Many Americans misuse opioids like OxyContin. Misusing prescription opioids is a risk factor for heroin use. But is heroin an opioid?
At Promises Dallas-Fort Worth in Lewisville, Texas, adults struggling with heroin addiction can get evidence-based care in one place, including medical detox, residential treatment, partial hospitalization and virtual intensive outpatient care. Call (469) 546-9303 to talk with our admissions team about options for yourself or a loved one.
Is Heroin an Opioid?
Is heroin an opioid? Heroin is a semi-synthetic opioid made from morphine. It binds to opioid receptors throughout the body and can affect the centers of the brain that control your heart rate, breathing, and sleeping.
The most common ways of using heroin are injecting it into a vein, snorting the powder through the nose, and inhaling or smoking it.
Short-Term Effects of Heroin
Some of the short-term effects of heroin use are:
- Dry mouth
- Nausea
- Warm flushing to the skin
- Severe itching
- Clouded mental functioning
- Vomiting
The opioid high can also lead to “nodding off’—when someone goes in and out of consciousness.
Long-Term Effects of Heroin
The long-term effects of heroin use are:
- Insomnia
- Collapsed veins
- Infection of the heart lining and valves
- Abscesses
- Constipation
- Stomach cramping
- Breathing complications
- Sexual dysfunction
Using heroin for extended periods also increases your risk of overdose. Your tolerance will increase over time, forcing you to use higher doses of the drug to feel the same effects. It also provides more chances for you to be exposed to heroin additives like fentanyl, which is an extremely potent opioid that often leads to overdose.
Heroin Overdose Signs
One of the dangers of heroin abuse is the possibility of overdosing. Your body quickly gets used to functioning with heroin. You can start needing more of the drug to feel the effects you want. Taking too much heroin can quickly lead to an overdose, with symptoms like:
- Shallow breathing
- Weak pulse
- Low blood pressure
- Severe disorientation
- Extreme drowsiness
- Delirium
- Coma
A heroin overdose can be fatal. Call 911 if you think someone is experiencing an overdose. If you have access to Narcan, a lifesaving opioid overdose reversal tool, you can administer it. You’ll still need to call for help as the person overdosing may need multiple doses of Narcan or other interventions to save their life.
Getting Treatment for Heroin Abuse
If you have an opioid use disorder involving heroin, getting help as soon as possible is vital.
Heroin Detox
You need to remove all traces of heroin from your body before you can really dive into what caused the addiction. This means going through the detox process, which you don’t want to do on your own because of the withdrawal symptoms you can experience.
During medical detox, you receive tapered doses of medications that mimic the effects of the drug so that your body can gradually adjust to being without heroin. You will be under constant monitoring to ensure you are safe. Promises DFW provides medically supervised detox on-site, so clients can move directly into residential treatment, partial hospitalization or virtual intensive outpatient care when detox is complete.
Addiction Treatment Programs
Our partial hospitalization program (PHP) is an intensive treatment program that provides clients with daily therapy, medical support, and supervision while allowing them to return home at the end of each day. This allows for a structured and supportive environment during the early stages of recovery without requiring a long-term residential stay.
After completing PHP, clients can transition to our virtual intensive outpatient program (IOP), which offers flexible scheduling for individuals who need ongoing support while still maintaining other responsibilities such as work or school. Our skilled clinicians provide therapy and education on addiction, relapse prevention, and coping skills to help clients maintain their sobriety.
When clients complete PHP or virtual IOP, our team builds an aftercare plan that connects them with ongoing therapy, support groups and relapse prevention resources close to home.
Individual Therapy Sessions
Individual therapy sessions can help you understand what caused the addiction. The majority of people can benefit from behavioral therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).
These options allow you to identify the negative thought patterns that can affect your moods and behaviors so that you can then start making changes.
Group Therapy Sessions
Group therapy helps you break free from the isolation that addiction can cause. You can start seeing that others also struggle with similar challenges. Group therapy can also help you start communicating with others more easily and in healthier ways.
You can apply the techniques you learn in individual therapy sessions in group sessions to gain confidence in your abilities to put them to use.
Family Therapy
Addiction will affect your entire family. By having family counseling sessions, you can relearn how to speak with one another and start building trust once again.
Get Help for Heroin Addiction at Promises Dallas-Fort Worth
Promises Dallas-Fort Worth provides medical detox, residential treatment, partial hospitalization and virtual intensive outpatient care for adults at our Joint Commission-accredited center in Lewisville, Texas. Learn more about our heroin addiction treatment, or let our admissions team verify your insurance before you commit. Call (469) 546-9303 or contact us online to get started.