Heroin Addiction Help UK

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

As experienced addictions clinicians, we have treated hundreds of patients who seek Heroin Addiction Help UK.

Heroin addiction is a very serious illness: It is certainly not a choice. What starts off as a way to escape from the problems around you, it becomes an all encompassing 24/7 addiction. In the end, you will find your every waking moment having to sustain your addiction.

Here we discuss what Heroin is, why it is problematic and how you can get into recovery.

Overcoming heroin addiction is hard work, but it can be done. Most of the staff in rehab centres are in active recovery themselves and many have overcome heroin addiction.

Getting Heroin Addiction Help UK needs expert help. We provide it: For free.

What is Heroin?

Derived from Morphine, it comes from the seed pod of certain poppy plants that are commonly found in Afghanistan. It is an opioid (pain killer).

Heroin can be used medicinally in the form of diamorphine and is commonly used in childbirth and hospice care. It can be given in tablet form, by injection or infusion.

People caught up in the madness of heroin addiction will, usually, inject it or snort it. It is sometimes used, illicitly, by taking tablets but this is not as common.

Why is Heroin Addictive?

When you take Heroin, the body metabolises it into Morphine. This then makes it’s way to the reward centres and pain pathways in your brain. This then leads to chemical messaging changes which is why you feel euphoria and a reduction in pain.

The problem is that , after a time, your brain becomes used to the presence of heroin on receptors. This leads to a phenomenon known as tolerance. This means that you will need more and more of the drug to have the same effect as the small amount you started with when you first used.

If you try and detox yourself, while you may be able to cope for a day or two, the cravings will be intolerable. Your tolerance will, very quickly, drop meaning that if you succumb to the cravings you will use more than you used to in order to stabilise yourself. You are very likely going to overdose: By accident. This can be fatal.

If you stop, or suddenly reduce how much you use, the brain simply can not cope. Incorrect chemical messaging will occur which is why you experience withdrawals. It is a common misconception that heroin withdrawal is not dangerous. This is simply not true. It can be fatal.

Heroin Addiction Help UK means getting specialist help in a rehab centre.

What Are The Symptoms Of Heroin Withdrawal?

• High body temperature
• Severe aches and pains
• Very heavy sweating, runny nose and tears
• Chronic and explosive diarrhea
• Persistent nausea and vomiting
• 24/7 craving

Forget what you see on television and in the movies. Locking yourself in a room with a bucket, some toilet roll and a bottle of water is not going to work. You will start, very quickly, to feel unwell. Even if you were able to manage the physical symptoms you would not be able to deal with the cravings.

With a lack of tolerance to opioids (because you have not used for a day or two) you are very likely to accidentally overdose. This is because you will use what you think you will need to stabilise. Combine this with a lack of tolerance and you will overdose. This can be fatal. Even if you had access to Naloxone (the reversal agent) it can take repeated doses to keep you alive and you will need emergency medical assistance.

What Is The Treatment For Heroin Addiction?

Substitute prescribing, therapy, relapse prevention and aftercare are the four essential elements of recovery from heroin addiction.

The gold standard for substitute prescribing is Methadone. Forget the urban legends that “methadone rots your teeth” , it “gets in your bones” and “Methadone was invented by Adolf Hitler”: All nonsense.

While Methadone has been around for many decades it continues to show that , used correctly, it can take you from addiction to abstinence.

It works in a similar way to Heroin by attaching itself to opioid receptors. You start by taking a dose sufficent to stop you withdrawing. Then, by reducing the dose over days/weeks you detox from opioids.

You won’t be detoxing from heroin because it is a very short acting drug but you will be detoxing from Methadone. As Methadone is produced in liquid , as well as tablet form, it means a reduction plan can be amended very easily.

Ideally, you would get comfortable on Methadone and stay on it for a year before reducing. However, this would be incredibly expensive! This is because it takes the brain at least six months to adjust from opioid addiction. How quickly you reduce is a discussion between you and your addictions clinician in rehab. The slower the better. However, time is money so a more streamlined reduction plan is going to be lower cost.

Are There Any Alternatives To Methadone?

Yes, though our experienced addictions clinicians advise that getting into treatment is more important than worrying about the medication used.

Buprenorphine (Subutex/Espranor/Buvidal) is a opioid prescription drug that is used to treat chronic pain. Like Methadone, it is also licenced for opioid addiction treatment. It works in a slightly different way and because of that, you need to be in an advanced state of withdrawal before you can start Buprenorphine.

