About Heroin Abuse

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is similar for both opioid and heroin addiction to help reduce withdrawal symptoms. It also helps relieve the urge to use it as well. Methadone was the only medication able to be used in the past to help with heroin addiction. Methadone in itself is a highly addictive substance, whereas now fortunately there are more medications available to help treat heroin addiction. Though, it is dependent on an individual’s drug experience, patterns of behavior, and overall health history. All these factors are taken into consideration in choosing the appropriate drugs in helping to assist.

Achieving Lighter Symptoms with Heroin Detox

When choosing a treatment center in helping you treat your heroin addiction there are important things to be certain of. It is important to make sure they have a certified opioid treatment program, they have a medical doctor on staff, and they allow medication-assisted treatment (MAT).

It is highly medically recommended to participate in an inpatient medically supervised detox. This way you will be medically supervised 24/7 for your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) can be beneficial through the detox process and throughout treatment because it can help minimize the harsh effects of withdrawal symptoms,

These are the symptoms you may experience in withdrawing from heroin:

  • Bone pain
  • Diarrhea
  • Cold flashes
  • Vomiting
  • Muscle cramping

In addition to general weakness overall, nausea, sneezing, and restlessness, are also common withdrawal symptoms. You also are more than likely to experience depression and insomnia as well.

Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Heroin Addiction

Each drug that is designed to treat heroin addiction can target specific elements within addiction. They are FDA-approved, and they help lessen withdrawal symptoms as a person goes through detox. However, some medications can be used long-term as well, even for years to come.

  • Methadone – Used for well more than fifty years, for heroin addiction treatment. It blocks a person from experiencing the high from heroin. It also works very well for those who do not respond to other medications. Yet it is highly addictive and it is very monitored in daily doses to prevent abuse and overdose.
  • Buprenorphine (commonly known as Subutex) – Does not produce a high and reduces the craving for heroin. Less risk of becoming addicted to it, although it still can become habit-forming and abused through injection.
  • Naltrexone – Also blocks the ability to experience the heroin’s high. This medication is non-addictive. The long-acting forms of this drug are more effective for compliance among patients.
  • Suboxone – A medication mixture of buprenorphine and naloxone, it helps reverse an opioid overdose. Although, it is not as potent as buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone.

For those who are pregnant, medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is approved. Heroin use during pregnancy is catastrophic. It leads to neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), which is a condition where the baby is born with a full-blown heroin addiction. Receiving medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in pregnancy can usually help the baby have milder symptoms and recover after birth.

Treatment for Heroin Addiction

Heroin addiction treatment involves other therapy treatments as well, which is paramount to success. Learning new habits and behaviors and discarding old ones is critical in preventing common situations that prompt relapse.

Relapse rates are very high when it comes to Heroin. At least eight out of ten heroin addicts in recovery will relapse at least once, if not multiple times. Although, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve failed forever. It just shows that relapse is common in the battle of fighting heroin addiction. Though, with all substance abuse disorders and addictions there are many components to it.

Healing from various underlying traumas, including other mental health issues, and keeping with the consistency to cultivate and maintain a new lifestyle. A lifestyle that doesn’t include people and places where heroin use is present. All the while coping with stressful life events without needing heroin to escape from them.

Individual therapy, group therapy, and family therapy all can be done inpatient (IOP), outpatient (OP), or partial hospitalization program (PHP), in our treatment facility, here at Sylvia Brafman, after completing our medically supervised detox program. You will more than likely find it very beneficial when taking advantage of our career program and our professional program in addition to what we have to offer.

To help support your recovery journey we also have several wellness programs to offer. These programs such as art therapy, physical fitness, meditation, music therapy, vitamin therapy, and yoga. However, we do have other wellness programs too.

We believe that there’s an appropriate combination of medical, therapeutic, spiritual, and physical approaches to treatment. This combination, it should be unique to every individual. Therefore, for it to be successful the treatment needs to be set up to ensure it is so.

Family is a major part of supporting the journey of healing for the individual. We strongly believe in the family dynamic and the participation of family members being involved in treatment. Our belief extends that the entire family gets sick from mental illness, but at the same token, the family can also heal as well, together.

>Treatment for Heroin Addiction

Get Heroin Abuse Treatment Today

When it comes to addiction, we also believe that aside from there being mental, spiritual, and physical factors. There are also genetic factors as well. In addition to a self-centered worldview due to impacts from unresolved trauma. All of which should be treated accordingly. However, we believe in a 12-step program and do not believe in dividing those into categories of addicts versus non-addicts.

Challenging one’s belief system is one of our cores to our clinical philosophy. Confronting flawed patterns of thinking in a caring and empathetic manner, with patience. As well as treating any chemical imbalances with proper prescription medication.

These are some of the ways we believe in successfully targeting treatment for heroin addiction at Sylvia Brafman Mental Health Center. Call us today, if you have any more questions about our treatment facility at (954) 758-4174

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