs and of full-blown opioid use disorder—opioid use disorders are defined as a pattern of compulsive heroin use or compulsive use of other opioids.

There are many theories for the surge in opioid and heroin use disorder, but one huge culprit is the alarming rise in prescription drug abuse involving opiate painkillers. Though these prescribed medications are sometimes necessary for the treatment of chronic pain patients use them to have a better quality of life, for many others who use the drug, they are a dangerous road to substance use disorder.

According to the drug facts from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, many cases of opiate addiction begin with prescription painkillers and then progress to heroin addiction as the person seeks a more powerful and less expensive high. Unfortunately, this only worsens the situation, because heroin is one of the most addictive substances on the planet. In fact, almost one-quarter of people who try it become hooked.

An opioid derived from morphine, heroin enters the human brain quickly. There, it reverts back into morphine and provides a powerful high as it overwhelms the brain’s opioid receptors. It begins with a sudden rush of euphoria. The skin flushes. The mouth turns dry. The arms and legs become heavy. The brain turns off. Worries disappear.

However, before long, helplessness follows. As with other opioids, heroin use can quickly result in physical dependence as the brain and body become acclimated to the highly addictive drug. Over time, people addicted to heroin will need more and more frequent doses to achieve that high, or even just to avoid physical withdrawal symptoms.

How Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Can Help Treat Heroin Withdrawal Symptoms

As with most forms of opioid withdrawal, heroin withdrawal is known to be particularly excruciating. Along with strong heroin cravings, heroin withdrawal is marked by unpleasant physical symptoms like exhaustion, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and body aches.

The agonizing nature of these withdrawal symptoms put people undergoing heroin detox at high risk for heroin relapse, especially if they attempt to go cold turkey as opposed to seeking the advice of treatment providers. An appropriate medical provider may be able to provide effective treatments to reduce acute withdrawal symptoms, giving the person an increased likelihood of getting clean.

Pharmacological treatment for heroin abuse can also aid in the later stages of recovery from heroin addiction by reducing drug cravings. These drugs include buprenorphine, a partial opiate agonist. A partial opioid agonist acts on the same opioid receptors as heroin but does not produce the same addictive high. Another form of medication-assisted treatment, naltrexone, blocks the effect of heroin and other drugs that work similarly entirely by serving as an opioid antagonist.

Medication-assisted treatment has been shown to be among the most effective treatments for opioid dependence, reducing rates of relapse as well as overdose deaths in patients recovering from opioid drug dependence.

Long Term Risks Of Heroin Use Disorder

Though it may be painful, powering through withdrawal symptoms and getting proper treatment for heroin use is essential. Without treatment, people with heroin use disorder are at high risk for various complications, including chronic constipation, liver damage, tooth decay, sexual dysfunction, and mental health issues, just to name a few.

Some of the risks of heroin use disorder also depend on the person’s method of drug use. For instance, people who snort heroin may be at risk of damage to their nasal passages, while those who inject heroin may instead be at risk of blood-borne infections like HIV and hepatitis.

Unfortunately, the direct risk of opioid use disorder is heroin overdose. Though heroin itself is already an incredibly dangerous drug, the fact that much of the heroin on the streets today is contaminated with other substances that are even stronger, such as fentanyl, is making deadly outcomes of heroin drug use even more devastatingly common.

Treatment For Drug Abuse At Reco Intensive

Though it is difficult to treat heroin addiction, it is by no means impossible. After undergoing substance abuse treatment, many people with drug addiction are able to achieve full recoveries from their substance use disorder. To help the drug’s many victims, RECO Intensive specializes in experiential and holistic rehab for heroin dependency. We cater to the whole person—mind, body, and spirit.

At addiction treatment centers like ours, behavioral therapies help patients to develop alternative coping mechanisms they can use to cope with life instead of relying on heroin. Our outpatient treatment program offers dialectic as well as cognitive behavioral therapy, and also provides emotional support to our patients through a variety of other substance abuse treatment options, which you can learn more about elsewhere on our website.

Our treatment center also connects our patients with local resources like twelve-step support groups that they can use to help steer clear of heroin after they leave treatment. Graduates of our heroin treatment programs are also encouraged to remain an active part of the RECO community after treatment through our active alumni program.

Reco Intensive is also accredited by the Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration and the National Association Of Treatment Providers, as well as by a variety of other organizations with expertise in drug treatment. If you or someone you love is currently struggling with heroin and you would like to learn more about our treatment program, call us at 844-955-3042 or fill out our online contact form to get confidential help today. There’s no time like the present to get back on the road to a brighter future.