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Heroinomania: signs of heroin use, consequences, treatment

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Heroinomania Heroin was released in 1898 by the German manufacturer "Bayer", after the work of the chemist F. Hoffmann.The basis of the new drug was diacetylmorphine, synthesized in England in 1874 by A. Wright.

The initial manifestation and purpose of the drug effect is antitussive.The narcotic effect was not observed for a long time, and only in 1913 the manufacturer had to stop producing heroin as a strong psychoactive substance that caused severe forms of dependence in people.The US banned the use and production of drugs for any purpose.

Table of contents: Mechanism of narcotic effect Doses used by heroin addicts Signs of heroin use Complications of long heroin use Overdose of heroin Abstinence syndrome in heroinomania Methods for treating heroin addiction

Until the 1970s, the drug was used in medicine in some countries asSubstitution drug for opiate addiction.Then, production of heroin was discontinued, and it was only released in small batches for experimental purposes and as a palliative agent for the treatment of dying patients in some countries.

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The use of heroin gives a severe form of drug addiction with rapidly forming and severe forms of mental and physical dependence.This drug, without exaggeration, can be called the most common among the opioid group. According to medical statistics, heroin users account for about 90% of all opioid addicts.

Mechanism of narcotic action

Heroin belongs to the drugs of the opiate group.A pure preparation( white powder) is produced from morphine, artisanal variants - from raw opium, poppy straw, etc.In this case, it looks like a dark resinous mass, often with toxic impurities giving additional poisoning.

Methods of application:

  • inhalation through the nose( intranasal route);
  • as a part of mixtures for smoking;
  • rectal suppositories and suppositories;
  • solution for intravenous injection.

Please note: the latter method is most popular due to the maximum drug efficiency.

When ingested in injectable form, heroin enters the brain and is converted to morphine, affecting all types of opioid receptors.These nerve formations are found in the intestines, spinal cord and brain.

The narcotic action mechanism consists of several factors:

  • heroin ejection of histamine as a response to the introduction of heroin.This element of influence causes an "upsurge" of the condition, accompanied by a sensation of itching;
  • has a pronounced analgesic effect by binding the products of heroin metabolism to opioid receptors that normally induce internal endorphins;
  • stimulation of gamma-aminobutyric acid( GABA) with heroin metabolites, causing additional narcotic sensations.

Due to their similarity with endorphins, heroin opiates are able to act immediately on all kinds of endorphin( opiate) receptors.The whole complex of effects gives a strong analgesic effect, a feeling of complete soothing, emancipating, relieving anxiety, fears, marked euphoria.

Note: heroin is stronger in strength than morphine several times.

With prolonged use, it significantly reduces the sensitivity of opioid receptors, and also increases the release of glutamate, a mediator that reduces the narcotic effect.This gives an addictive effect( that is, a reduction in the narcotic effect of conventional doses).The addict begins to feel the need for a higher dose. "Break" when you stop using Heroin is very strong.

The action of the drug occurs 2-3 minutes after the dose. A person who has taken heroin has a feeling of spilling heat all over his body, a pronounced, pleasant relaxation, a feeling of peace and joy.In some cases, narcotic effects are absent in the first cases of admission.But, after 2 or 3 repetitions, they manifest themselves in full force.Usually several episodes of heroin use are enough to "get hooked" on him.

Time goes by, the dose is required bigger and bigger, heroin addiction is formed. An attempt to dispense with a drug causes a severe break-up occurring 4-24 hours after the last anesthesia, this causes the addict to look for another dose of . .. The disease is progressing.Pleasure grows into the need for narcotization.

In this position, the newly-made drug addict is seriously frightened and tries to get rid of the problem himself, resorting to alcohol, other psychoactive substances.But instead of recovering often develops polydrug use.

It's very difficult to get rid of painful addiction.Without the help of narcologists, virtually all heroin addicts are unable to free themselves from the trouble.

Doses used by heroin addicts

The most commonly used dose of heroin, which includes 5-10 mg of diacetyl dimorphine( a chemically pure version of heroin).Over time, the amount of injected drug grows to 20-40 m . With the form of the disease started, the addict can take very large amounts of the drug.Death from an overdose occurs on an individual level. The average semi-lethal dose is 22 mg of heroin per kg of human weight.

Note: Polynarcotic mixtures are especially dangerous, in particular "Speedball" is a combination of cocaine and heroin.

Signs of heroin use

Heroinomania 1-2 minutes after the injection, the addict begins to feel the warmth spreading throughout the body.These sensations are pleasant, associated in patients with wave vibrations.Against this background, unreasonable joy develops, a feeling of inexpressible pleasure, inner calmness.This is how the "arrival" phase manifests itself.Lasts for a maximum of half an hour.It is replaced by a "hovering" - a state of pronounced relaxation, which is gradually gaining strength.In this stay there may be illusions, hallucinations.This phase of relaxation gradually goes away for 3-5 hours.

Heroin intoxication is accompanied by :

  • with marked anesthesia;
  • by depression of the emetic, respiratory and cough centers( at a high dose, and small - it can cause the opposite effect);
  • narrowing pupils and dry mucous membranes, various visual impairments;
  • by the appearance of tinnitus;
  • oppression of bowel functions, a decrease in the process of urination, with the tone of the anal, urinary sphincter strengthened;
  • buildup of musculature of the bronchi, which can provoke bronchospasm, especially with asthma;
  • slowing down metabolic processes and lowering the overall body temperature, due to the pronounced heat transfer.

