Your husband was the perfect guy when you got married. He had the high-powered job, the perfect lifestyle, and everything your parents had dreamed of you having for a husband. That was until he started acting differently. You thought he was cheating on you until you discovered needles and a small bag of powder in his side table drawer.
When you confronted him about this, he told you that he was a diabetic and that was why he had those needles. You recognized this was a lie when he couldn’t reasonably explain the powder. After a while, he admitted that it was heroin. You immediately wanted him to seek treatment but wondered if you should have known sooner.
In Tampa, Florida, 49 deaths involving heroin in 2021. At Tranquil Shores, we have a 3:1 client-counselor ratio. This means we can focus on your loved one and they will get the attention and care they deserve. Their concerns as they go through the treatment will be able to be dealt with quickly instead of them having to wait a week to be seen again. Understanding what to look for in your husband’s heroin use can be difficult to navigate, but there are some signs that you can be aware of.
What to Look For: Physical Symptoms of Heroin Addiction
There are several physical symptoms that you can experience when you are using heroin. Some of these are short-term effects, while others are long-term. One short-term physical effect you might experience is dry mouth. Sometimes people will experience warm skin or a heavy feeling in their arms. They also experience intense itching, while other people experience vomiting or nausea. The body might drift between consciousness and semi-consciousness. This is known as “on the nod.”
Over time, you might experience long-term physical effects. These include collapsed veins if you inject heroin. If you sniff or snort heroin, you might have damaged tissue inside your nose. You could also develop infections of the heart and abscesses. Heroin can also cause constipation and stomach cramping. You might also develop pneumonia, liver disease, or kidney disease. For men, it can cause sexual dysfunction, and for women, it can cause irregular menstrual cycles.
Health Consequences
Because heroin is often mixed with sugar or powdered milk, it can blog blood vessels. Heroin is often mixed with different substances to stretch the product out. This both cuts the costs and allows the dealer to sell more heroin. This can damage the liver, lungs, brain, or kidneys. Sharing needles or reusing needles can lead to infections such as HIV and hepatitis.
Psychological Symptoms of Heroin Addiction
There are also some psychological symptoms that you might experience when consuming heroin. One short-term psychological symptom includes a feeling of pleasure or euphoria. You might also experience clouded mental functioning. One long-term psychological symptom is depression or anxiety. You might also develop an antisocial personality disorder while you take heroin. Complications with depression could lead to suicidal ideation.
How Dangerous Is It? Here Are the Risk Factors
One of the biggest risks of using heroin is its illicit use. This means that no one regulates it. There is a chance that when you are using heroin, you are not taking pure heroin. Many dealers mix heroin with other substances to increase their supply and cut costs. It is often difficult to know what has been mixed in with heroin when consumed. One of these things often found with heroin is fentanyl. Fentanyl has no taste, smell, or distinguishing characteristics. Consuming heroin with fentanyl can increase your chances of experiencing an overdose. The only way to know if heroin has fentanyl is through fentanyl test strips. However, they are not 100% accurate.
Heroin Dangers
The biggest danger of heroin use is overdose. When someone overdoses on heroin, it can be life-threatening. Often their breathing will slow or stop creating a lack of oxygen in the brain. Some signs of a heroin overdose include:
- Loss of consciousness
- Slow breathing
- Gurgling sounds
- Limp body
- Vomiting
- Faint heartbeat
- Blue or pale skin
- Purple lips
- Small pupils
If your loved one experiences an overdose, you must seek medical attention for them as soon as possible.
Recognizing Heroin Use In Loved Ones
It might be hard to know if someone you love is using heroin especially if they are hiding it from you. However, there are some signs that you can look out for. One of the most common ways to know if they are using heroin is to be aware of the symptoms of heroin use. They might also have problems with their attention or memory. They might also have a lack of awareness of their surroundings. Clammy skin is another sign that they might be using heroin. If a loved one injects heroin, they might have abscesses or needle marks in the areas of their body that they injected. These needle marks are called track marks.
They might also talk to you or others about heroin. They might even have new friends using heroin or mention heroin around you. They might even catch them stealing from you or others. They might even lie to you. People who use heroin might also have a legal concern, such as theft or possession of heroin.
Heroin Paraphernalia
Alongside symptoms, there are some objects to be aware of that your loved one might have. The biggest clue is if you find heroin in association with them. Heroin is often a brown or white powder, although it can be a black sticky substance. This sticky substance is known as black tar. They might also have things such as:
- Needles
- Tin foil
- Pipes
- Small spoons
- Drinking straws
- Plastic pen cases
What Should I Do If Someone I Know Needs Help?
Recovery is possible for anyone. If someone you love is managing a heroin addiction, please remember that the person you used to know is still somewhere. The best way to encourage them to get help is to open the conversation. Explain your concerns regarding their heroin use, and let them know that you believe heroin addiction treatment will be helpful to them.
Your loved one might not be receptive the first time you have this conversation. They might not believe that they have a heroin use disorder. Additionally, they may believe they can handle it on their own. If you cannot convince them to get help and feel like you’re in danger, you should get to a place where you feel safe.
Your loved one will experience withdrawal symptoms when they start their journey to recovery. These can include yawning, agitation, anxiety, abdominal cramping, vomiting, cravings, and a runny nose. These are all part of the normal process that the body has to go through to remove heroin from the system. Offering your loved one your support during this time is important to their success.
Tranquil Shores is located on a beach in Tampa, Florida. We help our clients reclaim their lives from substance use. Our clients have access to computers and phones because we know that work does not stop just because they seek heroin treatment. For more information about our recovery programs, call us today at 727-591-4119.
FAQs About Heroin Addiction
What are the signs of heroin addiction?
One of the main signs of a heroin use disorder is if someone is consistently thinking or talking about heroin. They might wonder when they will be able to use heroin again. Other signs might also include a legal record. They could steal or lie. They might also have track marks or abscesses where they would inject heroin into themselves. They might experience symptoms such as vomiting, insomnia, sexual dysfunction, and depression. They will probably also seem not to be paying attention to you or their surroundings. They might also experience withdrawal symptoms if they go a long time without another dose of heroin. Those symptoms could include agitation, depression, vomiting, and cravings. Also, if they have experienced a heroin overdose, there is a good chance that they have a heroin use disorder.
What are three signs of psychological heroin addiction?
One sign of psychological heroin use is depression. Another sign is anxiety. You could also develop an anti-personality disorder due to heroin use. You might also experience mental clouding.
What are the emotional causes of addiction?
People might turn to substances and develop a substance use disorder to find comfort. They might also find that it brings them relief or an escape from everyday life stresses. It might even provide them a distraction from past circumstances in their life. These reasons allow the user to become dependent on the substance to provide those feelings for them.
