How to Stop Using Heroin

Breaking free from heroin addiction is challenging but completely possible, especially with the right support and treatment strategies. This guide provides a detailed overview for individuals seeking how to quit heroin, specifically tailored for telehealth treatment options like Affect’s digital outpaitent addiction treatment program and app.

By understanding the major steps and how heroin addiction treatment differs from prescription opioid painkiller addiction treatment, you can take informed steps towards recovery.

Major Steps to Quit Heroin

• Acknowledge the Problem: Recognize the addiction and decide to seek help.
• Medical Evaluation: Undergo a thorough assessment by a healthcare provider to determine the best treatment plan.
• Detoxification: Safely manage withdrawal symptoms under medical supervision.
• Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT): Use medications like Suboxone to reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
• Behavioral Therapy: Engage in counseling and therapy sessions to address the psychological aspects of addiction.
• Contingency Management: Participate in programs that provide rewards for maintaining sobriety and adhering to treatment.
• Harm Reduction: Implement strategies to reduce the risk of overdose and other negative consequences.
• Ongoing Support: Access support groups and continuous care to maintain long-term sobriety.

What is the Timeline for Heroin Withdrawal?

Withdrawal from opioids like heroin is extremely uncomfortable, but almost never life threatening.

First 24 Hours

• Symptoms Begin: Anxiety, muscle aches, restlessness, sweating, runny nose, insomnia, and agitation.

Days 2-3

• Peak Withdrawal Symptoms: Intense cravings, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, and dilated pupils.

Days 4-7

• Gradual Reduction of Symptoms: Reduced physical symptoms, but psychological symptoms like anxiety, depression, and irritability may persist.

Days 8-14

• Continued Improvement: Physical symptoms typically subside. Sleep disturbances, mood swings, and mild cravings might continue.

Weeks 3-4

• Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS): Emotional and psychological symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and mood swings can linger. Cravings may still occur but are generally less intense.

Months 2-3

• Long-Term Recovery Begins: Most physical symptoms are gone. Ongoing emotional and psychological support is crucial to prevent relapse and manage PAWS symptoms.

Individual experiences can vary. The timeline can be influenced by factors like duration of use, dosage, and individual health conditions.

Using Suboxone for Heroin Addiction

Suboxone, a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone, is an effective medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for heroin addiction.

• Buprenorphine: A partial opioid agonist that helps reduce withdrawal symptoms and cravings without producing the same high as heroin.
• Naloxone: An opioid antagonist included to prevent misuse of Suboxone by injection.

Affect’s medical providers can prescribe suboxone, allowing patients to receive effective treatment from the comfort of their homes. Medical providers do a clinical assessment to determine the right time to start Suboxone and what dosage. Regular virtual check-ins ensure proper use and adjustment of the medication as needed along the recovery journey.

Contingency Management

Contingency management (CM) is a behavioral therapy that uses positive reinforcement to encourage sobriety. Affect’s members earn financial rewards for meeting specific treatment goals like attending therapy sessions and passing drug tests.

• Benefits: Increased treatment retention and reduced drug use.
• Implementation: CM can be effectively managed through telehealth platforms, with digital rewards and monitoring systems.

Harm Reduction Strategies

Harm reduction focuses on minimizing the negative consequences of drug use. For heroin addiction, harm reduction strategies include:

• Fentanyl Test Strips: Provide these strips to test heroin for the presence of fentanyl, a potent opioid often mixed with heroin.
• Naloxone Distribution: Ensure access to naloxone, a medication that can reverse opioid overdoses.
• Safe Injection Practices: Educate on safe injection techniques to reduce the risk of infectious diseases.

Telehealth for Heroin Addiction Treatment

Telehealth offers a convenient and accessible way to receive comprehensive addiction treatment. Benefits include:

• Accessibility: Reach healthcare providers from remote or underserved areas.
• Flexibility: Schedule appointments that fit your lifestyle.
• Privacy: Maintain confidentiality and reduce the stigma associated with seeking treatment.

Affect was designed to make treatment accessible to anyone, anywhere, without going to rehab. Our program is entirely digital and delivered through a smartphone app, which means you can do it from home or work, in the city or in the country. We accept both employer and Medicaid insurance, so you don’t have to worry about high healthcare costs. Affect’s digital program is in the top 1% of all treatment providers. Data shows our program to be twice as effective as traditional methods to treat opioid addictions. Our members praise the program for being able to help them when nothing else has worked.

It’s convenient and cost-effective, but it’s also complete, ensuring you get care that is supported by science and is customized for your needs. Affect’s program uses research-proven techniques and was created by some of the best researchers and scientists in the field of addiction treatment. One of the most powerful parts of Affect’s program is the use of contingency management in the app.

To understand how it works, think about how you win points and beat levels in a game and how good it feels each time you do. The more you win, the more you want to keep playing. And even when it gets hard to beat a level, you keep going until you get that victory. Contingency management turns your recovery into a kind of game you don’t want to stop playing. Along the way, you start developing new healthy habits.

Our members dramatically increase their number of sober days in just the first month. Their energy and health improves and their brains start to recover. With the help of licensed addiction counselors, members explore the roots of their addiction and learn how to identify and control triggers without feeling the need to use opioids. As withdrawal symptoms fade and healthy habits are formed, our members rebuild their lives.

Affect’s program is also unique in supporting “whole recovery.” Care teams include advocates who provide members with support for housing, employment, healthcare and more.

Are you ready to stop using opioids like heroin and morphine and get your life back?

Reach out and talk to us to find out more, or download the app and try it yourself.

Suboxone® is a registered trademark of Indivior PLC. Any reference to it is for informational purposes only, and is not endorsed or sponsored by Indivior PLC.