Arkansas Heroin Treatment
888-845-9484
888-845-9484
Heroin help and addiction - Call 888-845-9484
Physical addiction to heroin, often with concurrent use of other opiates when heroin itself is not available. Arkansas Heroin Treatment is by opiates withdrawal, either gradual or sudden. Medication may be used to ease the physical effects of withdrawal, which include goosebumps, cramping, body aches, nausea, and intense craving. Opiate blockers and agonist/antagonist drugs may be used to alleviate the symptoms and speed up the withdrawal process and assist the addict with maintaining compliance. Methadone is used for a slow gradual withdrawal. Additional interventions are counseling, 12 step program, treatment with antidepressants and mood stabilizers.
A variety of effective treatments are available for heroin addiction, including both behavioral and pharmacological (medications). Although behavioral and pharmacologic treatments can be extremely useful when utilized alone, research shows that for some people, integrating both types of treatments is the most effective approach.
Heroin primarily affects the central nervous system and brain, but it basically affects every part of the body. The way that it affects the brain is most important.
Inside everyone’s brain are opioid receptors, and heroin attaches to these receptors directly when ingested. This depresses the central nervous system and spinal cord, slows motor functions, reduces pain, and increases euphoria and relaxation.
When people addicted to opioids first quit, they undergo withdrawal symptoms (pain, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting), which may be severe. Medications can be helpful in this detoxification stage to ease craving and other physical symptoms, which often prompt a person to relapse. While not a treatment for addiction itself, detoxification is a useful first step when it is followed by some form of evidence-based treatment.
The many effective behavioral treatments available for heroin addiction can be delivered in outpatient and residential settings. Approaches such as contingency management and cognitive-behavioral therapy have been shown to effectively treat heroin addiction, especially when applied in concert with medications.
Long-term residential treatment provides care 24 hours a day, generally in non-hospital settings. The best-known residential treatment model is the therapeutic community (TC), with planned lengths of stay of between 6 and 12 months. TCs focus on the "resocialization" of the individual and use the program’s entire community—including other residents, staff, and the social context—as active components of treatment.
Addiction counselors can use a combination of medications and therapy to help tackle the addiction on two fronts. The medications can help curb cravings and withdrawal symptoms, while the therapy sessions can help the addict learn how to avoid a relapse and deal with negative feelings without the help of drugs. There’s no question that this takes hard work, and the addict will need to remain determined and resolve to change for good. But, these therapies can save the addict’s life. Arkansas Heroin Treatment programs are designed to help those who strive for long-term sobriety and a better life away from addictions.
People who abuse heroin face a long list of medical problems including:
People who abuse heroin can also die from an overdose. Heroin is considered a powerful sedative, and users can stop breathing altogether when they take high doses of heroin. At times, users can even overdose when they don’t know they’re taking a high dose of heroin. Sometimes, they believe their stash of heroin is contaminated and they inject a larger quantity as a result. They may find, however, that the drugs are not contaminated when they begin to lose consciousness. The quality is not monitored, so each hit of heroin holds the capacity to cause an overdose.