Should You Try Heroin Withdrawal at Home?
No.
That’s the short answer. The longer answer is a bit more complex. Heroin withdrawal at home is pretty much never pleasant. That’s the hard truth. There is a good reason inpatient treatment for heroin addiction is a thing. If heroin withdrawal at home was even a little easy, there would be no inpatient or outpatient treatment for heroin addiction. Everyone who wanted to stop would just hang out on their sofa for a week playing Xbox and ride it out. But you don’t see many people trying heroin withdrawal at home when they have a choice, do you? Just about anyone who can get inpatient treatment for heroin addiction goes that route if they want to quit. Outpatient treatment for heroin addiction isn’t usually as successful on it’s own, but it can be a helpful follow up to treatment in a facility.
Why shouldn’t I try heroin withdrawal at home?
Withdrawal from a powerful opioid like heroin comes with some nasty side effects. Trying heroin withdrawal at home means going through all or most of these with little relief. Even if you have access to some “home remedy” or some Suboxone off the street, be honest. You don’t know what you’re doing. Neither does your friend, no matter what he or she says. The reason inpatient treatment for heroin addiction exists is that relieving withdrawal symptoms right is complicated. Only a trained medical professional can make you as comfortable as possible through all of that.
Here are some of the symptoms you can expect if you try heroin withdrawal at home:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Stomach cramps
- Cold sweats and shakes
- Extreme anxiety
- Anger and depression
- Muscle spasms
- Powerful cravings for opiates
Why should I try inpatient treatment for heroin addiction?
All those nasty symptoms can be reduced by a lot or avoided completely when you’re under a doctor’s care. Not only that, but inpatient treatment for heroin addiction usually includes more than just detox. You will receive a psychological evaluation and therapy, often one on one and in a group setting. Going to treatment for heroin addiction is about more than just getting through withdrawal comfortably. Treatment is designed to help you feel better physically, yes, but also mentally. It is designed to help you understand addiction better. Knowing is half the battle, as they used to say in GI Joe. The other half is action.
When you go to treatment, you learn how to identify your triggers. The feelings, people, places and things which can give you powerful urges to use. You learn how to protect yourself from these triggers. While in treatment you will also learn what you need to do to say drug-free once you leave. No one is going to tell you it’s easy, but it’s definitely better than going through withdrawal on your futon with a bottle of Gatorade. Way better. Maybe the most important thing is that if you choose rehab instead of heroin withdrawal at home, you are way more likely to quit dope for good.
What can I do if I want to quit heroin?
If you found a moment of willingness, use it! Willingness is a treasure. Recovery is tough, but it’s just about impossible without willingness. All willingness means is, you want to quit and you think you’re ready to do something about it. Let’s make that happen for you! If think you’re ready to quit, the first thing you should do is tell someone you trust. Don’t keep it a secret. If people who care about you know you want to stop and you’re talking about it, you are more likely to keep that willingness longer. If you don’t have someone you can tell, that’s OK. Give us a call here and tell us. Almost all of us have been through the same stuff. We get it. We are real people and we understand addiction. We can help you find treatment if that’s what you want.
How does addiction treatment work?
That’s a big question. Let’s keep it simple though. Whether you are looking for cocaine addiction treatment, benzo addiction treatment or alcohol treatment, the path is the same. The first thing you want to do is figure out where you can go to get detoxed safely and comfortably. Heroin withdrawal at home is a mistake. Trying to come off a benzo or alcohol at home can actually kill you. It’s true. Without professional treatment for alcoholism or benzo addiction treatment, you can have a deadly seizure. No matter what you’re addicted to, trying to go it alone or kick at home doesn’t make a lot of sense. Don’t do that to yourself.
The first thing you want to do is give us a call. Tell us what’s going on. Like we said, we have been there. Every person answering the phone here is in recovery. You aren’t going to tell us anything we haven’t heard. No one is here to judge you. We’re just here to help. More than anything, we want you to have what we have. Freedom from addiction. We got our lives back. We got our families back. We aren’t in money trouble or legal trouble. You can have all of that and a lot more. It might seem a million miles away right now, but all it takes is a little bit of trust. Decide you’re going to believe that you CAN do this. Stop trying to go it alone. Stop thinking no one cares and no one understands because that is a lie. Straight up.
OK, let’s do this!
You’ve read this far. You know we’ve dropped a couple of truth bombs up there. There is at least a part of you that believes you can get clean and sober. That’s all you need. Run with it. Right now while you have that little bit of hope, pick up the phone and call us. If you’re not ready to talk on the phone, send us a message. Just make that first contact and we promise things will start to get better.
