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Heroin Addiction and Withdrawal

Heroin is one of the worlds most powerfully addictive illicit drugs whose effects are strong but commonly short lived. It is usually sold as heroin powder which can be consumed by sniffing the drug through the nose. As a diluted substance it can be injected intravenously into veins or injected intramuscularly, directly into muscles.

Despite being used in medicine as a painkiller in hospitals under the name diamorphine, it is still regarded as one of the most seriously abused drugs in existence.

Its effects leave the user experiencing an emotion of euphoria and increased well-being, whilst also relaxing feelings of anxiety and stress. It can cause drowsiness, slurred speech and limit a person’s attention.

A user’s body will develop tolerance after regular heroin use, meaning an addict has to use more of the drug to achieve the same feelings and intense ‘high’ every time. As these doses are increased a physical dependency develops leading to addiction. The body will get used to having heroin in its system so when the doses of the drug are cut or stopped, withdrawal symptoms occur.

Heroin is highly addictive in part due to these strong withdrawal symptoms which in regular users can occur after just a few hours of their last ‘fix’. This produces feelings of agitation, pain in the muscles and bones, sickness and diarrhoea and insomnia. Other commonly known symptoms include ‘cold turkey’ which is given its name due to the cold flushes and goose bumps the user experiences; and the development of unconscious kicking movements which has led to the phrase ‘kicking the habit’.

Severe withdrawal symptoms peak between 48 - 72 hours after the last dose of heroin and will usually start to diminish within a week. The only way to stop these symptoms is for the addict to consume more heroin or an alternative drug; so treatment involves a controlled withdrawal and encouragement of self restraint.

A chemical called methadone is commonly used to treat addicts as it imitates heroin without affecting the user in the same way. This helps them to start living a more normal life without succumbing to the effects of withdrawal.

The withdrawal process can prove fatal for users who have built up a strong dependency to heroin and are in poor physical condition and there have been a number of deaths associated with using methadone, making it a controversial, if effective treatment.