Heroin is well-known for being the hardest drug to kick once you are addicted to it. That is not surprising once you know that it belongs to a category of drugs that causes nearly every user to become addicted for life. Heroin is an opioid, a drug very similar to opium (because it is a derivative of the seed pod of opium) that allows its users to feel completely calm and absolutely free of any physical or mental/emotional pain. People on heroin have described the sensation of floating, feeling weightless, and being oblivious to their surroundings, which is why the drug is so dangerous. People like those sensations, and they continue to use heroin and other opioids/opiates because of the soothing feelings these drugs provide. 

Of course, the big problem is when people choose to quit. These drugs only continue to make you feel good when you use more frequently and in higher doses as your body adjusts to their effects. When you want to stop, your body reacts so violently that you are in real, physical pain, and your mental/emotional state is out of control. That is why you need detox heroin treatment services and long-term counseling. Here is how this "fast" route to detox operates.

Checking into a Facility, Searched, and Placed in a Padded Room

When you have made the official commitment to getting clean and sober, you check into a detox facility. Once all of the formalities of paperwork are signed and your treatment course explained, you will be searched and have your bag searched for any illegal drugs that have possibly been smuggled into the facility. You will be given a clean set of hospital-issue pajamas and placed into a padded room with zero furniture and no access to anything fragile or breakable for your own protection. 

Detox Begins 

After the first six hours, your body will begin the process of detox. It will not be pleasant, but everyone has to go through it. If the pain gets to be too much, you can ask for a shot of methadone or some other agonist, partial agonist, or antagonist to ease the symptoms. Your admitting doctor will discuss these options with you before you enter the padded room and begin detox. After seventy-two hours, you will have experienced the worst of the worst, and you will gradually be coming around to a state that, while still physically uncomfortable, is no longer in the danger zone of the detox process. Now you will begin the counseling portion. 

Talking Through Cravings and Reasons for Getting Hooked in the First Place

Support therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy will assist you in recognizing "reasons" for getting hooked on heroin at the very start. Talking about it also helps ease cravings, which you will learn that you have to fight the rest of your life. Counseling is required for at least two weeks after detox, although lifetime therapy is recommended.