There is a resurgence of heroin use in the United States. In part, it is linked to the abuse of prescription opioids. When individuals who are addicted to prescription opioids can no longer get access to prescriptions, they often turn to illicit opioid heroin, which is easier to access.
What Are the Side Effects of Heroin Use?
When heroin enters a person’s brain, the body transforms it into morphine. Morphine quickly binds to the brain’s opioid receptors. Therefore, people who use heroin report having a pleasurable sensation or a rush.
The rush can vary in intensity based on how much of the drug a person takes and how quickly it can enter into a person’s brain and adhere to the opioid receptors. Some of the physical side effects of a heroin rush include:
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Severe Itching
• Dry Mouth
• Skin Flushing
Once those initial side effects subside, a person may feel tired for hours. Their mental capacities are hampered. Their breathing and heartbeat slow down. This reduction in heart rate and breathing rate can become so severe that it is life-threatening. Slowed breathing leads to a long-term coma and permanent brain damage for many.
How Heroin Affects the Brain
Heroin addiction is a chronic disease. Many heroin addicts suffer relapses. This is because the brain changes when a person abuses heroin. One of the side effects of heroin abuse is an uncontrollable desire to seek the drug despite negative consequences.
When a person first uses heroin, they experience extreme pleasure and an overall feeling of well-being. These powerful emotions cause a person to develop addiction and a tolerance for the drug.
Since heroin can be abused in various ways, heroin users find inventive ways to introduce the drug into their body. Some inject it intravenously, others smoke it, and others inhale it. The key for the addicted individual is to find a way to cross the blood-brain barrier.
As heroin enters the brain, the brain turns it into morphine. Morphine adheres itself to the opioid receptors found throughout the body and brain. Opioid receptors are what are responsible for the perception of pain and reward. This is why heroin is so effective at increasing the sense of pleasure a person has and decreasing their pain.
With time, heroin will eventually morph the structure and the functioning of the user’s brain. This creates dependence and tolerance. The physical dependence on heroin means that a person must continue to use heroin to avoid unpleasant and often painful withdrawal symptoms.
Conversely, psychological dependence is when a person firmly believes that they can’t function if they do not use heroin. Physical and mental dependence on heroin must be dealt with in a rehab setting.
The Long-Term Effects of Heroin Addiction
The long-term effects of heroin addiction will vary from person to person. Factors to consider are the length of time the substance is abused, how much of the substance is used, whether the individual is using heroin in addition to other substances, and the individual’s makeup.
The longer a substance is abused, the worse the symptoms will get. Some of the more common long-term effects of heroin addiction include:
• Blood-Borne Pathogens
• Liver Disease
• Skin Abscesses Near Injection Sites
• HIV
• Hepatitis B and C
• Clouded Mental Functioning
• Overdose
• Death
What Happens When a Person Withdrawals from Heroin?
When someone you love becomes addicted to heroin, there is the physical addiction they are battling. There is also the fear of the withdrawal symptoms they might face if they stop using. Withdrawal is a side effect of prolonged heroin use followed by the discontinuation of substance use.
Withdrawal symptoms can appear as soon as a couple of hours after the substance is not used. If a person has used heroin for a long time and has a strong dependence on the substance, they risk serious medical complications as they go through withdrawal. It is preferred for them to find professional medical help. Withdrawal symptoms can include sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, pain, and an increased craving for heroin.
Help Is Available
You or your loved ones can break free from heroin addiction and all of its unpleasant side effects. Statistics show that thousands of individuals start on the path to long-term sobriety every single year. Their success depends on working with trained, experienced professionals who understand how heroin affects the body and the steps needed to help a person recover from heroin addiction in a dignified manner. Are you ready to get started? Call us today at 844-844-3463. Our counselors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.