Heroin Detox & Rehab: Safe Treatment for Opioid Addiction

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Understanding Heroin Addiction

Heroin is a highly potent opioid derived from morphine. It comes in a white or brown powder or a black tarry substance known as black tar. It can be used by injection, snorting or smoking. 

Like other opioids, heroin binds to receptors throughout the body, causing a rush of dopamine, our body’s feel-good neurotransmitter that is involved in the reward pathway.

Over time, heroin alters how your body responds to dopamine, causing you to crave more of the drug to re-experience those pleasurable sensations. This rapidly begins a cycle of use, intense rewards, tolerance, needing more, withdrawal without it and using it to feel normal again.

Several factors influence the speed of dependence and addiction, including genetics, trauma history, overall mental and physical health and method and duration of use. 

Signs of Heroin Dependence

There are several physical and behavioral symptoms of heroin dependence.

Physical symptoms:

  • Withdrawal symptoms when not using
  • Collapsed veins
  • Blood-borne infectious diseases
  • Changes in sex drive 

Behavioral symptoms:

  • Lying
  • Secrecy
  • Failure to follow through with commitments and responsibilities
  • Poor work or school performance
  • Lack of self-control

Heroin use is extremely dangerous. Along with the high risk of developing dependence or addiction, heroin use can put you at risk of contracting serious blood-borne infections and overdose.

Because heroin is sometimes used by injecting it into the vein, practices like sharing needles put you at risk of contracting blood-borne illnesses such as hepatitis or HIV/AIDS. Additionally, through the use of dirty needles, the risk of local and systemic infection is high. 

Overdose is another serious consequence of heroin use. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2023, heroin was responsible for 5% of all opioid overdose deaths.

One reason heroin use carries a high risk for overdose is that people often use it along with other substances, such as alcohol or other central nervous system depressants. This combination can prove deadly as it increases the risk of slowed or stopped breathing, unconsciousness, coma or death.

Another reason heroin use carries a high risk for overdose is that it is often laced with other substances, most alarmingly fentanyl. Overdoses frequently occur because heroin users are unaware that the drug is adulterated with fentanyl and other potentially lethal substances.

Heroin Withdrawal & Detox

Individuals with a heroin addiction typically start to feel withdrawal symptoms within 6 and 24 hours after the last use. For most people, the symptoms peak between 48 and 72 hours and last for about five to seven days. 

Symptoms of Heroin Withdrawal 

  • Muscle and joint pain
  • Anxiety, agitation and restlessness
  • Insomnia
  • Runny nose, watery eyes and yawning
  • Nausea, poor appetite, vomiting and diarrhea
  • Profuse sweating
  • Goose bumps, hot and cold flashes
  • Headache
  • Tachycardia (elevated heart rate)
  • Hypertension (elevated blood pressure)
  • Cravings and a strong desire to use again

Detox is the process of physically removing the substance from your body. Because heroin withdrawal is extremely uncomfortable and can be potentially life-threatening, a medically supervised detox program is the safest and most effective way to start your recovery journey.

A medically supervised detox offers around-the-clock support and monitoring by trained professionals who can recognize complications and provide interventions such as FDA-approved medications to help ease the severity of your symptoms and curb your cravings.

Inpatient Heroin Rehab 

Our inpatient heroin rehab program at Evolve is ready to help you take the next step toward recovery. After detox, you will receive comprehensive care that includes an individualized treatment plan to address your unique needs.

Through evidence-based behavioral therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and others, we can help you to identify the underlying causes of your addiction, address any co-occurring disorders, including anxiety, depression or PTSD and build healthier coping skills to help prevent relapse and live a life without the day-to-day challenges of active addiction. 

The structured environment at Evolve helps to support you in the earliest stages of recovery by offering a safe place where you can replace the chaos with routine, learn to be accountable for your behaviors, get one-on-one and group therapy and peer support.

Medication-Assisted Treatment

Individuals with heroin addiction often benefit from medication-assisted treatment. Through the use of FDA-approved medications like Suboxone, we can help ease your withdrawal symptoms and curb cravings, helping you to direct your energy toward recovery.

For some, MAT is a short-term tool used in the early stages of treatment; others use it to support them long-term. 

Dual Diagnosis Support 

At Evolve, we recognize that treating addiction along with co-occurring disorders such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, PTSD or other mental health conditions at the same time is the best approach for long-term recovery. 

Our addiction professionals utilize evidence-based practices to address how the two conditions impact one another and help you to build skills so you can manage them in the future. This includes incorporating a mix of behavioral therapies, medications when indicated and relapse prevention planning. 

Aftercare and Long-Term Recovery 

The staff at Evolve works with you to develop a plan for managing your addiction when you go home. They will help you find an outpatient provider or program to meet your ongoing needs, monitor your MAT and adjust your treatment plan when needed. 

Additionally, people who have completed our heroin addiction rehab program are invited to join our Evolve Alumni Network, where you can connect with your peers, share updates and get ongoing support. 

Contact the admissions team to discuss treatment options. Your healthier tomorrow can start today.

FAQs

During heroin detox, you receive close monitoring of your withdrawal symptoms, supportive care such as FDA-approved medications to ease your symptoms and help to curb cravings, nutrition and fluid replacement, when needed and individual or group therapy if you are physically able. 

Individuals typically begin to experience the first signs of withdrawal within hours of the last use, peak in a couple of days and subside within one to two weeks. It is important to remember that addiction looks different from one person to the next, and so does withdrawal, so the timeframe for heroin withdrawal is not set in stone. 

Typically, yes. FDA-approved medications like Suboxone can help ease withdrawal symptoms, curb cravings and prevent relapse. As well, medications are often given to prevent vomiting and diarrhea, reduce symptoms of depression or anxiety or to lower your heart rate or blood pressure.

After you complete detox, you can move on to our comprehensive heroin addiction rehab program. We offer a mix of behavioral therapies to help you address the underlying causes of your addiction, develop ways to cope with stress and triggers and build a relapse prevention plan that will support you long after you leave treatment.