Key Takeaways:
- Shooting heroin delivers the drug rapidly to the brain, significantly increasing the risk of respiratory failure, fentanyl exposure, overdose, addiction, and death.
- People who inject heroin may experience collapsed veins, abscesses, blood clots, organ damage, endocarditis, HIV, hepatitis C, and other serious infections.
- Professional treatment can help people stop shooting heroin through detox, behavioral therapy, medications for opioid use disorder, mental health care, and relapse-prevention support.
Understanding the Risks of Injecting Heroin
Heroin may be smoked, snorted, or injected, but shooting heroin creates particularly severe health risks. When people inject heroin directly into a vein, the drug reaches the brain rapidly, producing an intense high while significantly increasing the risk of overdose, respiratory failure, addiction, and death.
People who inject heroin also face dangers that extend beyond the drug’s immediate effects. Repeated injections can cause collapsed veins, blood clots, abscesses, skin infections, and damage to major organs. Sharing needles, syringes, or other injection equipment can also transmit HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and life-threatening bacterial infections.
Why Is Shooting Heroin So Dangerous?
Shooting heroin delivers the drug directly into the bloodstream, causing its effects to reach the brain rapidly. This can produce an intense high, but it also increases the risk of respiratory depression, overdose, physical dependence, and addiction.
People who inject heroin may not know the drug’s strength or what substances have been mixed into it. A dose that looks similar to one used previously may be much more potent, particularly if it contains fentanyl. Reduced tolerance after detox, treatment, incarceration, or a period without heroin can further increase the risk of a fatal overdose.
In addition to overdose, shooting heroin exposes the body to bacteria, viruses, and contaminants. Repeated injections can damage the veins, skin, heart, lungs, liver, and other organs.
Risks of Injecting Heroin
There are many risks that are associated with using heroin, even more when the user injects it directly into his or her veins. The following are just a handful of the dangers of shooting heroin.
Overdose and Death
The ultimate risk of IV heroin use is that it can kill users. Deaths from heroin overdoses have steadily increased year after year since 2002. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heroin-related overdose deaths increased five-fold from 2010 to 2017.
When heroin is injected directly into a vein, there is a higher risk of overdose because the drug directly enters the bloodstream. It’s also dangerous because it can be difficult for users to gauge how much heroin they are actually injecting. This affects the body much faster when injected than it does when it’s smoked or snorted.
Sepsis and Septic Shock
Sepsis isn’t an infection in itself; it is actually a medical complication that occurs due to an untreated infection. Sepsis happens when the body tries to fight the infection by releasing chemicals into the bloodstream that instead cause an inflammatory response. Various types of infections can lead to sepsis – viral, bacterial, and fungal – though bacterial infections are the most common predecessors to the condition.
Septic Shock
Septic shock happens when the individual’s condition continues to decline. The person will have all the symptoms of sepsis, as well as low blood pressure that remains low even with attempts to raise it using fluid replacement. Organs may begin shutting down, which may lead to death.
Vein, Skin, and Heart Damage From Injecting Heroin
People who inject heroin repeatedly may develop collapsed veins, blood clots, open wounds, abscesses, and bacterial skin infections. Damaged veins can make future injections more difficult, sometimes causing individuals to inject into increasingly dangerous areas of the body.
Bacteria entering the bloodstream can travel to the heart and cause endocarditis, a serious infection affecting the heart’s inner lining or valves. Symptoms may include fever, chills, fatigue, shortness of breath, chest discomfort, or swelling. Without prompt medical treatment, endocarditis can damage the heart and become life-threatening.
Redness, warmth, swelling, drainage, severe pain, or fever following an injection may indicate an infection requiring immediate medical attention. The CDC reports that people who inject drugs face risks of bacterial infections involving the skin, bloodstream, and heart.
HIV
Heroin users who inject the drug have a much higher chance of contracting the HIV virus than non-drug users. Ten percent of HIV diagnoses happen among IV drug users, according to the CDC. Due to the current surges of Americans using heroin, the CDC warns that our current opioid epidemic could lead to an increase in new HIV outbreaks.
While contracting the HIV virus isn’t considered a death sentence as it once was, the treatment can be complicated and have numerous side effects. There is also the chance that treatment just won’t work. When that happens, and it is rare, then the individual will progress to the full-blown AIDS virus.
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is a liver disease that is contagious and can range in severity from a fairly mild case that lasts a few weeks to a very serious, sometimes life-long, illness that affects the liver. It typically occurs when someone comes into contact with the Hepatitis C virus in the blood of an infected person. The disease can be classified as acute or chronic. An acute case is a short-term condition that happens within about six months of being exposed to the virus. The majority of people who acquire the Hepatitis C virus infection acutely go on to suffer a chronic infection. A chronic case is a long-term ailment that happens when the Hepatitis C virus remains in the body. The infection can last a lifetime and can cause serious liver issues, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.
