Quit Heroin with Laser Therapy Treatment

Are you afraid to quit because of severe withdrawal? We can help!

What is heroin?

Heroin is also known as: smack, H, ska, or junk. Heroin is a fast acting, frequently used highly addictive drug. Heroin typically comes in the form of a white or brown powder. Heroin can also come in the form of a sticky black tar-like substance known as "black tar heroin." Heroin that is sold on the street is usually mixed with other drugs and poisons or things like sugar, starch or powdered milk.

Since heroin users never know the actual strength of the drug or what it has been mixed with, they are at a very high risk of overdose or death.

What does heroin do to the body?

Heroin is extremely addictive because it enters the brain so quickly. Once heroin has entered the brain, it is then converted to morphine and binds rapidly to receptors. Users report a pleasurable "rush" or a "high" feeling. The intensity of that feeling is dependent on how much of the drug is used and how rapidly it has entered the brain. Heroin can alter the brain stem –an area of the brain which controls automatic body functions including breathing. Heroin blocks pain messages, therefore major injuries are common. Heroin can also increase pleasurable feelings such as euphoria, which increases the likelihood of addiction.

What are the short-term effects of heroin?

  • Intense "rush" or high feeling
  • Constricted pupils
  • Intense relaxation
  • Warm flushing of the skin
  • Dry mouth
  • Heavy feeling in the limbs
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Severe itching
  • Drowsy feeling, which can last for several hours
  • Slowed mental function
  • Slowed cardiac function
  • Slowed breathing
  • Death

What are the long-term effects of heroin?

  • Skin infections and abscesses
  • Infection of heart lining and valves
  • Liver disease
  • Kidney disease
  • Pulmonary complications (heart problems)
  • Collapsed veins
  • Death

What are the risks?

Heroin users have an increased risk of catching HIV and other blood borne viruses due to dirty needles and multiple sexual partners.

Death due to overdose is the most serious risk, because the amount and purity of heroin is never known.

Addiction to heroin

People who use heroin repeatedly will develop a tolerance for the drug. This tolerance requires them to use increasingly higher amounts of the drug to achieve the feeling they experienced when they first began using. Once that point is reached, the user needs the drug just to feel "normal."

What are symptoms of heroin withdrawal?

  • Intense cravings for more heroin
  • Yawning
  • Runny nose
  • Goosebumps
  • Sweating
  • Chills
  • Crying
  • Anxiety
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Severe abdominal cramps
  • Diarrhea
  • Restlessness
  • Insomnia
  • Dilated pupils
  • Jerking movements
  • Extreme aches and pains
  • Depression
  • Suicidal thoughts

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