Warning Signs of Heroin Use & Addiction: What to Know
Drug addiction can sneak up on people before they realize it, and this is especially true for heroin. With over 4,000 people dying from heroin overdoses each year, getting a loved one heroin addiction help can be a lifesaving decision.
When you notice unusual behavior and physical changes in someone, it might be time to ask some tough questions, as they might be showing the warning signs of heroin use. Is your child losing weight drastically without a known cause? Is your spouse suddenly jittery and irritable? These may just be one-off occurrences with explanations, but they might point to something deeper.
Our addiction specialists with lived addiction experience have treated thousands of patients battling substance abuse, helping them and their families come to terms with heroin addiction. They’ve compiled a list of some typical physical, psychological, and behavioral changes associated with heroin addiction that could mean the difference between life and death for someone you care about.
Understanding how to notice when someone is struggling with addiction is the first step. By knowing the warning signs of heroin use, you can get someone the help they need before it’s too late.
All About Heroin: A Brief Overview
First, heroin is a type of naturally occurring opioid. They’re different than opiates, which are a class of drugs that include synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, morphine, and others.
Highly addictive with tremendous health and social implications for the user, heroin is classified as a Schedule I substance for a good reason. Schedule I is defined as a drug with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. That’s what makes heroin a more legally unacceptable drug compared to other opioids like morphine or oxycodone, which have medical use but have a high potential for abuse.
What makes heroin dangerous, though, is that it activates the brain’s reward centers quickly, making the user crave that instant “euphoric” feeling constantly and leading to dependency. As a result, the person can suffer from life-threatening withdrawals, including brain damage and lethal organ failure.
Unfortunately, most heroin and other opioids currently distributed contain fentanyl, which is an extremely lethal opioid and combination drug. This is why it’s especially important to spot the warning signs of heroin use early, as there are no benefits to using the drug, and it only leads to the accumulation of deadly effects.
The Warning Signs of Heroin Use
Now that you know about heroin and why it’s so dangerous, knowing how to tell if someone is using drugs is key to getting them help. If you have a loved one who is struggling with substance abuse, knowledge is power. The more you recognize symptoms and signs of heroin use, the more effectively you can offer help and ensure their safety.
Physical Signs of Heroin Use
Specific side effects may be observed physically in the hours following heroin use. Typically, these symptoms last 3 to 5 hours, and, while they may present differently in different individuals, you will likely witness physical changes. In general, these physical signs of heroin use include:
- Vomiting or upset stomach
- Constricted or dilated pupils
- Loss of motor control, resulting in clumsiness or physical disorientation
- Involuntary scratching, as itching occurs during use and withdrawal
- Dipping in and out of consciousness
- Random needle and injection spots on their body
Physical Withdrawal Symptoms to Look Out For
Additionally, other physical signs may be seen after time has passed since someone last used heroin. If someone has developed a heroin dependence, they may begin to experience withdrawal symptoms as soon as 6 to 12 hours after their most recent use, as heroin is a short-acting opioid. Some of those symptoms include the following:
- Severe stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting
- Fevers and feelings of weakness
- Sweating and general discomfort all over the body
- Uncontrollable muscle spasm
These flu-like symptoms of heroin withdrawal can last for a few days, typically peaking in intensity 2 to 3 days after the most recent heroin use. It’s crucial to watch these signs, too, as they can be lethal and require immediate medical attention.
Psychological & Behavioral Signs of Heroin Use
Similar to physical signs, opioid use has a slew of psychological and behavioral indicators that you should learn to recognize. These warning signs include:
- Slowed speech, sounding garbled or difficult to understand
- A sense of euphoria may take over, followed by drowsiness, affecting the person’s overall demeanor and causing them to feel distant or clouded over
- Appearing more anxious, stressed, jittery, or irritable
Psychological Signs of Withdrawal to Look Out For
Psychological and behavioral signs become noticeably more visible when a person enters the withdrawal phase. Also beginning 6 to 12 hours following the most recent opioid use, some common behavioral withdrawal symptoms include:
- Depression and anxiety symptoms
- Dysphoria and psychosis, meaning they seem out of touch with their body and identity
- Insomnia, which leads to irritability and constant exhaustion
- Paranoia or hallucinations
Behavioral withdrawal signs can last 5-10 days in total, so it’s critical to be mindful of these signs over a period of time as well.
Major Effects of Heroin Addiction
Heroin addiction affects the body, mind, and life both in the short and long term. Here are some of the critical effects that you should be aware of as you work towards getting someone help.
