Detoxing From Heroin - Tips and Advice
Heroin is an opioid drug, also known as diamorphine. The most common use of heroin is as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Heroin was created from morphine in 1874, and today people use heroin as an injection into a vein, smoked, inhaled, or snorted. It typically comes in a white or brown powder, and it can be used to relieve pain in several countries.One heroin dose injected into the vein is similar in effect to two or three doses of morphine, its effects can be noticed very fast, and last for a few hours.
TIP: Download the complete guide to detox.
No country is immune to the harmful effect of drugs. Drug addiction has increased, and violent crime has been rising along with it. This public health problem costs from a couple of hundreds to one thousand of dollars each day. It can also become a security problem, as addict people can turn to crime to get the money to pay for their drug. In 2015, an estimated 17 million people used opiates such as heroin, which together with opioids resulted in more than 120,000 deaths. In the US, close to 2% of people have used heroin on some occasion. Statistics also say that people dying from drug overdose are usually under opioids.
The short-term effects of heroin are: euphoria, dry mouth, an alternance of alert and drowsy state, slow breathing, and muscular weakness. Intoxication due to this drug can cause depression and low performance of the central nervous system, nausea, vomiting, constipation, pupillary constriction, and seizures. Treatment is usually performed with Naloxone, Naltrexone, Methadone (long-acting opioid used for heroin detox).
Long-term heroin use leads to addiction, tolerance, dependence, and increases the risk to develop pneumonia, infection of heart and lining valves, collapsed veins, liver failure, and abscesses -some of them because of the contaminated needles for illegal use of heroin. When somebody has been using the drug for a long time, the withdrawal symptoms begin in the first hours after last use, needing to use it promptly to feel better; these symptoms include sweating, dilated pupils, piloerections, fever, rhinorrhea, nausea, stomach cramps, and diarrhea. The treatment of heroin addiction includes behavioral therapy, and medications, which can include buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone.
Heroin detoxification
To clean the body from heroin, two paths must be considered. The first one is medication, if someone is in overdose, naloxone is the treatment to reverse the condition. For the withdrawal, health professionals use clonidine and methadone, and buprenorphine makes detox process easier. The goal is to reduce the heroin levels in the body by preventing the development of chemical reactions that lead to withdrawal symptoms.
Holistic therapy is also necessary. There are different opinions, one of them refers to the body’s detoxification abilities with its enzymes, and processes. Other supports the idea of helping our bodies in their cleaning paths. Some nutrients can help detoxifying the body, protecting organs, tissues, and cells from the harmful effect of other chemicals. To detox holistically from the drug, these tips have proven to be helpful:
- Reduce the exposure to heroin
Stop using the drug, and keep in touch with a health professional to support you during the process. Counseling can be beneficial. Keep away from places and people who use the substance and may invite you to join.
- Water and fluids
Drink plenty of water through the day; juices, broths, and non-alcoholic beverages will help hydrating the body and flushing through the kidneys the waste toxins.
- Herbs
You may find some of these herbs in packed tea bags or leaves to prepare home-made tea: artichoke, dandelion, echinacea, green tea, horsetail, milk thistle, oregano, parsley, and turmeric. Drink your tea preparation every morning for one month. In the evenings, the herbs to choose could be buckthorn, flaxseed, rhubarb, Triphala.
- Diet
When we use the word diet, we are not referring to fasting, but instead a healthy choice of nutrients. Include natural fiber daily, in the form of apples, beets, carrots, cranberries, cauliflower, dried beans, flaxseed, oranges, peaches, peas, popcorn, root vegetable skin, wheat bread, and whole-grain cereal, pasta, oatmeal, and bread. Aminoacids or proteins to consume are chicken, fish, turkey, eggs. You should avoid meats, honey-baked ham, and liver.
- Supplements, vitamins, and minerals
Nourish your body with antioxidants: vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamins B complex, beta-carotene, zinc, and selenium. You need a daily intake of sufficient Calcium and Magnesium. Probiotics and Vitamin D3 will help your detox process as well.
- Exercise
Walking, jogging, or running for 30 to 45 minutes each day will put your body to work and the blood to circulate, releasing the impurities held within. Wear regular sweat suit if the season or weather allows it. Don’t use heavy clothing during summer time.
- Saunas and Steambaths
The sauna enables flushing toxins through the skin along with sweat. Wear a swimming suit, swimming trunks or some light apparel; never wear a sweat suit in a sauna. Start with lower temperatures; and increase it gradually for better tolerance. Don´t overheat the body; you know your body is overheated if you feel like fainting, or weak. Be aware of tiredness, weakness, cramps, headache, nausea, dizziness, vomiting or fainting; we could be in the presence of lower sodium and potassium in those cases. If this happens, you can fix it with potassium gluconate tablets and salt tablets. In this case, get out of the sauna and take a fresh-water shower. If sauna is not available, use baths at home; an option is to prepare them with clean water and Epsom salts.
Cleaning the body of this drug, as from other toxins, needs the acknowledge that there is an addiction problem to get over, and a great determination to change the behavior that led to it. Once we decide to start this path and follow the recommendations, our bodies will be free from the substance and some other toxins. As the last piece of advice, after the detoxification process, continue using some of these routines to keep a healthier life, and reach a better you.
References:
- Fernandez, H. and Libby, T. (2011). Heroin: Its History, Pharmacology & Treatment. Simon and Schuster.
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