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Brighton Hospital would like to invite anyone who has an interest in drug/alcohol addiction to join them for the 100% made in Michigan charity screening of Annabelle and Bear, a movie which dramatically depicts the story of a lovable young girl caught in the web of parental heroin addiction, deception and danger. Also The Lois Wilson Story….

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Heroin is a highly addictive drug derived from morphine, which is obtained from the opium poppy. It is a “downer” that affects the brain’s pleasure systems andinterferes with the brain’s ability to perceive pain. Thus, it is used as pain killer or as a recreational drug. Moreover, it has an extremely high potential for dependence.

Depending upon the preference of the user and the drugs’ purity. Heroin can be used in different ways. It can be injected into a vein, injected into a muscle, smoked in a water pipe, mixed in a regular cigarette, inhaled as smoke through a straw, known as “chasing the dragon,” snorted as powder via the nose.

The short-term effects of heroin abuse appear soon after a single dose and disappear in a few hours. After an injection of heroin, the user reports feeling a surge of euphoria together with a warm flushing of the skin, a dry mouth, and heavy extremities. Following this initial euphoria, the user goes “on the nod,” an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Mental functioning becomes clouded due to the depression of the central nervous system. Other effects included decreased and slurred speech, slow gait, constricted pupils, droopy eyelids, impaired night vision, vomiting, constipation.

Long-term effects of heroin appear after repeated use for some period of time. Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, cellulites, and liver disease. Pulmonary complications, including different types of pneumonia, may result from the poor health condition of the abuser, as well as from heroin’s depressing effects on respiration. In addition to the effects of the drug itself, street heroin may have additives that do not really soften and result in clogging the blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. This can cause infection or even death of small patches of cells in vital organs. Tolerance develops with regular use of heroin. This means the abuser must use more heroin to achieve the same intensity or effect.

Physical dependence and heroin addiction develops as higher doses are used over time. With physical dependence, the body has adapted to the existed of the drug and withdrawal symptoms may occur if use is reduced. Withdrawal, which in regular abusers may occur as early as a few hours after the last administration, produces drug craving, restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea and vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps (“cold turkey”), kicking movements (“kicking the habit”), and other symptoms. Major withdrawal symptoms hit the highest point between 48 and 72 hours after the last does and subside after about a week. Sudden withdrawal by seriously dependent users who are in poor health can be fatal.

Moreover, the withdrawal syndrome from heroin may begin within 6 to 24 hours of discontinuation of the drug; however, this time frame can vary with the degree of tolerance as well as the amount of the last consumed dose. Symptoms may include: sweating, malaise, anxiety, depression, priapism, extra sensitivity of the genitals in females, general feeling of heaviness, cramp-like pains in the limbs, excessive sneezing, tears, rhinorrhea, sleep difficulties (insomnia), cold sweats, chills, severe muscle and bone aches; nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, and fever.

Heroin addiction, just like any other drug addiction starts with occasional use of the drug, which later on would become a habit. This is so because it causes some chemicals in the brain to become dependent to the drug. Moreover, the body itself craves for the drug because of its pleasurable effects. It is relaxing, thus the person feels positively about the drug. And even though it gets to the point that the drug is starting to deteriorate the person, he or she could not get away with it anymore, because he or she has become dependent on heroin. Thus, when the drug intake is suddenly ended, the person experiences withdrawal symptoms. With this, professional help is needed for recovery.

Heroin addiction is a serious threat to society. Heroin affects the chemical balance of the human brain and alters it which explains the new ways of thinking and behavior of a heroin user. Moreover, as the body starts tolerating the drug, the body would require increased dosage to be able to feel the “high”. And so, dependency on the drug happens. And with dependency, the person would frequently be hungry for the drug and could not live normally without the drug.This is how an individual develops heroin addiction.

Although quite difficult, addiction is a battle that can always be defeated together with the right determination and self-will. The main step in treating heroin addiction is definitely accepting and realizing that there is really a problem. Once, the problem is recognized, the will to transform and start a new life away from heroin should also be realized. Family members and loved ones could be of great help as the person deals with the problem. Fighting addiction, on the other hand, is not an easy process.

Even if the addiction was individually done, the addiction cannot be defeated alone. Support from loved ones and most probably, seeking professional help would be greatly recommended. Once the person admitted the need for heroin help, the process of seeking the right rehabilitation program begins. Most likely one would enter a heroin help program that will provide the addict with a place to live and around the clock care as he/she starts the process of heroin detoxification. Clinics and rehabilitation centers that has fully trained medical professionals can calculate the state and decide how to go forward with taking the drugs out of the system and restoring the physical well-being suitably to start the person on the road to recovery.

On the other hand, depending on the person’s health, emotional state, and the amount of heroin one normally do in a twenty-four hour period, the process of heroin withdrawal may require different approaches. In some programs, addicts enter a step-down style of program, which essentially means weaning off heroin while using other opiates to deal with the cramps, hallucinations, and other symptoms that often occur during the withdrawal process. By working directly with the doctors and caregivers, your response to a given line of treatment can be monitored and adjusted as needed.

