Dealing with Heroin Withdrawal and Detox in Maine
Heroin is particularly addictive, and an increasing number of people have been using this substance since 2007. Before then, many people began to misuse their heroin prescription medications, but later, they found a way to keep their medicine cabinets full. They turned to heroin because they did not need a prescription, and it was also less expensive than prescription drugs. As a result, the number of people indulging in heroin use continues to grow. 
After just a couple of weeks of heavy heroin use, it can be impossible or even dangerous for someone to attempt to stop using heroin. That is because it only requires a couple of weeks of heavy use for your body to become physically addicted to heroin. After users who are addicted fail to replenish their bodies with the regular dose, they begin to experience heroin withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms can be unbearable. For this reason, you or a loved one must have professional help during the heroin detoxification process.
Understanding Heroin Detox
Heroin detox is the first part of treatment for a heroin use disorder. If you or your loved one enter Liberty Bay Recovery Center for the heroin detoxification process, our staff will administer medications that relieve the withdrawal symptoms. The FDA approved these medications for the treatment of heroin use disorder, and they are effective at reducing some of the withdrawal symptoms and cravings for the drug. This allows you to complete the heroin detoxification process comfortably and completely.
Treatment centers also treat heroin use disorder with behavioral therapies. Behavioral therapies have been proven to be highly effective. Two examples that work well with this population are cognitive-behavioral therapy and contingency management. However, treatment centers typically use medication-assisted therapy (MAT) during heroin detox before they begin treatment with behavioral therapies.
Importance of Heroin Detox
Heroin withdrawal symptoms can be dangerous when you are not in a supervised environment. For example, you can breathe vomit into your lungs in a process known as “aspiration.” This can end up becoming “aspiration pneumonia.” Diarrhea can also lead to serious complications because it can lower your levels of electrolytes and the fluids your body needs to operate properly. When this occurs, your heart may begin to beat erratically. This can cause a heart attack or circulatory issues. You can also experience joint pain and muscle cramps during the detoxification process. However, the medication you will receive in heroin detox can alleviate these symptoms. This is why the importance of a heroin detox program cannot be understated.
While you are in a treatment center during the heroin detoxification process, the staff will monitor you at all times to ensure that there are no serious complications. If you do experience complications, an on-site medical staff can attend to you before the situation becomes life-threatening. The same safety measures cannot be applied if you were to detox from heroin on your own at your home.
Heroin Detoxification Methods
Rehab centers treat substance use disorders with medication-assisted treatment or MAT. Rehab centers also address the entire person with medication, support, and behavioral therapies. This approach tends to offer the best possible outcomes for clients.
MAT provides clients with several benefits. For example, when pregnant women received medication to help manage their withdrawal symptoms, their babies had much better outcomes than those whose mothers did not receive the treatment. MAT also offers better outcomes for babies who are breastfeeding.
Treatment with MAT encourages clients to engage with their peers socially again, and they tend to remain in treatment for longer periods. Their treatment successfully decreases the amount of illicit substances they consume. Moreover, the number of deaths due to heroin overdoses also decreases.
Liberty Bay Recovery Center uses subutex or buprenorphine at the beginning of the heroin detoxification process. This medication relieves the withdrawal symptoms that the cessation of heroin use causes. However, it is only the first step in the treatment regimen. It has the best results when used in concert with suboxone and behavioral therapies, such as counseling, compliance monitoring and making lifestyle changes.
Studies have shown that acupuncture can assist those experiencing heroin withdrawal symptoms as they can better tolerate the symptoms. Acupuncture offers an additional way for users to reduce the withdrawal symptoms they are experiencing. Chinese herbal medication was even found to be more effective than clonidine, a prescription medication that reduces heroin withdrawal symptoms.
Contrary to the popular belief that MAT is just trading one addiction for another, this is not the case. The medications used do not cause people to experience a high. Instead, they help manage symptoms, anxiety, and depression so individuals can continue with their recovery journey.
Benefits of Heroin Detox
Entering into the detox program at Liberty Recovery Center gives you or your loved one the best chances of completing the heroin detoxification process because you will not have to experience heroin withdrawal symptoms alone. Our professional staff administers medications that ease these symptoms until your body becomes accustomed to living without regular doses of heroin.
In addition to the fact that you will have medications that ease the withdrawal symptoms, you will be in a safe environment where you will have 24-hour supervision until the detoxification process is complete. If you detoxify at home, you may have a friend or family member with you. However, if they are not in the medical field, they won’t be able to address medical issues if you begin to experience a heart attack or other medical condition while you are detoxing.
After you complete your stay in our heroin detox center, you will have the opportunity to enter Liberty Recovery Center’s residential inpatient program, partial hospitalization program, intensive outpatient program or outpatient program for continued treatment of your heroin use disorder.
Choosing a Heroin Detox Program
Before you choose a heroin detox program, you will need to ask a few questions about the facility first. You must ask if the facility offers evidence-based treatments. Researchers studied evidence-backed treatments to determine if they are effective for treating substance use disorders. Cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing are three types of therapies that are based on evidence.
The FDA-approved medications mentioned above have also been proven to assist during the detoxification process. So, try to choose a heroin detox program that offers medication-assisted treatment as you will be better equipped when you detox.
You must also ensure that the treatment facility can offer you or your loved one individualized treatment programs. This is necessary as different segments of the population have very different needs. For example, your loved one may have had a heroin use disorder for 20 or 30 years. He or she would need a different type of treatment than a teenager who has just been diagnosed with a substance use disorder in the last year or so.
You must also ask the representative if the treatment center is licensed and accredited. The license the treatment center has must be to provide treatment for substance use disorders. It also needs to be accredited by an organization that ensures that the staff can treat your loved one to the best standards of care.
What to Expect During Heroin Detox
The first step in the heroin detox program is the administration of Subutex to relieve the withdrawal symptoms and cravings for heroin. After withdrawal is complete, the staff administers suboxone to maintain abstinence from the drug.
The most common withdrawal symptoms include sweating, runny nose, insomnia, increased tearing, muscle aches, anxiety and agitation. In the later stages, heroin withdrawal symptoms include vomiting, nausea, goosebumps, dilated pupils, diarrhea and abdominal cramps.
These symptoms ordinarily begin 12 hours after your last dose of heroin. These symptoms do not necessarily last a very long time, but they are intense and painful. This is why detoxing in a treatment facility is paramount.
Aftercare and Continued Support
Substance use disorder is a chronic disease that the medical community can treat. Because it is a chronic condition, it is a disorder that cannot be cured. However, you can manage the condition with continued treatment over the years. It requires that you receive therapy throughout your life and participate in support groups. This is important because substance use disorder is a relapsing disease. This means that you or your loved one are at risk of returning to heroin use after you complete your treatment programs. It doesn’t matter how long it has been since you last used heroin. You can still return to uncontrollable use, so continuous treatment is necessary.
One example of a continuous program is Narcotics Anonymous. Narcotics Anonymous or NA is a support group for people suffering from substance use disorder. Each member is in recovery, and they meet regularly to help each other abstain from substances. All you need to join this organization is to have the desire to stop using your substance of choice. It is an excellent aftercare program for you to join after you complete the heroin detoxification process at Liberty Bay Recovery Center as it offers peer support.
Obtaining Sobriety Long-Term
If you are looking for help for a loved one or you have a heroin substance use disorder yourself, you are in the right place. Treatment centers can help you overcome your addiction, and Liberty Bay Recovery Center is one of the best in Maine. Contact us so that we can get you started on your journey back to sobriety.
