The impact is immediate – occurring within minutes of being injected or snorted – and users experience a “rush” sensation.
One of the biggest problems with any kind of drug that unnaturally produces dopamine and stimulates endorphin receptors is it artificial reward response to something unnecessary. What this means is, your brain needs natural rewards for fulfilling needs such as getting sleep, sex, food, and water. Heroin artificially stimulates the brain’s reward system the same as natural rewards do, but to a much greater extent.
This is how addiction develops; your brain begins to crave heroin in the same way a starving person craves food. Heroin alters the brain’s drive-reward system in ways that compel the victim of addiction, who is now “starving” for heroin, to continue to use it.
The short term effects of heroin include:
Euphoria
Intense rush
Nausea
Vomiting
Depressed breathing
Heaviness in appendages
Dry mouth
In addition to these, another symptom is “nodding.” Nodding is a big part of the high from heroin, as the user alternates between alertness and lethargy. The result is heroin users typically “nod” forward before catching themselves.
As heroin is a depressant that can cause sleepiness, many people combine it with cocaine or methamphetamine (stimulants) to “balance” the effects.
The long term effects of heroin differ depending on how users consume the drug. Many users start using heroin in its powdered form– an indicator that it’s in a more pure state. However, black tar heroin (a black, sticky substance that’s a result of impurities left behind in the process) needs to be dissolved or diluted and injected. Intravenous use of heroin can cause a host of other long-term effects, such as increased risk of contracting a disease like HIV and hepatitis, as well as infections such as endocarditis—an infection of the heart valves.
Some of the long term side effects of heroin are as follows:
Change in brain structure
Deterioration of white matter
Imbalance (physically and hormonally)
Inability to regulate behavior
Decreased ability to make rational decisions
Poor executive functioning (inability to reason, plan, problem-solve, or multitask)
Infectious disease (HIV, hepatitis B & C)
Collapsed veins
Bacterial infections (fungal endocarditis & venous sclerosis)
Infection of heart lining and valves
Arthritis
Rheumatologic problems
Abscesses (swollen tissue filled with pus)
Liver disease
Kidney disease
Risk of overdose
In addition to these long term consequences, it’s possible to be affected by myriad others due to the additives and drugs that may be added to heroin. And, while some of these effects are treatable others are not reversible.
The most severe side effect is overdose, which often leads to death. Overdose occurs because one of the depressant’s side effects is slowed or depressed respiration. It’s possible to develop a condition called hypoxia, which decreases the amount of oxygen reaching the brain. This can result in permanent brain damage, coma, and death.
I Am Sober is a free app that helps you get some control back in your life.