Heroin Withdrawal

Understanding and Overcoming Opiate Withdrawal at Catalina

Are you ready and committed to your sobriety but are worried about what the withdrawal symptoms will look like as you come off opiates like heroin? Unfortunately, heroin withdrawal can be quite uncomfortable in the early days of recovery. Many people will experience intense withdrawal symptoms that tempt them to return to their drug use, but you can prepare for this by enrolling in substance abuse treatment.

Catalina Behavioral Health is here for you every step of the way when you undergo heroin withdrawal. With our medical detox program, we can help to make you more comfortable and minimize withdrawal symptoms following a heroin addiction.

Keep reading our complete guide on the topic to find out what you need to know about heroin withdrawal symptoms and how Catalina offers support to help you cope in the first days of your newly sober life!

What are the Immediate Symptoms of Heroin Withdrawal?

The symptoms of your acute heroin withdrawal will be most severe in the first few days following your last use of opiates. It is during these early days of living without heroin that you will want to make your way to a heroin detox center that can assist you in staying sober.

You will be very tempted to use it again in order to make some of these symptoms disappear.

The First Week of Withdrawal from Heroin

Starting a few days after your last dose and usually lasting about a week, you will struggle with some physical symptoms such as:

• Headaches
• Insomnia
• Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
• High blood pressure
• Excessive sweating
• Watery discharge from the eyes and nose

Of course, it likely goes without saying that you will also experience strong cravings for heroin again. You may struggle with symptoms of a mood disorder such as depression shortly after you enter into withdrawal symptoms.

Without a safety plan in place, many people relapse quickly in these early days.

Heroin Withdrawal Symptoms After Week One

Heroin withdrawal symptoms morph and change shape after the immediate effects of getting the drug out of your system. While the most severe withdrawal symptoms take place in the first week of your recovery, that does not mean that you are home-free once you pass the seven-day mark.

This is often the point at which mental disorders become clearer, especially if you have been masking them with drug abuse. Anxiety, depression, and rampant irritability all start to bubble to the surface when your substance of choice is no longer in the picture for you.

These can be exacerbated by some long-term symptoms of heroin withdrawal like insomnia, muscle spasms and deep muscle aches, brain fog, difficulty making decisions, or a lack of interest in activities that you once enjoyed. Many of these flu-like symptoms will last longer than the initial craving for the drug and could impact you for weeks or even months following your last use.

Heroin Cravings Moving Forward

Unfortunately, time reduces withdrawal symptoms but it may not totally replace your heroin cravings. Many people remain tied to the physical symptoms of their addiction and the ease they believe that heroin can give them to move freely in the world. It might help them keep anxiety or depression at bay or to cope with an overly stressful environment.

Cravings may surface for you most intensely during your withdrawal process, but they are not likely to go away instantly when the drug is out of your system. Post-acute and protracted withdrawal symptoms can also occur, a fact heroin users trying to quit should keep in mind before going it alone.

Putting in Place a Foundation for Lasting Recovery

Instead, you will need to put new coping skills in place to deal with a life free of substance abuse. Heroin use is often defined by a desire to escape from a day-to-day life that feels too hard or overwhelming for you to cope with. Cognitive behavioral therapy can help you to change your thoughts and negative feelings so that you can make a different choice beyond heroin use.

You might participate in individual therapy sessions with a counselor, group therapy sessions for increased social support, and family therapy sessions so that your loved ones know how to help you when you return home.

Long-Term Recovery Options for Heroin Addiction

Enrolling in a medically-assisted detox is the first step to getting this illicit drug out of your system. However, heroin detox is not the only thing you will need to cope with heroin withdrawal. It is merely the first step of many to manage a chronic condition of drug abuse. Ongoing treatment will be necessary, including different types of behavioral therapies.

Catalina Behavioral Health offers a range of services to give you the physical and emotional support you need to manage symptoms of heroin withdrawal.