Complications, which gives a long reception of heroin

The main active substance that makes up heroin is diacetylmorphine.Of the complications, he can only give an overdose.

"Ballast", part of the handicraft versions of the drug, often causes damage to the liver, heart, microcirculation disorders, brain cell death, allergic reactions( anaphylactic shock), thrombotic and inflammatory complications of blood vessels, etc.

Addicts can infect themselves and each other with HIV, hepatitis, other infections( through the reuse of non-sterile syringes).

Prolonged anesthesia causes men to have potency problems.In women, menstrual function is impaired.Constipation develops in all patients.

Overdose of heroin

More than half of heroin addicts sooner or later undergo this dangerous complication.

It is characterized by :

  • heroin development of lethargy and drowsiness;
  • various forms of impaired consciousness( sopor, stupor, coma);
  • sharply narrowed pupils, which as the condition progresses expand, fall in blood pressure, a decrease in breathing and palpitations.Sometimes there are pathological types of breathing;
  • development of cardiac and vascular insufficiency;
  • pulmonary edema;
  • psychosis( with hallucinations, delirium, affective flashes, discoordination).

Abstinence syndrome with heroin addiction

Abstinence in this form of drug addiction is formed very quickly.A drug addict who is deprived of a heroin dose, at the end of the drug, begins to experience the strongest breakdown of .Painful sensations are based on blocking your own analgesic system.

Note: the duration of "breakage" for heroin addiction depends on the length of service, age, physical condition of the patient.When receiving adequate therapy, the duration of the withdrawal syndrome is reduced to 3-14 days.

Abstinence occurs in 4 stages:

  1. Manifestations begin 8-12 hours after the last dose of heroin.The pupils of the patient expand, there is frequent yawning, the eyes are watery, the nasal mucosa is irritated and swollen.Develops a runny nose with sneezing.The patient is shivering( gooseflesh).Internal tension builds up.
  2. After 30-36 hours the patient begins to vex the alternation of increasing chills with goose-skin, and heat, the body becomes covered with sweat.The addict feels a pronounced weakness, attacks of yawning and sneezing( 1-2 times per minute), in the muscles - a feeling of strong, convulsive tension.In mimic and chewing muscles - paroxysmal sharp pain.
  3. After 40-48 hours of pain in the body are exacerbated.The patient begins to "twist", "squeeze and squeeze."Cramps arise in the extremities.There is an irresistible desire to ease the condition to take the necessary dose of heroin.The patient "rushes", develops depression, a sense of despair and hopelessness, maliciousness and tearfulness.
  4. After 72 hours of abstinence from heroin, abdominal pain, violent and frequent diarrhea with cutting pains( up to 15 per day) join the listed manifestations.This stage lasts 5-10 days.

Gradually, the symptoms of breakage from heroin begin to decrease.With a seniority of more than a year, drug addicts are not able to undergo withdrawal without the intervention of physicians. It should be noted that, despite severe feelings, they do not pose a threat to the life of the patient. Although the behavior of the patient during the break-up may mislead the ignorant person who is unfamiliar with the manifestations of heroin addiction.

Note: hysteria and the "dying" behavior of patients with heroin dependence do not correspond to the intensity of their sensations.All this is nothing more than an attempt to solicit a dose of a drug.

In favor of this observation is the behavior of the addict when "breaking", when he is alone and behaves quite adequately, although, undoubtedly, he is suffering.

Methods for the treatment of heroin addiction

For clinical manifestations of heroin overdose, patients are immediately hospitalized in toxicological, resuscitative or specialized drug treatment units.

Overdose therapy:

  • gastric lavage when taking the drug inside with the use of adsorbents;
  • excretion of heroin and its catabolism products with the help of detoxification solutions injected into a vein( with internal and intravenous drug use);
  • Introduction of opioid receptor blockers as antidotes( Naloxone) neutralizing heroin.

Getting rid of heroin addiction is carried out in the network of narcological clinics.Treatment of this type of dependence requires a long time, the participation of experienced narcologists, the help of relatives and close patients, and most importantly - the patient's desire.

Treatment of heroin addiction is a step-wise one, it includes consecutive therapeutic measures:

  1. Gero A detoxification course of therapy in which all drugs and compounds that are catabolic drug-exchange products are eliminated from the body.The duration of this stage is from several hours( in the case of UBOD - ultra-fast opium detoxification), up to several days, sometimes 1-2 weeks.Medicamentous and non-medicamentous methods are used( VLOK, plasmapheresis, etc.).
  2. Pathogenetic treatment.The patient is prescribed a drug complex, which restores the normal exchange of neurotransmitters, enzymes and hormones, which was disrupted by the drug.In parallel, drugs that restore the functions of the brain and peripheral nervous system, heart muscle, liver cells, and other organs affected by the disease are used.
  3. In heroin addiction in a number of countries, substitution therapy is used - methadone, buprenorphine.In Russia, these methods are not used.
  4. Psychotherapy.The task of this influence is the removal of mental dependence on heroin, the elimination of serious mental disorders.

Rehabilitation centers are the most suitable for post-hospital rehabilitation, in which patients are re-socialized and adapt to a healthy life.Only the whole complex of measures can lead to a good remission and a positive prognosis.

Alexander Lotin, medical reviewer


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