Heroin Addiction: Effects, Withdrawal & Treatment

Amanda Lautieri avatar
Written by: Amanda Lautieri
Reviewed by: Ryan Kelley, NREMT
Updated: Mar 25, 2025
Heroin is a powerful and addictive drug that can do severe damage to a person’s life and health.1 Here you’ll find basic information about this drug, the warning signs of heroin use and addiction, short- and long-term effects, and how to find help for a heroin use disorder.

Table of Contents

About Heroin

What Is Heroin?

Heroin is a powerful illegal opioid substance made from morphine, a natural opioid derived from opium poppies.2,3

Forms of heroin include:2,3

  • White powder.
  • Brown powder.
  • Black sticky substance (“black tar” heroin).

Heroin is commonly used via several means:1,4,5

  • Snorting or sniffing the powder (also called “insufflation”).
  • Heating the heroin and smoking the fumes (inhaling it).
  • Dissolving the heroin in water and injecting it intravenously.

Is Heroin Addictive?

Yes, heroin can be a very addictive drug. It acts on the opioid receptors in the body and both suppresses pain and elicits pleasure. At higher doses users typically experience a pleasurable rush of euphoria (a high).1 These pleasurable feelings can lead a person to want to repeat taking heroin.

A person can quickly build up a tolerance to heroin and may find they either need to increase the amount or frequency of their dose or change their method of use (e.g., from snorting to injecting) to get the effects they want.1,6

With continued heroin use, a person may quickly develop a physiological dependence. Dependence makes it especially difficult to quit, since the associated withdrawal symptoms are often painful and unpleasant characterized by symptoms that mimic an awful flu.1,7

Both tolerance and dependence are physiological signs that the body has adapted to heroin. Becoming increasingly tolerant to or dependent on heroin does not alone mean a person is addicted; however, both are signs of an opioid addiction, or opioid use disorder (OUD).7

An OUD is characterized by the compulsive seeking of heroin or other opioids despite the damage it causes to a person’s relationships, physical health, and other important areas of their life.7,8

...
Signs of Heroin Addiction

What Are the Signs of Heroin Addiction?

As a person develops an opioid use disorder, they will begin to display signs that they are losing control over their heroin use, such as:7

  • Using more heroin or using it more often than intended.
  • Using heroin despite it causing social or interpersonal problems.
  • Failing to fulfill obligations at home, school, or work due to heroin use.
  • Using heroin when doing so can be physically hazardous, for example before getting behind the wheel.

View the full list of diagnostic criteria for an opioid use disorder.

Health Effects

Short-Term Effects of Heroin

When someone uses heroin, they may feel a near-immediate and very powerful high. Some of the other short-term effects of heroin use can include:1,9 

  • Heaviness in the extremities.
  • Drowsiness/nodding off.
  • Slowed breathing.

Heroin Overdose

Heroin overdose occurs when a person uses too much heroin or uses heroin that contains another drug, such as a more powerful opioid like fentanyl. With fentanyl-containing heroin on the rise, overdoses have grown significantly in number in recent years.10,11

...

What to Do in Case of a Heroin Overdose

If you believe someone has overdosed, call 911 right away.12 Do not delay calling for emergency medical assistance, and don’t worry about getting in legal trouble. Most states have Good Samaritan laws that provide certain legal protections for those who call for help in an overdose emergency or otherwise try to help, for example, by administering naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal drug.13

If you have naloxone, administer it right away, even if you’re not sure if the person is overdosing. Someone not overdosing on opioids will not experience adverse effects as a result of receiving naloxone.10

If the person does not begin breathing within 2-3 minutes, administer another dose of naloxone.14 Stay with the person until medical assistance has arrived and position them on their side to prevent choking should they vomit.12

What Are the Long-Term Effects of Heroin?

Heroin is a powerful drug capable of causing a great deal of harm over time. Someone who uses heroin long-term may experience numerous medical and mental health issues, including:15

  • Chronic constipation.
  • Insomnia.
  • Deterioration of the brain’s white matter, which may lead to problems making decisions, regulating behavior, and controlling impulses.
  • Opioid use disorder.

