What Are The Long Term Effects Of Heroin?

In recent years, the opiate epidemic has turned into a public health emergency. The national media has been filled with stories of an opioid crisis. Opiate abuse, which includes both prescription medications and heroin, is playing a major role in overdoses becoming the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. Street heroin cut with dangerous and powerful additives like fentanyl increased the dangers associated with heroin use. Long term effects of heroin can cause significant medical and mental health issues due to heroin addiction.

Non-fatal overdoses can cause neurological issues, and using heroin also increases your risk of developing serious diseases, like Hepatitis C. Heroin is an opiate and causes your brain to release excessive amounts of dopamine. It is also highly addictive, causing serious and painful withdrawal symptoms if you attempt to stop using without help.

What is Heroin?

Heroin is a powerful, illegal and highly addictive opiate. It comes in powder and solid form, with users inhaling, smoking or injecting it. Injecting heroin is extremely dangerous and increases your risk of experiencing an overdose or developing medical problems related to your heroin use. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, the reuse of needles is common among some users. This, of course, can easily lead to the possibility of users contracting a number of dangerous diseases.

Heroin is both physically and psychologically addicting. When you use heroin, your brain releases a rush of dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that causes feelings of happiness and euphoria.

Once you become addicted to heroin, your brain’s pleasure, and reward center change. Your brain begins to reward your heroin use by releasing dopamine and withholding dopamine when you don’t use. It may sound strange to say, but the brain doesn’t want you to stop taking heroin. At some point, you are in a battle with yourself when you resolve to quit using heroin.

Attempts to detox from heroin typically bring about intense cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Signs and symptoms of heroin addiction include:

• Inability to stop or control your heroin use
• Spending the majority of your time and money using or buying heroin
• Suffering negative consequences because of your heroin use
• Concealing your heroin use
• Inability to stop using heroin despite a desire to quit

All of these symptoms make it hard (if not impossible) to quit on your own. Instead, you need to seek the the help of a drug addiction treatment center. Finding treatment early is important to ensure you limit the negative long term effects of heroin addiction.

What are the Long Term Effects of Heroin?

Long term effects of heroin can include serious medical issues. Since your liver filters impurities, abusing heroin can cause liver damage. Heroin use can also cause exposure to serious staph infections, such as MRSA. Heroin effects on the body and long term effects on the brain can include:

• Life-threatening blood infections
• Dangerous heart infections
• Cysts
• Abscesses

Other long term effects of heroin include:

• Damage to your personal relationships
• Legal problems
• Medical and mental health issues
• Financial and employment problems

The best way to avoid long term effects of heroin is to find help as early as possible. Treatment can offer you a safe and supervised inpatient medical detox and help give you the tools needed to recover.

Finding Help for a Heroin Addiction

Because of the severe long term effects of heroin addiction, it is important to reach out for help if you are struggling to stop using on your own. Beaches Recovery in Jacksonville FL knows what it takes to beat addiction.

Don’t allow heroin to run your life for another minute. It’s time to take charge of your body… and your life. If you or a loved one is battling a substance abuse problem and needs help, call us today at 866.605.0532.