Addiction does quite a number on a person. Not only does active addiction truly devastate the physical body, but it has a significant impact on emotional well-being and cognitive functioning. Men and women who use any type of chemical substance for a prolonged period often begin to feel the impact of substance use rather quickly. Those who use heroin, a highly addictive illicit opioid narcotic, are likely to feel the impact of their drug use within a short matter of weeks.
Table of Contents
- 1 Chronic Heroin Abuse Can Cause Severe Health Problems
- 2 Your Health CAN Return Back to Normal After Heroin Addiction
- 3 What Does it Take to Feel Normal After Long-Term Opioid Addiction?
- 4 Give Your Body and Brain Time to Heal From Taking Large Doses of Opiates
- 5 We Offer Comprehensive Heroin Addiction Recovery
Chronic Heroin Abuse Can Cause Severe Health Problems
The symptoms associated with heroin use can be severe, and because addiction is a progressive disease, these symptoms can rapidly get worse. The most common symptoms associated with heroin use include:
- Physical symptoms that are indicative of a heroin problem, which might include track marks on the inner arms, slowed functioning, seeming to slip in and out of consciousness, nausea, and vomiting, chronic constipation, or skin infections
- Behavioral symptoms like isolating cell from friends and family members, changes to sleeping patterns or eating patterns, being more defensive, or not paying attention to personal hygiene
- Psychological symptoms, which might include feelings of depression and sadness, mood swings often characterized by irritability and agitation, and insomnia
Your Health CAN Return Back to Normal After Heroin Addiction
If you have been struggling with heroin addiction for a long time, you might be wondering whether or not you will ever feel normal again. When you are in the throes of active addiction, it can be difficult to separate yourself from your current circumstances. Rest assured that if you do enter into a long-term program of addiction treatment, and you truly give recovery your all, you will feel normal again – in fact, you will feel better than ever.
What Does it Take to Feel Normal After Long-Term Opioid Addiction?
How can you possibly feel normal after using heroin for weeks, months, or years? What can you do to restore your physical health, ease your troubled mind and regain emotional stability? It might seem like an impossible feat – but it isn’t, not as long as you enter into an effective program of addiction recovery. The most important thing is that you stop using heroin, of course. So long as you stay completely clean of all mood and mind-altering chemical substances, you have a great shot of returning your body to a healthy state of functioning sooner rather than later.
Give Your Body and Brain Time to Heal From Taking Large Doses of Opiates
It is also important that you listen to the advice of the medical professionals who work at the treatment center that you are admitted to. If they suggest that you start taking an antipsychotic medication to help with the post-acute withdrawal symptoms, it is a good idea to do so, knowing that you will only be on this medication until these symptoms resolve. It is also absolutely crucial that you engage in self-care, meaning that you take care of your physical body as well as your emotional health and your mental well-being. This means continuing with individual therapy, exercising, eating nutritiously, and generally taking care of yourself. If you do all of these things, you will start feeling normal before long.
We Offer Comprehensive Heroin Addiction Recovery
If you have been abusing heroin for any period, you might feel like you have done permanent damage to your mind and your body, and you might feel like you will never feel normal again. The good news is that recovery is possible, and if you can stay sober for an extended period, there is a good chance that you will feel normal in a matter of months. Of course, it is important to understand that post-acute withdrawal might play a part in your early recovery.
The symptoms of post-acute withdrawal can last for up to several months, and they might make you feel a little bit off of your game. However, many treatment centers – including our program at Garden State Treatment Center – effectively treat the symptoms of post-acute withdrawal with a combination of medications and psychotherapy. Eventually, however, you will start to feel complete and back to normal.