Inpatient Treatment

Inpatient rehab is often the first step after a heroin detox program because it insulates you from the outside world. You will not be able to use more substances while you reside in the treatment facility, allowing you to put some distance between your drug abuse and your new sober lifestyle.

The downside is that inpatient can only last for a limited period before health insurance refuses to cover it. For many people, this means that they will spend roughly thirty days in an inpatient treatment facility that allows them to practice sober living.

Medication Assisted Treatment Options

While not everyone chooses medically assisted options such as Suboxone, Sublocade, and Naltrexone during detox and early recovery from opiates, they can be quite helpful. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has conducted numerous studies showing these medications can be effective in supporting longer, more satisfied recovery for many with opiate or opioid use disorders.

These medications work to block opioid receptors and curb withdrawal symptoms and make the effects of other substances, such as heroin, minimal even if used in large amounts.

Outpatient Treatment

After graduating from an extended stay in an inpatient facility, you might want to think about stepping down to outpatient rather than discontinuing your therapeutic support altogether. This allows you to come and go as you please, as long as you show up for scheduled appointments. You can attend group sessions, individual sessions, family therapy sessions, and more.

Outpatient is a great way to start to ease back into your daily life with the needed support to sustain sober living. With someone to hold you accountable for your sobriety, you will have greater chances of success with maintaining your new drug-free lifestyle.

The Structure and Support an IOP Program

At Catalina, you may also opt for an intensive outpatient program (IOP) which allows you to spend your days in the hospital setting and return to your own home, bed, and family in the evenings. This gives you a more comprehensive level of support while giving you some freedom to make choices and practice sobriety.

Our IOP in Tucson is a great option for those who have recently been discharged from an inpatient setting but still struggle with the potential for relapse.

Treatment for Co-Occurring Disorders

Oftentimes, people turn to heroin use because they have some underlying mental health conditions that they wish to escape from. In the early days of treatment, it may not be as obvious that you have a dual diagnosis according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) which forms a standard tome in the mental health field.

However, long-term treatment allows your mental health team to survey you and assess you for common mood disorders that contribute to drug abuse.

Catalina Behavioral Health can assist you in coping with these mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mood disorders that influence drug use. You will receive a comprehensive evaluation and customized treatment plan to support you in whatever you may require.

Medically Supervised Detox for Heroin Addiction

When you know that you are going to go through heroin withdrawal, you should really consider enrolling in a medication-assisted treatment facility to get you through the early days. There are several benefits of receiving medical assistance from a team of professionals when it comes to minimizing withdrawal symptoms from your drug addiction.

First, our team at Catalina Behavioral Health can help you to reduce withdrawal symptoms through medication-assisted treatment. We can minimize the physical discomfort that you are likely to experience when it comes to those early symptoms that take place in the first one to three days after last using heroin.

Under a doctor’s supervision, you can use methadone and other medications to make you as comfortable as possible.

In addition to the introduction of medications to minimize detox side effects from heroin use, we also supply you with a team of professionals who understand what you are going through. You can participate in cognitive behavioral therapy, even during the early days of your treatment programs. Some people may also participate in group sessions where they can access social support for their substance use disorder.

Get Through Heroin Withdrawals With Support at Catalina

Once you enter into heroin withdrawal, you are going to be tempted to pick up drugs again in order to feel better. Continued drug abuse will stop the symptoms of withdrawal in the early days, but it will do nothing for you in the long run. Long-term recovery at an accredited heroin rehab facility such as ours is essential to help you learn to live your life to the fullest each and every day.

Being under the guidance of medical professionals like those at Catalina Behavioral Health is the first step toward recovery. While you are in our facility, you will not have the option for heroin use which forces you to commit to your sobriety. We will walk you through the withdrawal process, connect you with support groups, and administer one-on-one counseling.

If you are ready to kick drug dependence to the curb, it starts with a medical detox at Catalina. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you through heroin withdrawal.