Side Effects of Heroin Addiction and Why You Shouldn’t Ignore Them

Over 60,000 Floridians were getting treatment for substance use disorder in 2021. The unfortunate reality is that everyone with a substance use disorder experienced side effects of some kind.

If you are living with a substance use disorder, you’ve experienced some of those side effects firsthand. Your first instinct might be to muscle through. You’ve accepted these side effects as a part of participating in substance use. But the longer you wait to address these side effects, the more they’re going to impact your mind and body. You’re worth the effort it takes to be healthy.

At Real Recovery Solutions, we know that recovering from substance use isn’t easy, but it’s necessary if you want to live a long and healthy life. That’s why we’re diving into the side effects of heroin addiction that you shouldn’t ignore.

Understanding Heroin and Heroin Use Disorder

To understand the side effects of heroin use disorder, it’s important to understand what heroin is. Heroin is a semi-synthetic opioid derived from the opium found in poppies. The substance works by attaching to opioid receptors in the brain, affecting the central nervous system. Heroin is a depressant known for the euphoric sense of relaxation that it produces.

This euphoria often leaves people wanting more opioids. This can quickly spiral into someone taking heroin all the time and developing a heroin use disorder, which occurs when you have a physical and psychological dependence on the substance. Unfortunately, there are many negative side effects associated with the condition. The good news is that heroin use disorder is completely treatable with the right support. If you or a loved one is living with a heroin use disorder, you can recover, but it’s important to understand the side effects you may experience as a result of your condition. Let’s dig into them now.

What Are the Physical Side Effects of Heroin Addiction?

Heroin has many potential physical side effects. They can vary slightly depending on the way you consume heroin. For example, smoking heroin can cause damage to the lungs and mouth. On the other hand, if you snort heroin, the short-term damage will be centralized in the nose. If you inject heroin, you’ll experience scabbing or sores at the injection site.

It’s not just the method of consumption that has side effects. Since heroin is an illicit substance, there is no standardized production process. You never know for sure what exactly is in the heroin you take. Even if you have experience taking heroin, you could have an unexpected reaction if there is a new ingredient in what you’re taking.

Once heroin is in your system, it causes many specific side effects. Let’s discuss some of them in detail now.

Understanding the Short-Term Side Effects of Heroin

Heroin causes a number of physical side effects that you need to be aware of if you or someone you love is taking heroin.

Heroin is a depressant, so it causes the entire body to slow down. This causes slowed heart rate and breathing, which can be dangerous. Other common side effects of heroin include drowsiness, numbness, narrow pupils, lack of coordination, and fading in and out of consciousness. Flushed skin, itchiness, dry mouth, and insomnia can also be short-term side effects of heroin use.

Understanding the Long-Term Side Effects of Heroin

The longer heroin use goes on, the more damage heroin causes to the body. In the long term, heroin use disorder causes serious health problems.

If you’re concerned that someone you know is taking heroin, you might notice weight loss or other visible signs like changes in hygiene.

Many of the side effects of heroin use disorder affect the body internally. Common health problems caused by heroin use disorder include:

• Kidney and liver disease
• Lung problems
• Damages to your immune system (difficulty fighting off infections)

When you inject heroin, you put yourself at risk for certain health issues specific to needle use, including:

• Collapsed veins
• Inflammation of the cardiovascular system
• HIV
• Hepatitis B
• hepatitis C
• Fungal or bacterial

What Are the Psychological Side Effects of Heroin Addiction?

Heroin use disorder also has psychological side effects. Heroin use often leads to psychological symptoms, including memory problems, poor concentration, and impaired judgment. It can also cause severe emotional instability and mood swings, as well as depression and anxiety. In more severe cases, people experience paranoia and hallucinations caused by regular heroin use.

Behavioral Changes Caused by Heroin Addiction

As part of the psychological changes caused by heroin use disorder, you might also notice your behavior start to change. You’ll likely withdraw from friends and avoid hobbies you used to enjoy in favor of spending more time taking heroin. You could find yourself frequently borrowing or stealing money to make sure you have enough to buy heroin.

Another common behavioral change is failing to fulfill responsibilities at work or home, either due to the cognitive impairments caused by heroin addiction or so you can spend more time taking heroin. You’ll likely find yourself lying to the people you love about where you are and what you’re doing to lower their suspicions.

If you find that you’ve experienced a lot of these behavioral changes since you started taking heroin, you’re likely experiencing a heroin use disorder. You might know that what you’re doing isn’t sustainable and is hurting the people you love. Even when you know you need to change your behavior, heroin use disorder can make that difficult. With therapy and other treatments, you can learn to change your harmful behaviors.

Understanding the Risk of Heroin Withdrawal

Heroin withdrawal is one of the most common long-term side effects of heroin use disorder. When you develop a physical dependence on heroin or another opioid, you’ll experience withdrawal when you don’t take opioids. Heroin withdrawal symptoms often mimic those of the flu. While withdrawal symptoms aren’t typically life-threatening, they are uncomfortable. These symptoms usually start within 8 to 24 hours after your last dose and end within about 10 days.

Common physical symptoms of heroin withdrawal include:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Chills
• Muscle spasms, cramps, and pain
• Fever
• High blood pressure
• Unusually fast breathing and heart rate

You may also experience psychological symptoms of withdrawal, such as irritability, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances. Short-term memory issues, difficulty concentrating, and trouble making decisions are also common symptoms of withdrawal.

Cravings are another common feature of withdrawal from heroin. This intense desire for heroin, along with the other uncomfortable side effects of withdrawal, make it very difficult to quit heroin on your own. If you’ve tried to quit using heroin on your own and can’t, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. With the right treatment and the support of a recovery-focused community, you will live a life free of heroin.

Understanding the Risk of Heroin Overdose

Another major concern associated with heroin use disorder is the possibility of an overdose. A heroin overdose occurs any time you take more heroin than your body can handle. It can happen to anyone, from someone trying heroin for the first time to people who’ve taken it daily for years. The more often you take heroin, the more chances there are for you to overdose.

Overdose is a major concern if you’ve recently returned to use after some time not taking heroin. If your tolerance has weaned during that time, returning to your usual dose could easily result in an overdose.

Common symptoms of a heroin overdose include blueish lips and fingertips, a low heart rate, slowed or stopped breathing, excessive sweating, and gurgling noises. During an overdose, oxygen stops making its way through the body, which causes serious harm to the brain and other vital organs.

If an overdose goes untreated, it can result in death. If you or someone you love is experiencing a heroin overdose, it’s important to get immediate medical attention. Naloxone can be used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

How Heroin Addiction Is Treated in Tampa, Florida

If you or someone you love is living with heroin use disorder, it’s time to consider heroin rehab. You’ll receive evidence-based treatments in a good program, including cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). In CBT, you and your therapist will work to get to the root cause of your heroin use disorder. You’ll identify the relationship between your thoughts, feelings, and actions. Then, you can reframe unhelpful thoughts and develop healthier habits and thought processes.

Real Recovery Solutions has Florida’s largest sober living network, with countless alumni testimonials on how effective our treatment methods are. Between our substance use disorder treatment facility in Tampa and various sober living homes across the coast of Florida, we can see you all the way from inpatient treatment through a year of sober living. If you’re serious about recovery from heroin use disorder, we’re serious about doing everything we can to set you up for success on that journey. Call us at 813-373-6762 to learn more about how we can help today. 

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