If you’re addicted to heroin and have turned to one of the many rehab facilities in the U.S. for help overcoming your addiction, you’re one step closer to regaining control over your life. Of course, the road to sobriety will not be the easiest as the grip of heroin addiction can be very difficult to escape. To illustrate the extent to which this is the case, we need only look to a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the 2019 study, researchers revealed that over 14,000 Americans died from an overdose related to heroin. And most of those individuals probably knew full well that their unrelenting desire for the powerful, street-level opioid would ultimately lead to their demise. But you are doing what over 14,000 Americans never had the opportunity to do, and as a result, better days will soon be on the horizon.
What Do I Need to Know About Going to a Heroin Treatment Center?
Going to rehab to get help breaking the cycle of addiction has been championed by many people throughout the years. But very seldom does anyone discuss what happens while an individual is in a rehab facility. First and foremost, unlike some other drugs, a big part of overcoming heroin addiction involves going through detox. And this is where a lot of people lose sight of achieving sobriety and eventually relapse.
On that note, available data shows that 78.2 percent of individuals with a heroin use disorder will relapse while undergoing addiction recovery in a licensed rehab facility. Of course, to understand what causes people to relapse, it helps to know a little more about the detox process.
The Truth About Going Through Detox While in a Heroin Treatment Center
While physicians, nurses, and addiction experts in a rehab facility will play an integral role in an individual’s journey through detox, they don’t initiate the process. For those not aware, detox is a process that the body naturally undergoes when an individual stops using drugs or alcohol. Once an individual quits using, the body starts to rid itself of those drugs and other contaminants. And this natural purging is known as detox.
While going through detox is a critical step in quitting heroin for good, doing so does trigger a variety of unpleasant symptoms. Some of the more notable ones include the following:
Vomiting and diarrhea
Agitation
Restlessness
Tremors
Difficulty concentrating
Fatigue
Depression and anxiety
Insomnia
Hypertension
Rapid heart rate
Muscle spasms
Respiratory problems
Drug cravings
As individuals go through addiction recovery in a heroin treatment center, they are often provided with prescription-based medications to help combat these withdrawal symptoms and minimize their chances of suffering a relapse. Some of these FDA-approved medications include the following:
Dilaudid
Methadone
Morphine
Opana
Suboxone
Along with medication, individuals also receive round-the-clock monitoring by physicians, not to mention access to counselors who can help them with the psychological aspects of overcoming addiction. While this might all seem overwhelming, you should know that the care teams at most U.S.-based rehab facilities are committed to seeing individuals get on the other side of their struggles with detox and go on to achieve long-term sobriety.
Detox Duration While in a Heroin Treatment Center
When it comes to overcoming heroin, specifically, detox generally happens in an inpatient treatment center, with the average stay being around 28 days. The withdrawal symptoms synonymous with going through a heroin detox will usually start 6 to 12 hours after an individual has consumed their final dose of the drug, peaking within 2 to 3 days and then lasting for a total of 5 to10 days from that point. While going through their detox journey, the individual will have their blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, and temperature routinely monitored by a licensed physician.
After completing detox, the balance of an individual’s treatment typically involves counseling, addiction education, and being evaluated for a referral to support groups or a sober living home if needed. All in all, rehab facilities, especially those specializing in heroin addiction, methodically plan out every aspect of an individual’s treatment to improve their chances of achieving short and long-term sobriety.
Bottom Line
Breaking the cycle of addiction, as it relates to heroin, is no easy task. But getting through detox and finally getting one’s life back on track, indeed, makes it all worthwhile. For more information on overcoming heroin addiction or for help finding a quality rehab facility in your area, call us today at 844-639-8371.