Heroin addiction and preventing heroin overdose symptoms is a crucial topic to understand. Heroin is a dangerous drug that may cause a variety of health risks, including severe and potentially fatal overdoses. Therefore, it is essential to know the answer to the question, “How much heroin does it take to overdose?”
If you or a loved suffer from a heroin overdose, heroin overdose treatment is necessary for your recovery.
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How Much Heroin Does It Take to Overdose? It’s Hard to Tell
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nearly 16,000 people die every year due to heroin overdoses. The frustrating thing about this situation is that these deaths would not have happened if individuals fully understood the dangers of heroin and how easy it is to fatally overdose.
Frustratingly, there is no known top-end dose for overdoses. Some people may tolerate doses that trigger overdoses in others.
Lifelong users may never experience overdoses while a first-time experimenter can fall into an overdose almost immediately. This is just one reason why heroin is so unpredictable and dangerous and why rehab is so important.
What are the Factors in Heroin Overdoses?
Answering “How much heroin does it take to overdose?” is complicated because many factors influence this occurrence. For example, an educational platform stated that the risk of overdose increases when a person mixes other substances at the same time.
For example, someone using fentanyl and heroin is more likely to experience a dangerous overdose.
People are also more likely to experience an overdose if they use a large amount of a substance and aren’t sure where it originated. Heroin is often cut with many other materials, some of which are dangerous.
These all can cause a variety of health issues. As a result, the risk of overdose may increase exponentially and put a person at an even higher risk of overdose.
Individual factors, such as a person’s size, metabolism, and their past use, can also influence overdose risk. A more significant person may tolerate a shot of heroin that may cause an overdose in a smaller person.
Other people may overdose after quitting heroin and coming back to it at a level that they used in the past. Therefore, avoiding an overdose is a critical step for anyone who uses this substance.
How Can Heroin Overdose Symptoms Be Avoided?
While the answer to the question “How much heroin does it take to overdose?” may seem frustratingly vague, it is essential to know how to prevent this problem from occurring.
Thankfully, people worried about this problem could minimize their risk in a variety of different ways.
Steps that can help to decrease the risk of heroin overdose include how individuals can:
- Decrease heroin use: Cut back on the doses of heroin used every day to minimize the risk of overdose and to increase overall health.
- Find medical replacements: Many medical facilities provide high-quality replacement opiates that can decrease withdrawal symptoms and minimize overdose risk.
- Stop abusing heroin: This step is challenging because a person may fall into withdrawal symptoms that require professional help to manage appropriately.
- Get help for addiction: Reach out to a professional who understands how to streamline the rehabilitation process and who can ensure recovery goes smoothly.
The last step here is perhaps the most crucial one. While some people can quit heroin cold turkey and eliminate their risk of overdose, others may need real help to overcome this situation.
Thankfully, addiction counseling services and rehabilitation treatment centers provide the best care for those struggling with drug addiction.
Administering Naloxone (Narcan) for Heroin Overdose Symptoms
Naloxone, known by the common brand name Narcan, is a medication designed to reverse the dangerous effects of heroin overdose symptoms as well as other opioids. Did you know that 81.6 percent of reported naloxone reversals involved heroin?
Heroin overdose symptoms generally include:
- Pinpoint pupils
- Unconsciousness
- Respiratory depression
- Slow heartbeat
- Extreme sleepiness
- Inability to respond to those around them
Naloxone offers life-saving treatment until emergency medical professionals can arrive on the scene. After a heroin overdose, Narcan helps prevent respiratory and central nervous system depression. This occurs when breathing has slowed down or is at risk of stopping. Once Narcan is injected into a vein or muscle, it will start to work within minutes.
Heroin Addiction Statistics
Research from 2018 shows that every day, 128 people in the United States died after overdosing on opioids. The abuse of prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids like fentanyl is a serious national crisis.
Opioid addiction can come in many different forms. Those who abuse prescription painkillers may find themselves transitioning to heroin. The opioid crisis is closely related to heroin addiction. The better we educate ourselves on this topic, the better chance we have at saving ourselves or someone we love from addiction.
Some important facts about the opioid epidemic include:
- About 21 to 29 percent of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them.
- Between 8 and 12 percent develop an opioid addiction.
