Heroin Addiction
At Origins Recovery Centers, we are well aware of the very bleak situation of your heroin addicted loved one. We have treated so many heroin addicts and seen, first-hand, the utter ravages and tremendous despair this terrible drug has created in the lives of so many. The heroin addict in your life is not long for this world if they do not seek help; this is a very serious and deadly substance.
Fatal overdose of heroin is more common with this particular drug than really any other. There is such wide variance in the potency of street heroin, which is of course problematic in and of itself, however this issue is exacerbated by the fact that the heroin users builds up an extreme tolerance to this substance very quickly and must therefore do increasing amounts over time. If your loved one has been doing heroin for any appreciable amount of time, they have almost certainly experienced some degree of overdose; just not a fatal one…yet.
It is very possible that the heroin addict in your life began their use of this substance with use of opiod pain medications and/or began smoking or snorting heroin and it was after a period that they progressed to actually injecting the substance. Or, perhaps they have not yet progressed to IV use and they even believe they are safer because of this. We want you to know very clearly that just because your loved one addicted to heroin does not use IV heroin at this time, that really just means they haven’t turned to that yet. As tolerance to heroin builds, they will require a more efficient delivery system of the drug and that means intravenous use of it.
We would like to be also quite clear that in addition to the tremendous risk of overdose associated with heroin use. The substance poses a huge risk to one’s liver, specifically with respect to hepatitis. It is a prominent false assumption that your loved one needs to share needles with another in order to develop hepatitis as a result of their heroin use. This is just outright patently false. Hepatitis, among other things, is always a very real danger present with those who choose to use heroin and hepatitis is a very deadly disease.
In recent years, a medication has gained prominence as an aid in helping ease the discomfort of withdrawal from heroin, and your loved one has probably at least heard of it; Buprenorphine (brand name Suboxone, Subutex, Buprenex, Temgesic, etc). At Origins Recovery Centers, we believe this to be a very effective, short-term detox aid in oder to make the withdrawal from heroin a bit less traumatic. That said, we do not believe that it is a viable long-term solution for most of our clients (with perhaps the exception of some chronic pain patients), since Buprenorphine is itself an opiod and therefore this would really just constitute switching one addiction for another. Click here for more info on this…
Your loved one is presently beholden to one of the most dangerous and and addictive substances known to man. The good news is that in finding this page, you have found an organization well versed in how to comabt this affliction within your loved one and you can rest assured that under our care they will receive the most competent and compassionate care presently available for this addiction.
If you would like to speak with someone regarding your loved one’s heroin addiction, you may call us at anytime at 1-888-U-GET-WELL.
If you are read to speak just yet, then click below to send us an email.