There is just no way around it, to stop the use of opiates like heroin, you need to go through heroin detox. From there, the work to get and stay clean begins.
What Are Opiates and Opioids?
This class of drugs are painkillers. Most are used after an injury or accident, and for chronic pain from an injury or for a condition like cancer. Opiates are heroin, morphine, codeine, and methadone, and opioids are the synthetic, or man made versions, consisting of OxyContin, Norco, Vicodin, Percocet, Opana, Demerol, and Dilaudid.
Opiates and opioids are highly addictive and intensely damaging drugs. The lifestyle of a heroin addict contributes to the danger of that drug, but the overall societal misunderstanding of the equal danger of prescription painkillers is leading to just as many overdose deaths from opioids as from opiates.
After extended use of any form, detox is the first action available toward a goal of sobriety. For heroin in particular, detox is brutal.
What Does Heroin Detox Entail?
In case it is not obvious, the first step is to stop using heroin. When entering a detox program, an addict is medically monitored as his or her body rids itself of the drug’s chemicals. With drugs like Suboxone that reduce physical pain and drug cravings, the medical team can assist the pain of heroin detox.
Philip Seymour Hoffman recently completed a ten-day heroin detox program. He has been open about his struggle with opiates and opioids in the past, and did not hide his recent relapse that took him right back to snorting heroin after 23 years of sobriety.
What Happens After Heroin Detox?
In most cases, formal treatment follows heroin detox. Physically being without the substance does not cure the mental, emotional, and psychological implications of heroin dependence and addiction. There is a reason for initial heroin use that progressed to negative life consequences. Without formal treatment, healing those past wounds is nearly impossible.
With the power of opiates and opioids at play, you will still want to use after completing heroin detox. You need the tools and coping skills to choose sobriety each and every day or relapse is more than likely.
Philip Seymour Hoffman did not choose a formal treatment program after his stint in heroin detox. He felt he had the tools from past time spent in rehab that he just needed to get himself clean. He is back to work on a few films, so he is back engaged in a stressful, high-pressured career that possibly lead him back to heroin in the first place. Philip’s choices are not recommended for heroin addicts.
Choosing The Right Path For You
Is heroin controlling your life, or the life of someone you love, and you are ready to put a stop to it? Finding a good facility for heroin detox will change your life. From there, you will be referred to an appropriate formal treatment center, based on a thorough assessment of your needs.
Choose change, choose life, and choose heroin detox now!
Quality improvement manager, Kate Green, offers her knowledge and experience by helping people recovery from drug and alcohol abuse at Balboa Horizons. Learn more about treatment on their site.