Most people understand heroin causes physical short and long-term effects. For example, the dangerous drug may damage the heart, kidneys, liver, and lungs. Additionally, it leads to infectious diseases, collapsed veins, breathing problems, or worse, death. However, personal problems, tolerance, and addiction are all heroin side effects you need to be aware of as well.

Heroin Side Effects

Whether you use heroin or know others who do, it’s extremely important to understand the drug’s risks. Often, experts only focus more on physical symptoms. However, there are some heroin effects that are incurable.

Personal Life Complications

Many don’t realize heroin causes personal life complications. That said, frequent use leads to harrowing relationship, financial, legal, career, and education problems. These problems may result in a domino effect.

Often, heroin users experience changes in behavior. As a result, they’ll experience personal relationship tension as well. They often lose their spouses, friends, and even children. Even worse, domestic violence and child abuse are devastating results of heroin use as well. Frequent lying and irresponsible behavior cause relationship damage as well.

Additionally, financial and legal problems often occur because heroin is an expensive habit. Users may spend their money on heroin instead of food, housing, and other basic needs. When they run out, they might resort to stealing to obtain the drug. If authorities catch them, they could serve jail time.

Heroin affects people’s performance as well. Typically, people using the drug do poorly at work or school. Unfortunately, relationship problems may extend to coworkers and classmates. This could lead to job loss or school expulsion. Above all, it’s best not to use heroin if you’d rather not experience devastating personal losses.

Heroin Side Effects Include Tolerance

Over the course of an addiction, chemicals from heroin cause the brain and body to adapt. At first, the body is unused to heroin, allowing for quick and potent highs. Over time, however, the body adjusts, and it takes more heroin used more often to achieve the same high. As the body builds tolerance, the brain drives cravings, which in turn fuels the vicious cycle of addiction.

What makes heroin tolerance so dangerous is the high overdose risk. Taking too much heroin can make the body go into shock. Most importantly, the response causes irreversible damage, coma, and death.

Heroin Detox

When a physical dependency is unfulfilled, the affected person undergoes withdrawal. Withdrawal is particularly severe for heavy users, and for users of alcohol, heroin, and benzos. This severity is dangerous not only to a person’s health, but also to their recovery. If a person undergoes withdrawal but has access to heroin, the urge to relapse will be very strong. Withdrawal is the first, and perhaps the most difficult, roadblock to your recovery.

Since withdrawal is so severe, doctors strongly recommend against going through withdrawal alone, aka “cold turkey.” Instead, doctors recommend that patients seek detox treatment. At San Antonio Recovery Center, we offer detox programs for alcohol and heroin, for both men and women.

Detox starts with withdrawal, lasting anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days. The benefit of heroin detox is that it takes place in a secure, medically monitored environment. Some withdrawal symptoms, like seizures or delirium tremens (for alcoholics), can be fatal if left untreated. Medical professionals monitor detox patients 24/7 to keep them comfortable and safe as their body purges the heroin.

Heroin Treatment Is Available

If you or a loved one is exhibiting heroin side effects, San Antonio Recovery Center leads you down the right path. We offer several opiate addiction rehab programs, including:

Don’t let heroin drag your life down. Get clean, and learn how to stay sober with our help. Contact San Antonio Recovery Center online or call 866.957.7885 today.


san antonio recovery center texas addiction rehab center drug and alcohol rehab center txThe San Antonio Recovery Center in San Antonio, Texas is not your typical drug and alcohol treatment center. Founded in 2010, we abide by the philosophy that recovery from drug and alcohol addiction requires a full spectrum of treatment, not just a focus on one area.

As an independent drug & alcohol treatment center, our caring recovery staff make decisions on patient care in-house. You or your loved one are given the best chance of recovery knowing that your best interests are always at the forefront of our decisions. Learn More