Narcotic Withdrawal: Heroine Withdrawal

Definition: When a person starts taking narcotics numerous times
per day for long periods of time, they will obtain a habit
with the drug and a physical dependence.

Withdrawals take around 10 days to get over, give or take
5 days.  Symptoms of withdrawal are bowel cramping, abdominal
pain, the feeling of not feeling right, itching skin, watery
eyes, rhinitis and others.

Very few people die from narcotic withdrawals, infact, the only
deaths recorded with narcotic withdrawals are accompanied by
severe and uncontrollable anxiety.

Therapy:  The true therapy is to stay off of narcotics and
to go through the withdrawal.  People have tried antihistamines,
benzodiazipines, clonidine and others all with some varying
degrees of success.  Ten days is the average time it takes
an addict to get through the physical symptoms of withdrawal.

The withdrawal addicts talk of seeing the narcotic powder on
the floor and the furniture, they talk of smelling the drug
and of having hallucinations about how to go and get more of
the drug.

As a general rule, people have to give up everything in
their life to maintain a drug habit.

Though the actual manufacturing costs of heroine may only
be less than one US dollar per dose, because of the laws
and regulations within the USA, the black market costs for
one dose of heroine may be as high as $500.00.  It is not
uncommon for serious heroine addicts to have a $5000.00
per week habit.