Going through a detoxification program is only one aspect of overall heroin help. There are still many process that an addict must undergo in order fro him or her to get away from the problem. This is where family and loved ones’ roles enters. They may supply the addict with a place to live as he or she achieves strength and startss to mend broken relationships and seeks for a job. Local addict therapy and support groups will allow one to network with other people dedicated to overcoming drug addictions and reclaiming their lives. These types of heroin help and support can give the motivation to keep moving forward even on days when the temptation to begin using again is very strong.

Heroin addiction is very destructive if prolonged. It destroys lives not only the life of the addict but also the life of the people around him/her, most especially those who cared. The user may become someone else rather than his real self, due to the effect of the drug. Emotional issues may underlie the problem of using heroin and so, during treatment, cognitive-behavioral therapy should be given on the patient for a holistic treatment. As the person tries to pull though from the addiction, he or she would sooner or later go out into the real world again and start a new life.

One should always be vigilant of the dangers of heroin addiction that one should always be ready to offer help to treat this kind of problem.

Heroin is the substance that is known to be commonly abused. It is a highly addictive drug taken from morphine, obtained from the opium poppy. It acts on the individual quickly, as fast as 3 to 6 seconds. Heroin is. It affects the brain’s gratification systems and disrupts the brain’s ability to perceive pain. With heroin, pain receptors of the brain are blocked, thus, the person is less likely to feel pain once he/she takes in the drug.

Originally, heroin was promoted as a non-addictive drug. In fact, the name heroin means “heroic treatment” taken from the German word heroisch. From 1898 to 1910, it was marketed as a non-addictive morphine alternative and cough medicine for children. However, in 1924, the United States’ “Heroin Act” made it prohibited to possess or manufacture heroin in the country.

Today heroin is typically sold as a brownish powder or as the black sticky substance known as the “black tar heroin”.

Heroin is commonly snorted. A heroin dependent individual usually injects himself four times a day. Intravenous injection offers the supreme intensity and most fast set of euphoria. After about 7 to 8 seconds following the injecting, the person would then feel the rush. Intramuscular injection produces as slower onset of euphoria. Injection continues to be the main method of heroin use among addicted users seeking treatment; however, researchers have seen a shift in heroin use patterns, from injection to sniffing and smoking. In fact, snorting heroin is now the most widely reported means of taking heroin among users admitted for drug treatment.

In the brain, heroin is converted to morphine and binds rapidly to opioid receptors. The addict would feel a enjoyable feeling. The intensity of the rush would depend on the amount of the drug. The rush is usually accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and the heavy feeling in the extremities, which may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and severe itching. After the preliminary effects, abusers usually will be drowsy for a few hours. Mental function is clouded by heroin’s effect on the central nervous system. Cardiac function slows. Breathing is also severely slowed, sometimes to the point of death. Heroin overdose is a particular risk on the street, where the amount and purity of the drug cannot be accurately known.

The long-term effect of heroin is another thing to be discussed. Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, cellulites, and liver disease. Moreover, the most detrimental long-term effects of heroin is dependence to the substance itself. Heroin abuser eventually becomes too dependent on the drug that he/she spends most of his/her time and energy obtaining and using the drug. Once they become addicted, the addicts’ main purpose of living is seeking and using the drug. Furthermore, with continuous use, this could cause death to the addict.

Heroin addiction is not free from withdrawal symptoms, once the use is stopped. The withdrawal syndrome from heroin can begin within 12 hours of discontinuation of the sustained use of the drug: sweating, malaise, anxiety, depression, persistent and intense penile erection in males, general feeling of heaviness, cramp-like pains in the limbs, yawning and lachrymation, sleep difficulties, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, cramps and fever can happen. There is also a significant risk of grand mal seizures, which can lead to stroke possibly resulting in permanent disability which includes blindness or paralysis, or heart attacks which can potentially be fatal.

The drug heroin is quite lethal especially to those users whose health is in poor condition. Heroin can serve as a teratogen among pregnant users. Among pregnant addicts, not only does the drug affect the user, but it greatly affects the baby.

One of the most dangerous substance abuse is heroin dependency because it can be a cause on why an individual continues to live. Consequently, treatment is not that easy. It takes time, effort, and will power for an addict to be treated.

Oxycontin is a white, odorless, crystalline powder derived from the opium alkaloid. It is the brand name for a powerful painkiller called oxycodone hydrochloride. This drug is used as a mild to severe pain reliever for patients with chronic pain. Cancer patients are commonly prescribed with this substance and it has been acknowledged for its long lasting pain relieving quality.

Oxycontin does not just lessens pain but it also gives the body a relaxing and euphoric feeling. This substance has a time-release structure that will last for 12 hours. This drug is safe and nondestructive provided that it is taken properly. Once abused, addiction would always follow. Abusing it is through chewing, crushing, or dissolving the pill into liquid form, and then eating the solution. When the drug is released, the effect is similar to heroin. Oxycontin addiction shows through chronic use and increasing tolerance so that more of the drug is needed to feel the same effects day by day. Consequently, like any other addiction, life is slowly disrupted and destroyed.

