If you or a loved one have been caught in the desperate cycle of heroin abuse and are looking for a way out, you may be daunted by a specific fear: heroin withdrawal symptoms. The effects of repeated heroin use on your body are severe, and healing from those effects can be taxing as the body cries for relief. It is important to understand what options are available.
Heroin withdrawal is not only physically uncomfortable but also emotionally overwhelming, especially for those with a history of trauma or mental health challenges. However, on the other side of heroin withdrawal is a road to recovery and to a full, healthy life. If you are considering taking the first steps towards this road at a drug rehab facility, but are unsure how to manage the withdrawal symptoms of heroin, be encouraged: a trauma-informed recovery environment can mitigate those symptoms and clear your path to healing.
What Are the Withdrawal Symptoms of Heroin?
Heroin addiction has a devastating effect on a person’s mind and body. Derived from morphine, heroin is a highly addictive and fast-acting opiate that gives the user an intense high, often followed by a longer period of drowsiness and slowed breathing and heart function. Like many substances, repeated heroin use over time builds up the user’s tolerance of the drug, requiring them to use more and more heroin to achieve the desired effects. This leads to more and more severe consequences, from increasingly desperate actions to acquire money for the drug to overdose and even death.
Because it is often injected, heroin users have high rates of blood-borne illnesses, such as hepatitis, abscesses, and HIV. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, other long-term effects of heroin use include potential deterioration of the brain’s white matter, which affects decision making and responses to stress, among other mental functions.
Because of how severely heroin entwines itself in its users’ minds and bodies, quitting the drug comes with many challenges as the body cries for relief from something that has been unrelentingly harming it. Withdrawal symptoms for heroin include:
- Restlessness
- Muscle and bone pain
- Insomnia
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Cold flashes
- Uncontrollable leg movements
Altogether, physically, withdrawal symptoms for heroin can feel like a bad flu. Combined with the psychological effects–believing that you cannot live or be happy without the high the drug offers–as well as emotional effects, withdrawing from this drug can be intense to navigate.
Managing Heroin Withdrawal Symptoms
To help with the difficult symptoms of heroin withdrawal, many people choose to detox at a drug detoxification center rather than at home. Professionals in these facilities help with detox withdrawal management in a variety of ways, including:
- Providing a safe and secure environment
- Continual, around-the-clock support from professionals
- Medication-assisted treatment–medicines administered as-needed to alleviate some of the more severe symptoms
- Medical care in case of emergencies
- Providing a new environment away from triggers for drug abuse
One thing that will not help withdrawal is a “tough love” approach void of compassion and empathy. A good heroin rehab center will help patients navigate their bodies’ recovery with understanding and trauma awareness.
After Withdrawal: What Comes Next?
We have to acknowledge, however, that withdrawal is only the first step on the road to recovery. Long-term healing and restoration comes with a subsequent commitment to rebuilding your mind and body.
In the context of heroin–or any substance–abuse, this is best accomplished in a trauma-informed environment. Trauma and drug abuse go hand in hand, with one often feeding the other. Childhood trauma–ranging from divorcing parents to abuse to poverty–can leave wounds that people try to close with substances. This substance abuse then creates its own traumatic environment, and a destructive cycle is born.
Whether occurring in childhood or adulthood, there are many types of trauma that can contribute to drug abuse, including acute traumatic events such as a loved one’s passing or car accident and chronic trauma such as ongoing domestic violence or bullying. Lasting healing can only come when this trauma, this root cause of the addiction, is addressed.
This may look like taking an ACEs assessment test to identify Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) that may still be affecting you; seeking out holistic residential treatment centers that offer a trauma-informed approach to detox and recovery; or prioritizing therapeutic modalities such as trauma-informed CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy).
Experience Trauma-Informed Withdrawal Care at Sana at Stowe
Consider beginning to journey to recovery from heroin use at Sana at Stowe in Vermont, a luxury residential treatment program that offers compassionate, individualized support to those wanting to detox and heal. Sana at Stowe offers medically-supervised detox and accepts insurance through in-network providers such as TRICARE, so many can access our exceptional services.
Our approach extends beyond the purely medical. We recognize that for many struggling with heroin addiction, substance use may have been a way to cope with underlying pain, potentially rooted in past trauma. We know it is important to navigate heroin withdrawal with compassion and a deep awareness of potential trauma. Our trauma-informed recovery environment provides the crucial support and understanding needed to ease this difficult transition towards healing. Our support ranges from talk therapy to group sessions to trauma-informed yoga, all provided in the incomparable beauty of rural Vermont.
If you are uncertain whether heroin withdrawal and recovery is right for you, consider taking a drug use screening test to gain perspective on your own habits. Or consider these words from a former patient at Sana at Stowe: “I would like to thank all the staff for being so kind and understanding to everyone here struggling with substance abuse and mental health problems. This place has saved my life.”
So do not be daunted by the prospect of heroin withdrawal symptoms. Begin your journey to recovery in the safe, supportive environment of Sana at Stowe. Reach out to us today. Sana is only one call away at (802) 553-3836. One of our trained team members is ready to speak to you, now!