- About 4 to 6 percent who misuse prescription opioids transition to heroin.
- About 80 percent of people who use heroin first misused prescription opioids.
Steps of Heroin Treatment
Fortunately, you can stop heroin overdose symptoms in their tracks. There are many resources available for the treatment of heroin addiction.
With the right resources and support, you can transform your life. Heroin overdose symptoms are a deadly consequence of continuing to misuse heroin despite negative outcomes and risks. We urge you to take action and break free from the shackles of addiction.
Seeking help is a courageous step and long-term investment in your well-being. At Phoenix Rising, we believe in personalization treatment for each individual.
Our programs are tailored to work with each individual’s differences. Treatment for heroin addiction generally includes:
- In-depth evaluation by a clinician to determine your level of heroin addiction and its effects on your physical, emotional, and mental health.
- Screening for any other substance abuse issues or co-occurring mental health disorders.
- Medical detoxification (withdrawal management) and medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for heroin withdrawal. This is the use of medication such as Suboxone or methadone to alleviate discomfort and pain during the withdrawal process.
- Evidence-based theories, such as cognitive behavioral therapy and psychodrama therapy.
- Relapse prevention program, also known as continuum care or aftercare planning.
Dual Diagnosis Treatment for Heroin Addiction
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) refers to “dual diagnosis” as a term for people who experience a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder simultaneously. A dual diagnosis can also be referred to as having co-occurring disorders.
In dual diagnosis treatment, we’ll make sure to address the underlying roots of heroin overdose symptoms. Addiction is far more than just a physical disease. We treat each individual from the inside out.
We treat mental health disorders such as:
- PTSD
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Bipolar Disorder
- ADHD
Inpatient Treatment for Heroin Addiction
Residential treatment is the highest level of care offered at our treatment center.
Our dedicated addiction recovery team proves around-the-clock care and support during your time with us.
Treatment includes a daily structured routine full of evidence-based treatment methods and therapies. From cognitive behavioral therapy to family therapy, we’ll address all areas of your life impacted by heroin addiction.
Our goal is to ease heroin overdose symptoms while targeting the underlying mental and emotional roots of addiction. Our community and environment are trigger-free, allowing individuals to solely focus on overcoming addiction.
Partial Hospitalization Treatment for Heroin Addiction
Partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) offer high-quality care while still allowing the individual to return home after treatment. PHP programs generally take place five days a week at the recovery center.
Treatment will include a combination of evidence-based therapies that the individual will receive during their time at our center.
You’ll find treatment methods such as:
- Medical support
- Mental health counseling
- Wide range of therapy, such as traditional and holistic options
- Relapse prevention planning
- Dual-diagnosis treatment
- Ability to enjoy indoor and outdoor amenities, as medically appropriate
Outpatient Treatment for Heroin Addiction
Preventing heroin overdose symptoms means stopping addiction in its tracks. Outpatient treatment provides many tools to conquer heroin addiction.
Outpatient programs differ in the time commitment required. Treatment can include anywhere from one session a week to several sessions a day, five days a week. If you have serious obligations outside of treatment, outpatient treatment may be the ideal fit for you.
We’ll work around your schedule to create a treatment plan that allows you to take care of your responsibilities. Treatment includes multiple support groups, individual therapy, recovery meetings, and caring staff ready to guide you.
One of the main benefits of an outpatient treatment program is that the individual can immediately apply what they learned in treatment.
When returning home, the tools learned during treatment will be fresh in the patient’s mind. This immediate application can serve as a great way to track progress throughout treatment for heroin addiction.
Who Can Help With Heroin Overdose Symptoms?
You need to know the answer to the question “how much heroin does it take to overdose?” If you are in doubt, chances are you need help already. A drug addiction rehab center provides the support you need to recover.
Learn valuable relapse prevention strategies. At Phoenix Rising, we provide sensitive care on a four-acre ranch that is designed to meet your unique cultural and religious needs.
We understand that you may feel overwhelmed in taking that first step in seeking help. However, we assure you that you have our support from the moment you call us through treatment.
Our goal is to show you the potential that’s hidden underneath mental illness and addiction. If you or a loved one is suffering from addiction, don’t wait to get help until it’s too late. Contact us today!
References:
https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis
https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates
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