Injection users may experience a whole list of unique health risks, including clogged blood vessels, serious soft tissue infections, and increased risk of bloodborne diseases.15,17

Those who snort heroin may also suffer several unique health problems, including nasal pain and holes in the nasal septum.15,16

Detox & Treatment

Heroin Addiction Treatment & Detox

Heroin addiction is treatable. If you or a loved one is suffering from an opioid use disorder and you don’t know where to turn, we can help.

Detoxing from Heroin

The treatment path for heroin addiction often begins with medical detox.18,19 In a medical detox program, the patient’s withdrawal symptoms are managed safely under the careful supervision of medical staff.19 Heroin withdrawal can be immensely uncomfortable and may include symptoms like:7,19

  • Fever.
  • Chills.
  • Muscle and bone pain.
  • Diarrhea.
  • Nausea and vomiting.

At AdCare, we have two inpatient detox programs, one detox center in Rhode Island and one drug detox center in Massachusetts where you or a loved one can detox in a sober, medically monitored inpatient environment.

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Heroin Addiction Treatment Options

Doctor and patient holding hands

Treatment for heroin addiction should continue after detox, either in an inpatient or outpatient environment.

Inpatient and outpatient programs will utilize many of the same core treatment elements, including counseling, group therapy, medications (e.g., methadone, buprenorphine or naltrexone), drug education, and mutual support groups  (e.g., Narcotics Anonymous or SMART Recovery) to help people address their addictions and learn new coping skills to bolster their recovery.18

Inpatient/residential programs offer around-the-clock care and the chance to put all of your focus on your recovery. These programs can be a great starting point for those with moderate to severe opioid use disorders who need intensive support as they begin their treatment journey.18

Outpatient addiction treatment programs vary in intensity. The most intensive outpatient program, partial hospitalization, is similar to inpatient programs; however, you do not live at the facility.

Intensive outpatient programs offer fewer hours of treatment per week but still offer a great deal of support. Standard outpatient programs involve minimal hours of therapy and are often utilized by those who are continuing in their treatment journey after completing a higher level of care.18

Heroin Addiction Treatment at AdCare

AdCare offers the full range of treatment programs, and we can help you determine what your particular treatment path may look like when you call us at 866-739-7692.

Our caring admissions navigators are available to answer your questions about how to pay for addiction treatment, and help you start the rehab admissions process.

If you have health insurance, you can check your insurance coverage for rehab by using our confidential ... now.

Please don’t wait to get the help you deserve. We’re here to help you recover.

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References

  1. National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2021). Heroin DrugFacts.
  2. National Institute on Drug Abuse. (n.d.). Heroin.
  3. Drug Enforcement Administration. (2020). Drug Fact Sheet: Heroin.
  4. Yalamanoglu A, Schuurmans MM. Folienrauchen/Heroin inhalativ [Foil Smoking/Heroin Inhalation]. Praxis (Bern 1994). 2018;107(25):1393-1398.
  5. National Harm Reduction Coalition. (2020). Getting Off Right.
  6. Mars, S. G., Ondocsin, J., & Ciccarone, D. (2018). Toots, tastes and tester shots: user accounts of drug sampling methods for gauging heroin potency. Harm reduction journal, 15(1), 26.
  7. American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: Author.
  8. National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2021). What are the long-term effects of heroin use?
  9. National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2020). Commonly Used Drug Charts.
  10. World Health Organization. (2020). Opioid Overdose.
  11. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Fentanyl.
  12. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Preventing an Opioid Overdose.
  13. Prescription Drug Abuse Policy System. (2018). Good Samaritan Overdose Prevention Laws.
  14. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Opioids in the Workplace: Responding to a suspected opioid overdose.
  15. National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2021). What are the medical complications of heroin use?
  16. Peyrière, H., Léglise, Y., Rousseau, A., Cartier, C., Gibaja, V., & Galland, P. (2013). Necrosis of the intranasal structures and soft palate as a result of heroin snorting: A case series. Substance Abuse, 34(4), 409–414.
  17. National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2021). Why does heroin use create special risk for contracting HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B and C?
  18. National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2019). Treatment Approaches for Drug Addiction DrugFacts.
  19. SAMHSA. (2015). TIP 45: Detoxification and Substance Abuse Treatment.

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