Opiate Addiction Treatment Centers

Opioid drugs, also called opiates or narcotics, have been used since the beginning of recorded history. Opium is derived from a white liquid produced by the poppy plant, first cultivated in the Middle East and Asia. It was used therapeutically in ancient cultures to induce calm and to relieve pain, and recreationally to induce a euphoric dream state. Today, physicians prescribe narcotics for pain relief, and opiods like heroin are known as drugs of abuse.

Although heroin abuse has had a downward trend during the past couple of years, its prevalence is still higher than in the early 1990s, and now, there is a significant heroin abuse among school-age youth. Heroin is a highly addictive drug, and its abuse has repercussions that extend far beyond the individual user. The health and social consequences of opiate abuse - HIV/AIDS, violence, tuberculosis, fetal effects, crime, and disruptions in family, workplace, and educational environments - have a devastating impact on society.

The biochemical effects of opiate drugs such as heroin are what make them addictive. Heroin binds to painkilling sites throughout the brain, known as opioid-µ receptors, and to the "reward pathway". This leads to slower uptake of neurotransmitters, like dopamine, between neurons. Immediate effects include cessation of pain, drowsiness, and a feeling of well-being associated with pain reduction. With chronic use, the brain may stop producing endorphins, natural painkilling chemicals, and the user develops tolerance. The user must replace the missing endorphins with heroin in order to feel good and to avoid the painful effects of heroin withdrawal.

When there is a regular use of heroin, when this use is interrupted or the user does not have enough heroin in the body, he or she goes into withdrawal. This happens because the body depends on heroin to function, and that is why withdrawal symptoms are relieved by using heroin again. In fact, some investigators argue that the fear of withdrawal is often the primary motivating factor behind continued use, together with the profound craving manifested in some individuals, or the drug's positive reinforcing or reward potential.

Signs and symptoms of heroin withdrawal (opiates)

The signs and symptoms of heroin withdrawal are the opposite of the direct pharmacological effects of heroin, and are typically compared to a bad case of flu depending on the user´s history of heroin use. On the other hand, withdrawal severity depends on dose and route of administration. A substantial portion of the physical symptoms seem to depend on the activity of a part of the brainstem called the locus coeruleus. Opiates depress this area and it would therefore be expected to become hyperactive during withdrawal. The locus coeruleus is an important center in the brain's fear-alarm system, and such hyperactivity would be consistent with the marked anxiety and agitation that withdrawing addicts report.

Heroin withdrawal typically begins 6 to 8 hours after the user’s last dose of heroin. The most severe withdrawal symptoms tend to be experienced around 48 to 72 hours after the user’s last dose and last for an average of a week.

During heroin withdrawal the individual experiences elevations in blood pressure, pulse, respiratory rate and temperature. They may also experience goose bumps, watery eyes, runny nose, yawning, loss of appetite, tremors, panic, chills, nausea, muscle cramps, and insomnia. Depression is also a symptom of heroin withdrawal. During withdrawal, many individuals experience such a deep and overwhelming depression and a feeling like they're going to die, that they are not able to make it through the withdrawal process, and that is what leads to relapses. Withdrawal, nevertheless, almost never kills anyone. It can be harmful to people with HIV/AIDS. It can also be harmful to the fetus if a woman is pregnant, and to anyone with a serious health problem.

Opiate Addiction and Withdrawal

Heroin Detoxification without heroin withdrawal is possible (opiate addiction treatment centers)

As it has been said, the hardness of the withdrawal syndrome leads to a very high risk of relapse during the early withdrawal period, in part because drug craving is easily triggered by encounters with or thinking of drug-associated stimuli. And that is why the withdrawal symptoms are a great obstacle for recovery of addiction to heroin, and detox must be carried out with an appropriate medical management and level of care.

But detox without withdrawal syndrome is possible. A heroin withdrawal syndrome is NOT an imperative start to the process of opiate addiction treatment at specialized centers.

To avoid the withdrawal syndrome, it is necessary to restore the brain functions that have been damaged by the addiction to heroin. But this is not possible with “traditional” detox. The impaired neurons must be recovered. Only a pharmacological intervention to recover the normal neural functioning of the brain structures harmed by heroin, allows a detox without withdrawal symptoms and without craving. Moreover, it allows the recovery of higher cognitive and affective processes as attention, reading abilities, conciousness or serenity.

For further info about opiate addiction treatment centers

Informative page about opiate addiction treatment centers