How to Find a Heroin Detox Program

If you or someone you love has struggled with heroin addiction, you can get help. Too often, people avoid getting help with things like heroin addiction because they are worried about failing or they had failed in the past when they tried to quit cold turkey. If attempting to overcome addiction, a comprehensive heroin detox program is a vital first step in the recovery process.

But none of these things should stop you from getting the help you need. You can work with professionals to find a facility that offers coverage through your insurance provider or has alternative methods for payment. Working with a legitimate heroin detox program means you are much more likely to succeed with the support of caring and compassionate staff members nearby.

Contact Spirit Mountain Recovery Center today to learn more about our drug detox center in Utah.

Does Heroin Cause Withdrawal?

Heroin comes from the poppy plant, so it’s a synthesized opioid. When you use heroin, it’s converted into morphine in your body. The morphine binds to the opioid receptors in your brain and your body. These receptors control your perception of pain and your reward system.

So, when you use heroin, you decrease your pain, and feel happier as a result.

But while that is happening, heroin is also changing your brain structure behind the scenes. Before long, even a couple of times, using heroin means the euphoria and pain management go away very quickly, and your cravings intensify.

Craving heroin is just one of the many withdrawal symptoms that start to manifest as you become addicted to heroin. Withdrawal symptoms are a result of your body readjusting to functioning without the heroin in its system.

What are the Symptoms of Heroin Withdrawal?

Heroin detox can be full of health risks and complications, so it is important to do your heroin detox at a professional detox facility.

The withdrawal symptoms you experience when you detox from heroin can include:

Shaking
Nausea
Vomiting
Muscle pain
Stomach pain
Restlessness
Sweating
Depression
Nervousness
Depression

When you start a heroin detox program, you might experience a handful of these symptoms at the start of your detox, and then they might dissipate, only to be replaced by another handful. At any given time, you might have severe nausea and sweating, then experience increased spasms and pain, with profuse agitation and cravings, followed by a slight decrease in your symptoms.

How Long Does It Take to Detox From Heroin?

The length of your heroin detox program will vary based on personal needs. You can speak with admissions specialists at facilities like Spirit Mountain to learn more about how long your withdrawal timeline will be.

Things that influence the timeline include:

How long you have used drugs
How often you use drugs
What other substances you use, if any
How much you use when you use
Your current mental and physical health

The timeline for a heroin detox program is divided into three segments: when your symptoms start, when they peak, and when they subside.

First segment:	6-12 hours after you last used	Symptoms begin	Nausea, abdominal pain, muscle spasms, sweating, shaking
Second segment:	1-3 days after you last used	Symptoms peak	Intense cravings, shaking, sweating, nervousness and agitation, muscle pain, nausea and vomiting
Third segment:	7-10 days after you last used	Symptoms begin to subside	Nausea, abdominal pain, muscle spasms, sweating, shaking

Given how these symptoms fluctuate and how severe they often are, people who try to quit heroin cold turkey without a proper detox program find themselves relapsing early on to quell things like cravings.

A proper heroin detox program can get professional help and a wide range of over-the-counter and prescription drugs to ease the symptoms. Professionals can, for example, give you anti-nausea medication, pain medication for muscle spasms and abdominal pain, monitor your fever or sweating, administer an IV to prevent you from getting dehydrated, and more.