• Problems
• How We Help
• Treatment
• Fast Help
• Family Intervention
• Secondary Care
• Accommodation
• Rehab Costs

Heroin Dependancy UK

Heroin is an extremely addictive drug made from morphine extracted from the opium poppy.  It is known as a ‘downer’ due to its depressive, powerful painkilling effects.  The drug is most commonly dissolved in water and injected into a vein although it can also be injected into muscle, smoked, or snorted as powder into the nose.  Depending on what it is cut with, heroin can appear as anything from a white to brown powder or tar-like matter.  It is an expensive habit, costing as much as £100 per day to feed.

Once a user has taken the drug they usually feel a rush or buzz within a few minutes.  After the initial high, they have the feeling of being warm and relaxed which is followed by a state of drowsiness.  The drug also significantly lessens psychological and physical pain.

Over time, the user will develop a physical dependence and addiction to the drug.  The effects of heroin on the brain cause the user to intensely crave the drug and thus it is difficult to resist taking more and more.  Withdrawal symptoms such as restlessness, insomnia, muscle and bone pain, diarrhoea and vomiting can occur within a few hours after the last hit, depending on the regularity of use.  With repeated exposure, tolerance increases, resulting in the user having to take a higher does in order to achieve the same effects.

There are many risks associated with long-term heroin use, not least from accidental overdose which can lead to coma or even death due to respiratory failure.  Injecting heroin can result in collapsed veins, gangrene, infection of the heart lining and valves, pulmonary complications and liver disease.  Users also risk choking to death on their own vomit as a result of heroin’s suppression of the body’s cough reflex. Sharing needles carries with it the risk of contracting infections such as hepatitis B or C or even HIV/AIDS.

Owing to the nature of heroin addiction, it is notoriously hard to treat.  Methadone is an opiate substitute that is often prescribed in place of heroin.  Alternatively, there are drugs such as naltrexone that are designed to block the effects of the drug.