Heroin is one of the world’s most damaging drugs. Using heroin for an extended period of time can cause liver disease, heart infections, kidney disease, hepatitis, HIV, infertility, collapsed veins, and pulmonary infections. Heroin is also highly addictive. Once you’ve developed an addiction to heroin, quitting the drug won’t be easy, but it is possible. When you’re ready to quit heroin, one of the most important questions you need to consider is whether or not you can successfully stop using the drug on your own. Knowing what heroin is, understanding how the substance works, and fully grasping the extent of heroin withdrawal can help you determine whether or not you should try to quit heroin on your own.
Heroin is an opioid drug made from morphine, a natural substance taken from the seed pod of opium poppy plants in Asia, Mexico, and Colombia. Even though heroin can be a white or brown powder or a sticky black substance known as black tar heroin, the drug works the same.
When you sniff, snort, smoke, or inject heroin into your veins, the drug combines and interacts with opioid receptors in the brain, blocking pain signals. This interaction in the brain triggers heroin’s peak effects. In addition to temporarily reducing the amount of pain you feel, heroin can cause a euphoric rush that can also slow your breathing, cloud your thinking, and make you feel drowsy.
Heroin can also lead to:
When used for a long period of time, heroin can have long-term effects on your body. These effects can vary from person to person, but can include:
If you’ve injected heroin into your veins, you may also have an increased risk of contracting HIV and Hepatitis C. These conditions, which are transmitted through blood and other bodily fluids, can occur when you share needles or other injection drug equipment with others.
Experiencing these long-term effects and the severed relationships, financial stress, and legal trouble that can occur as a result of heroin addiction can make you want to stop using the drug.
If you’ve used heroin for a while and have never tried to stop using the drug before, you may not know what to expect if you stop taking the drug. Since your brain and body have become accustomed to heroin, you will most likely start to think and feel differently when you stop taking the drug. This happens because your brain and body need time to relearn how to function without heroin. As the brain and body struggle to function without the drug, you will likely start to experience symptoms of withdrawal.
Even though withdrawal symptoms can vary from person to person, many people trying to quit heroin experience:
Quitting heroin can look and feel different for everyone, but generally, these symptoms begin 6 to 12 hours after your last use. One to three days after you quit heroin, the symptoms peak. After a week of quitting heroin, the symptoms subside. However, some people can experience post-acute withdrawal syndrome, or PAWS. When this happens, symptoms of heroin withdrawal can continue to occur for weeks, months, or even years.
Now that you have some insight into what generally happens when people quit heroin, it’s time to consider whether or not you want to endure that type of experience on your own.
Yes, you can quit heroin on your own, but doing so won’t be easy. Depending on the symptoms you experience, it may not be safe, either. Instead of asking if you can quit heroin on your own, perhaps consider whether you should quit heroin on your own. Here’s why.
Concerned about suicidal thoughts? Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.
Here at Meta, we pride ourselves on offering real recovery for real people. For us, that means empowering you to take charge of your own recovery. But that doesn’t mean you should attempt to recover alone. Our community-based outpatient treatment programs can help you overcome heroin addiction in a healthy, non-judgemental, supportive way. We want to help you live a thriving, sober life. Let us help you get there.
Contact us today to begin, continue, or restart your recovery journey.
We’re not medical professionals. If you are contemplating stopping your use of any addictive substance, always talk to a healthcare provider first.
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