Short- and Long-Term Effects of Heroin Use

Using heroin is dangerous and can pose numerous risks to a person’s health. Keep reading to learn more about heroin, the general effects of heroin, as well as those associated with different methods of use, the signs of heroin overdose, and how to get help for heroin addiction.

What Is Heroin?

Heroin is a highly addictive and illegal opioid drug extracted from the seed pod of poppy plants. Heroin typically originates in Mexico or South America and comes as a brownish or white powder that can be cut with different substances, or as a black sticky substance known as black tar heroin. People typically use heroin by smoking, snorting, or injecting it, and each method of use is associated with various risks and health effects.^1–3

Effects of Heroin

Opioids like heroin bind to opioid receptors in the brain and cause changes in neurochemical activity in the brain stem. Opioids work to reduce pain and cause euphoria but they also have side effects.These effects can vary depending on different factors, such as how much heroin was used, the method of use, and how quickly heroin binds to opioid receptors.⁴

The immediate, short-term effects of heroin can include:⁴

• Flushing of the skin.
• Dry mouth.
• A heavy feeling in the arms and legs.
• Nausea.
• Vomiting
• Severe itching.
• Drowsiness.
• Impaired mental functioning, such as confusion or “brain fog.”
• Slowed heart rate and breathing, which can be life-threatening and lead to coma or death.

The possible long-term effects of heroin include:^5,6

• Physical changes in the brain that can lead to impaired decision-making abilities, behavior regulation, and stress responses.
• Constipation.
• Insomnia.
• Mental health disorders, such as depression or antisocial personality disorder.
• Irregular menstrual cycles in women and sexual dysfunction in men.
• Tolerance, meaning a person needs to take increasing doses or more frequent amounts of heroin to experience its desired effects.
• Physical dependence, or the body’s physiological adaptation to the ongoing presence of a drug like heroin, resulting in withdrawal symptoms when a person stops using it.
• Addiction, which is diagnosed as a heroin or opioid use disorder (OUD).

Addiction, or OUD, is one of the most significant and devastating effects associated with long-term heroin use. OUD is a chronic relapsing brain disease defined by compulsive, uncontrollable substance use and drug-seeking behaviors despite the negative consequences. Addiction negatively affects not only the person who uses heroin, but it can also have a serious and detrimental impact on everyone in that person’s life.^1,5 

People who are physically dependent on heroin may develop withdrawal symptoms within a few hours of their last use. Heroin withdrawal symptoms can include:⁵

• Restlessness.
• Muscle and bone pain.
• Insomnia.
• Diarrhea.
• Vomiting.
• Cold flashes with goose bumps.
• Involuntary leg movements.

Effects of Smoking Heroin

Smoking heroin can lead to a variety of detrimental effects, especially on the respiratory system. People who regularly or chronically smoke heroin may have an increased risk of these effects.⁶ 

Specific health risks associated with smoking heroin can include:^7,8

• An increased risk of chronic lung disorders, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) or early onset emphysema.
• Asthma.
• Pneumonia.
• Pneumothorax (a collapsed lung) or pneumomediastinum (a condition that results in air in the space where your heart sits in your chest).
• Pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs).

Effects of Snorting Heroin

In addition to the general effects of heroin, snorting heroin is associated with additional risks, including:^6,9

• Damaged mucosal tissues in the nose.
• A perforated nasal septum (the tissue that separates the nasal passages).
• Nasal ulceration.
• Nasal septum necrosis, or tissue death.
• Ulceration in the throat.
• Palate damage.

Effects of Shooting (Injecting) Heroin

Shooting or injecting heroin may result in a variety of effects specific to this route of administration, especially when heroin is used regularly over long periods of time.⁶ 

These risks may include:⁶

• Scarred or collapsed veins.
• Bacterial infections of blood vessels or heart valves.
• Abscesses (boils).
• Soft-tissue infections.
• Immune reactions to contaminants, which can lead to arthritis or rheumatological problems.
• Infections from shared needles, including HIV, hepatitis B or C, and other viruses.

Heroin Overdose

Overdose is one of the most significant and dangerous risks associated with heroin use, especially as heroin is increasingly laced with fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.^10–12

An overdose means that someone has taken enough of a substance to overpower their body and prevent normal organ functioning. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl have been driving the opioid overdose crisis in the U.S. and are involved in most unintentional overdose deaths.¹¹

A heroin overdose is a medical emergency that can result in severely slowed or stopped breathing, which can be fatal if a person does not receive immediate medical attention. Other signs and symptoms of opioid overdose include:^10,11 

• Loss of consciousness.
• Blue or purple fingers or lips.
• Pinpoint pupils.

People who have overdosed may wish to consider learning about harm reduction practices, engaging in peer support groups like Narcotics Anonymous, and seeking heroin addiction treatment.¹¹

Heroin Addiction Treatment in Hillsborough, FL

If you or someone you care about is struggling with heroin use, help is available. No matter how things might seem right now, there is always hope, and people can and do recover from heroin addiction.¹³

Effective, evidence-based treatments are available for people struggling with heroin use disorder, including different medications and behavioral therapies designed to help people make beneficial life changes that support abstinence.¹³

Our Tampa metro area inpatient rehab facility offers different levels of addiction treatment to suit all needs, including medical detox, residential treatment, and outpatient rehab. At Greenhouse, we also specialize in the treatment of co-occurring mental health disorders and provide personalized treatment plans to help you or your loved one start and stay on the path to recovery.

Learn more about our drug rehab admissions process, using insurance to pay for rehab, and other ways to pay for rehab by calling . Our caring and knowledgeable admissions navigators are available around the clock and can help you get started today.