This medication adheres to receptors in a different way to Methadone. While it covers less receptors, it does so more strongly and will dislodge opioids on receptors. This means that if you start treatment with Buprenorphine while you still have heroin on receptors it will dislodge them and push you into withdrawal.

A detox with Buprenorphine can be achieved in a shorter timescale than Methadone. It is given in tablet form (dissolved under the tongue) or in a waver that dissolves on your tongue. Buprenorphine is also available in injection form.

Heroin Addiction Help UK is not solely about substitute prescribing but it is an essential element of recovery.

Can My GP Prescribe Methadone and Buprenorphine?

No. While a GP can prescribe these for chronic pain, it would be incredibly unusual. Due to the way addiction services are commissioned, a GP can not issue a blue NHS prescription which is how these medications are prescribed by community services.

A blue prescription is for medication that is dispensed in installments. Those having treatment in the community will start by attending a chemist, daily. Eventually, they will collect daily or weekly, depending on negative drug screens. This is for maintenance (those staying on Methadone/Buprenorphine).

Sometimes, people reduce on a blue community script provided by local statutory services. However, the rate of success doing this is extremely low.

What About A Private Prescription for Methadone or Buprenorphine?

This is possible. However, without the appropriate addiction focused therapy, relapse prevention and aftercare you are not going to recover.

Addiction is not a choice. It is a symptom of what is going wrong, or has gone wrong. Unresolved childhood trauma, PTSD, relationship problems, work stress: All can lead to addiction. Sometimes it can start with a legitimate prescription for pain relief that gets out of control.

When you are addicted to opioids, painful memories and thoughts are pushed to the back of your mind: This is due to changes in brain chemistry. When you stop using these memories are brought to the front of your mind. With therapy you learn to process them, respond calmly and how to regulate your emotions.

With a private prescription you will have to deal with all of this yourself. There is no help with how to deal with cravings, no help with relapse prevention and no aftercare.

What Happens In Rehab?

In rehab you recover. You will receive substitute medication, adjunctive medication to help with withdrawals, therapy (group and individual) , relapse prevention training and aftercare.

Every rehab centre, the world over, uses a group therapy model. Why? Because it works! Individual sessions (offered weekly in rehab) is exhausting and to have more than one session a week would be counterintuitive.

Your peers know what it is like to be caught up in the madness of addiction. Their trajectory to addiction recovery will be different but there are common themes. Many of the therapists in rehab are also in recovery (as with the support staff).

Dealing with unresolved trauma, untreated mental health issues, family issues will help you to recovery. Addiction is a symptom: Not a cause.

Through workshops and role play (as well as individual sessions) you will learn vital psychological tools you equip you for life after rehab. This is called relapse prevention. Relapse happens, but if you know how to confront it (as well as avoid it) you are in a much better place.

Aftercare is also an essential element of rehab. This is usually a weekly meeting (on site or remote, depending on distance) as well as telephone check in support.

How Can Find Me a Rehab Help?

Our addictions clinicians work in this sector. They prescribe Methadone, Buprenorphine on a daily basis. They can advise you on a treatment plan, where to go for help and how much it is likely to cost.

With the spiralling cost of living, keeping costs down is imperative. While not all centres in the UK provide opioid treatment, the essential elements of treatment are the same. There are high end centres available but you really don’t need organic green tea, yoga with goats and your shakra realigned.

The minimum time for treatment would be a month. In exceptional cases, two weeks. If you rush a detox all that would happen is that you will leave while still withdrawing and experiencing cravings. This is incredibly dangerous.

If you are craving you will, most likely, overdose: by accident. This is because your brain will have lost tolerance and you will take more than you need to steady yourself. A very dangerous combination. Overdose can be fatal.

Using a Voice Over the Internet Platform (VOIP APP) when you ring our number, whichever clinician is free will take your call. While they may work in a different part of the country to you, they all have access to a frequently updated spreadsheet on centres UK wide. Emails are also answered in quick time.

What About Confidentiality And Safety?

We are registered with the Information Commissioners Office. Anything discussed is entirely confidential. No one can be told about your call or email unless you give very specific permission: Not even your GP.

As centres need to be registered with the Care Quality Commission, we only signpost to those that are registered and we always highly recommend you check for yourselves.

If you need Heroin Addiction Help UK, call or email for confidential, free and impartial advice from an experienced addictions clinician.

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