4 Short-Term Effects of Heroin Use
1. Physical Dependence
It doesn’t take long to become addicted to heroin, and the risks of addiction continue to grow with each additional day of use. Short and fast gratification can quickly lead to increased tolerance levels, which ultimately lead to dependence. In turn, this pushes the drug user into unpleasant and dangerous withdrawal symptoms if they cease using heroin.
2. Poor Performance in Work or School
As addiction develops, it’s common for a lack of motivation in professional, educational, and social obligations to set in. As fixation on drug use grows, other vital elements of life may fade into the background and seem insignificant. This can have a rapid negative impact on performance at work, in school, or in interpersonal relationships.
3. Secrecy & Suspicious Behavior
It’s also common for people struggling with heroin addiction, especially early on, to hide their behavior from people around them. Your loved one may start making strange excuses for missing obligations or lying about their whereabouts or who they are spending time with. If habits change out of nowhere and a person becomes more withdrawn, this could be a sign of heroin use and addiction.
4. Fixation on Paraphernalia & Drug Culture
Often, people who have newly become dependent on opioids will begin collecting paraphernalia for drug use. This can include balloons, baggies, metal or glass pipes, aluminum foil, and syringes. If your loved one starts randomly collecting these strange objects, it’s a sign that’s definitely worth looking into.
5 Long-Term Effects of Heroin Use
1. Increased Tolerance for Heroin
The longer that someone continues to use opioids, the riskier the behavior becomes. The person struggling with addiction will need to ingest larger doses to feel the same euphoric effects. As tolerance for the drug builds up, individuals may spend more money on heroin and put their health in greater danger to obtain drugs. This leads to a vicious cycle that morphs into severe addiction.
2. Physical Deterioration
The longer that drug use persists, the greater the physical effects on the body. Frequent intravenous users of opioids may be riddled with track marks and could potentially develop collapsed veins and skin abscesses. Loss of color in the skin, teeth deterioration, easy scarring of the skin, signs of early aging, and unhealthy weight loss are also common long-term effects of sustained heroin use.
3. Loss of Community & Family
Heroin use has grave consequences on the family unit and the person’s social network. Prolonged heroin use can chip away at a person’s sense of community as they become increasingly isolated; the more time spent searching for the next fix and hiding habits, the less connected they’ll be to the world outside of substance use. As such, the long-term effects are felt by the person struggling with addiction and their communities and children for years to come.
4. Financial Struggles & Employment Loss
Heroin can be an expensive addiction to sustain. The substances themselves are costly, and the euphoria experienced is relatively short-lived. To stave off cravings, people will need to continue buying more frequently and in larger amounts.
Simultaneously, heroin addiction can become all-consuming and cause a lack of motivation, resulting in loss of employment and income. Heroin addiction demands money to sustain and often eliminates a person’s source of financial security, making it a vicious double-edged sword that can lead to severe financial struggle.
5. Greater Risk of Death Beyond Overdose
Heroin is one of the deadliest addictions; with only one small mistake, a loved one can die, and not just from an overdose. It’s easy to get careless when using heroin, which is what leads to its greatest dangers. If someone injects heroin, they are at serious risk of long-term infections and diseases, such as HIV, Hepatitis C and B, and bacterial infections. If left untreated, these conditions can increase the risk of death.
Getting Resources for You & Your Loved One
After you’ve spotted the warning signs of heroin use, it can feel like a major challenge to not just get them help but also get information for yourself on what to do. Finding ways to help a family member addicted to drugs can be difficult, but we have resources for your loved one on how to achieve recovery, and resources for you to help navigate life with addiction in your family or community.
Our Family & Friends Program offers a variety of services, including a library of resources and group therapy, all focused on giving you the information and support you need to protect yourself in the face of addiction. You can also get our best articles in our FREE downloadable e-book, “A Loved One’s Guide to Life with Addiction,” to help you get everything you need to know about addiction.
Heroin addiction destroys the person and the people they care about, but help is always available. Until your loved one is ready to take that first step, we encourage you to explore our Family & Friends Program and get the tools to take back control of your life.
About Master Center
Master Center is a groundbreaking addiction treatment program headquartered in Glen Allen, Va. Based on a vision of comprehensive outpatient care, Master Center was launched in 2016 and now includes locations throughout the Commonwealth.
Master Center offers a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach rarely seen in the outpatient setting, staffed by experienced addiction physicians, psychiatrists, counselors, therapists, and peer recovery coaches.
