What is Heroin Addiction?
Heroin is derived from the poppy flower. It can be smoked, snorted, or injected, and it’s both fast acting and enormously addictive. While users may feel a rush of happiness and euphoria when first using heroin, that “high” can quickly turn into a nightmare with the onset of far-ranging side effects like nausea, vomiting, itching, depressed heart rate, slowed breathing, and, in cases of overdose, even death.
Your GEHA Health Plans heroin detox coverage can help you get the treatment you need before heroin addiction takes over and even ruins your life.
Detox and Withdrawal
The first step towards sobriety is ridding your body of any and all intoxicants. This process is referred to as detox. As your body flushes the heroin out of your system, you may begin experiencing withdrawal symptoms such as:
- Anxiety
- Agitation
- Muscle aches
- Tearing
- Insomnia or other sleep disturbances
- Runny nose
- Sweating
- Yawning
- Abdominal pain or cramping
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Chills or goose bumps
- Dilated pupils
Symptoms may change or increase in severity over the course of the detox period, and can sometimes be very uncomfortable. Long-term addicts may benefit from medically supervised withdrawal, a relatively painless detox process patients can undergo while under the care of addiction specialists. While this medicated detox holds doubtless appeal, some insurance companies consider it to be experimental and therefore do not include it in their coverage. Check your GEHA Health Plans heroin detox coverage to see if medically supervised detox is an option for you.
Treating Heroin Addiction
Detox is only the first part of a comprehensive heroin addiction treatment plan. The specific treatment options available as part of your GEHA Health Plans heroin detox coverage may vary depending on specific policy information and your doctor’s recommendation, but typically there are two main treatment categories:
- Pharmacological Intervention – There are a number of medicines that are used to help assist patients in their recovery process. In addition to medications used in the detox stage, your doctor may prescribe Methadone, an oral medication that minimizes heroin withdrawal symptoms while also dampening the patient’s desire to use and abuse illicit drugs. Other medicines like buprenorphine and naltrexone may also be used to limit cravings and prevent patients from relapsing.
- Behavioral Intervention – Tackling the underlying behavioral and cognitive issues related to addiction is an important part of recovery. Often used in tandem with pharmacological care, group and individual therapy sessions and cognitive retraining can help patients identify their triggers, sort through emotional trauma, and reprogram both their expectations and their behaviors in hopes of increasing the chances of long-term sobriety.