Why is heroin addiction so difficult to overcome?

Answer 1

Heroin is almost impossible to quit. 1 out of 10 heroin addicts in their lifetime will get clean from the disease. I have been an addict for almost 7 years now. I have a good job and had a good upbringing, and still was dumb enough to fall into the addiction. I had 4 months clean after rehab, and have been using again for almost 8 months. Its very depressing. You cannot quit because not only is it psychologically addicting, but its physically addicting. heroin addicts continue to use for the fear of being sick. This sickness can last weeks if you are a heavy user trying to detox. It all depends on you usage. Do not use this drug ever. You will start out thinking you can handle doing it one or 2 days a week, then the next thing you know, its to late. That's the situation I am in again, and its horrible. Suboxone is an alternative, but that itself is horrible to detox off. The best way is to go cold turkey and go to rehab if you have that option. I took suboxone for a year along with heroin when I didn't take it, and it just makes it worse.

Answer 2

The drug causes a very pleasurable high. Once a person is used to it and has been using it for a while, like a month or two, or even less, cessation of use causes extreme discomfort. The longer the person has been using it and the greater the dose, the greater the withdrawal's discomfort will be. It is unbearable. Most users would resort to crime to obtain their fix if they had to.

All opiates, including legally prescribed ones can lead to withdrawal when usage is stopped. I was once on Vicodin for three months after a severe back injury. The active synthetic opiate is hydrocodone. I was prescribed 40 mg a day or 8 pills. When my doctor took me off of them, he told me I might suffer some withdrawal symptoms like tiredness, excessive yawning, extra sensitivity to pain, chills and cold sweat. I experienced them all along with frequent waves of goose flesh or goose pimples and a general sick feeling for a few days. Heroin is much stronger and addictive than Vicodin, so I can imagine it must be very bad.

Answer 3

An addiction to opiates such as heroin and morphine is both psychological and physiological. The "high" (histamine release) associated with these drugs is a release from normal intellectual and emotional concerns, and for many addicts is preferable to reality. But even more importantly, the reactions of the human body to these drugs is one of dependence, because when these drugs begin to wear off, the withdrawal symptoms are severe and continuous. The only certain way to alleviate the pain, cramps, shaking, nausea, fever, and general malaise is to again use the drug, or something like it.

Heroin, codeine, and morphine are not the only drugs that create a cycle of addiction. But they are among the most prevalent and powerful. For some addicts, the substitute narcotic methadone is used to gradually reduce an addiction.