What is Heroin Addiction Recovery Like?
Heroin addiction recovery in the United States is usually approached through a 12-step program. The programs are modeled after the one used by Alcoholics Anonymous. Heroin addicts would check into an inpatient program for a minimum of 28 days to get treatment for their addiction. Now that insurance companies have become reluctant to fund this type of treatment for heroin addiction, the focus has changed. Now, a person battling a heroin addiction will likely be admitted to a hospital long enough so that the acute withdrawal symptoms can be medically supervised. After they get past the first few days, they are released and referred to an outpatient counseling program. During the first few days of being drug-free, the addict may experience the following withdrawal symptoms: • Abdominal pain • Nausea • Diarrhea • Vomiting • Inability to sleep • Depression After that point, a person trying to break free from heroin will start to have some secondary withdrawal symptoms: • Anxiety • Irritabil