The Hepatitis C virus is typically spread when the blood from a person with the virus enters the body of someone who is uninfected. As blood and organs used for transfusions and transplants undergo strenuous screening before being used, these situations are no longer (since 1992) methods of spreading Hepatitis C. The most common way that the disease is spread is through the sharing of needles or other equipment to inject drugs.
Spreading the Hepatitis C virus can occur in the following situations:
- Sharing of needles, syringes, or other paraphernalia when injecting drugs
- Accidental needlesticks in the health care setting
- Being born to a mother who is infected with Hepatitis C
While far less common, the spread of Hepatitis C can also occur by:
- Sharing items that may have come into contact with someone else’s blood, for example a toothbrush or razor
- Engaging in sexual contact with a person who has the Hepatitis C virus
Fentanyl and Contaminants in Heroin
The illegal drug supply is unpredictable. Heroin may contain fentanyl or other substances without the person’s knowledge. Because fentanyl is significantly more potent than heroin, even a small amount can increase the risk of respiratory failure and fatal overdose.
Someone who decides to inject heroin generally cannot determine its strength, purity, or contents by appearance. This makes every dose unpredictable. A person may also receive a stronger batch than expected or inject an amount their body can no longer tolerate.
Fentanyl contamination is especially dangerous because an opioid overdose can occur quickly. Warning signs include slow or stopped breathing, blue or gray lips, pinpoint pupils, choking or gurgling sounds, and an inability to wake the person. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, even a small amount of fentanyl can cause a fatal overdose.
Other Health Risks Associated with IV Heroin Use
Shooting heroin can cause serious health problems beyond overdose and blood-borne illnesses. Repeated injections may damage or collapse veins, cause blood clots, and lead to painful bacterial or fungal infections of the skin and soft tissue.
People who inject heroin may also experience breathing problems, kidney or liver damage, heart infections, poor circulation, and wounds that do not heal properly. Because illegal heroin may contain fentanyl or other unknown substances, its effects can be unpredictable and life-threatening.
These complications often become worse without medical care. Since an overdose can happen suddenly, knowing how to recognize the warning signs and respond quickly could save a life.
What Should You Do During a Heroin Overdose?
A heroin overdose is a medical emergency. If someone is unresponsive, breathing slowly, or not breathing, call 911 immediately. Administer naloxone if it is available and follow the product instructions. Stay with the person until emergency responders arrive.
Naloxone can temporarily reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and restore breathing. However, its effects may wear off while heroin or fentanyl remains in the body, so emergency medical care is still necessary even if the person wakes up.
Anyone who is shooting heroin or has experienced an overdose should be encouraged to seek professional addiction treatment. Naloxone saves lives, but it does not treat heroin addiction or replace ongoing medical and behavioral healthcare. NIDA recommends administering naloxone whenever an opioid overdose is suspected.
Treatment for Heroin Addiction
Heroin addiction is treatable, even when someone has been injecting the drug for an extended period. Treatment begins with an assessment of the individual’s opioid use, withdrawal symptoms, physical health, mental health, and immediate safety needs.
A personalized heroin addiction treatment plan may include:
- Medical detox and withdrawal support
- Residential or outpatient treatment
- Medications for opioid use disorder
- Individual and group therapy
- Treatment for co-occurring mental health conditions
- Relapse-prevention planning
- Family counseling and recovery support
Treatment can also connect clients with testing and medical care for health concerns related to shooting heroin, including HIV, hepatitis, infections, and vein damage. Combining medical care with behavioral therapy and continued recovery support can help individuals stop using heroin and build a healthier life.
Start Heroin Addiction Treatment at My Time Recovery
Shooting heroin can lead to overdose, infections, damaged veins, blood-borne illnesses, and other life-threatening consequences. My Time Recovery provides personalized heroin addiction treatment in Fresno for people ready to stop using opioids and regain control of their health. Depending on each client’s needs, care may include detox, residential treatment, day treatment, outpatient services, mental health support, and relapse-prevention planning. If you or someone you love is struggling with heroin use, Call My Time Recovery Today!
FAQs
What Happens When You Inject Heroin?
When people inject heroin, the drug enters the bloodstream and reaches the brain rapidly. This can cause euphoria, slowed breathing, unconsciousness, overdose, or death.
Is Shooting Heroin More Dangerous Than Other Methods?
Yes. Shooting heroin produces faster effects and increases the risk of overdose, collapsed veins, abscesses, bloodstream infections, and blood-borne diseases.
Can Shooting Heroin Cause an Overdose?
Yes. Shooting heroin can quickly suppress breathing, especially when the drug contains fentanyl or is combined with alcohol, benzodiazepines, or other opioids.
What Infections Can You Get When You Inject Heroin?
People who inject heroin may develop HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, sepsis, endocarditis, skin infections, and abscesses—particularly when injection equipment is shared.
How Is Heroin Addiction Treated?
Heroin addiction treatment may include medical detox, medications for opioid use disorder, behavioral therapy, residential or outpatient care, and relapse-prevention support.