Addiction to this drug forces the person to take in more dosage otherwise they would experience physical pain. Oxycontin addiction also has side effects this includes insomnia, muscle and bone pain, sweats, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, stomach cramping, and muscle twitching. Severe side effects could be highly dangerous.

Oxycontin is a prescription drug and is use to lessen pain. However, when it is abused and used for the purposes it also elicits dangerous effects maybe not sooner, but later on as the euphoric effect subsides. Once an individual experiences the “high” brought on by oxycontin, the person is reinforced to take in more to achieve the same “high” feeling. This condition is now called addiction. One former oxycontin addict testified that within a very small amount of time of consuming the tablet, he felt like superman, he could work all day, go home, and play with his kids. He has the notion that he could do everything he wanted. Common sense would tell us that the immediate effects of the drug are very attractive. As time would pass, nonstop intake of the drug would lead to dependence. The problem begins when you could not get away with the drug.

Dependents on oxycontin admits that they have become dependent on the drug, however, it’s the physical will to discontinue taking the drug that is too difficult to deal with. Why is this so? One, they have become very dependent on the drug and two, stopping would mean painful side effects. Yes, the drug may be man’s best friend but once you turn your back on it, it becomes a snake that poisonously bites it could kill you. Once the intake of the substance is stopped by an addict, he/she is more likely to experience withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal syndrome is characterized by dysphoria, the opposite of euphoriathat entails sadness, depression, anxiety, and craving. Nothing really lasts forever.

A medical professional is always needed to cure oxycontin dependency. There are a number of means to treat oxycontin addiction. This includes medication and behavioral and counseling approaches. Methadone can be used as an effective medication that eliminates withdrawal symptoms and relieves drug craving. Another way of treating opioid addiction is through rapid detox. Furthermore, medication should go hain in hand with counseling and behavioral therapy because addiction is not only biological but psychological.

Oxycontin is a drug prescribed by doctors to eliminate mild to severe pain and it is used among cancer patients who experience extreme pain. Nevertheless, when addiction sets in, one should be prepared to go rehab for a treatment.

Drugs authorized to be legally distributed are present for the purpose of providing health benefits to one’s body. In such a way, doctors prescribe these drugs and patients take these drugs to alleviate their pain and make their conditions better. However, these drugs may not be that angelic all the time. These drugs can help an addict in the detoxification and withdrawal process but these may also in turn become another substance of abuse in the long run. Drugs like these should be prescribed with close and careful guidance by the physician.

A synthetic opioid used to cure individuals suffering from pain is known as methadone. It is a rigorously well-tested medication that is protected and efficacious for the treatment of narcotic withdrawal and dependence. Heroin gives off an excess of dopamine in the body and causes users to need an opiate continuously occupying the opioid receptor in the brain. Methadone occupies this receptor and is the stabilizing factor that permits addicts on methadone to modify their behavior and to stop using heroin. Methadone suppresses narcotic withdrawal for about 24 to 36 hours. However, this is only successful in cases of dependency to heroin, morphine, and other opioid drugs. Methadone stops the high from heroin but it does not offer the euphoric rush.

Through the test of time, methadone has been successful in reducing crime, death, disease, and drug use. This substance is known to be the most efficient cure for heroin addiction. It also prevents HIV/AIDS. It may be trivial, but methadone maintenance treatment lessens the frequency of injecting and needle sharing. Moreover, methadone treatment lessens unlawful behavior and almost eliminates heroin use.

But, just like any other opioid drugs, absolute exploiting of methadone and without proper guidance could possibly lead to tolerance and eventually cause drug dependency. Researches suggest that long time use of methadone for treatment is medically safe provided that it is taken under the approval of a physician.

Deaths occur more frequently at the beginning of treatment in methadone programs; they are usually a cause of abusive doses (i.e. erroneously estimated tolerance) and they are affected by related diseases (hepatitis, pneumonia). This substance commonly entails the complete spectrum of opioid side effects, including the development of tolerance and physical and psychological dependence. Respiratory depressions are quite harmful. The released histamines can cause hypotension.

Methadone dependency occurs when the body tolerates the drug thus, asking for higher dosage in the long run. And, once the habit is discontinued, withdrawal would occur. The physical changes brought by the drug are similar to other opiates; suppressed cough reflex, contracted pupils, drowsiness and constipation. Some methadone users experience sickness when they first use the drug. A woman using methadone cannot have regular periods but there is still a possibility of conceiving. Methadone is a long-acting opioid; it has an effect for up to 36 hours and can stay in your body for several days.

Is methadone more likely to kill you than heroin? Experts believe that methadone will never be an innocent substance. One’s methadone maintenance is another’s poison. Actually, it depends mainly on the tolerance of the person. A tolerant person could take in methadone without feeling any ill effects, but not a non-tolerant person. For precaution it is sensible to begin with low dosage and gradually increasing it, if the necessity to use methadone really arise. Also, experts have found out that methadone has been used illegally in the streets as a substitute for heroin. Thus, causing more death than heroin.

Methadone is a drug used to counterpart substance addiction yet tolerance may occur leading to addiction. There is irony in this substance. You think it’s safe but you suddenly becoming dependent to it.

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