The United States alone has many people, ranging in the hundreds of thousands, that suffer from the hangover that alcohol and drugs bring. In this article, we’ll talk about what the term “opiate hangover” means. Before we talk about opiate hangovers, let’s compare them to something a little more common.
The Alcohol Hangover
Popular media has glamorized and created a whole cult of fascination surrounding the alcohol hangover phenomenon. Take a look at the movie “The Hangover” as an example. Even though movies like this are fun to watch, opiate hangover is no joke.
Looking at the most common drug (or at least the 2nd most common, just behind caffeine) consumed in the world, which is alcohol, it’s a phenomenon caused by ethanol—the natural metabolites of wines, beers, etc. Alcohol addiction is the same as drug addiction, which is why it’s mentioned.
The thing is, people that have a heavy and long track record of alcohol use literally poison themselves, since ethanol is a toxin. However, there’s no cause for alarm here: ethanol is indeed toxic, but it’s far and away from the chemicals and compounds found in cyanide or bleach.
To be specific, a hangover occurs due primarily to dehydration, which in turn is caused by ethanol’s diuretic properties. The question now is: what is a diuretic?
Well, a diuretic makes your body release water more. And this is the reason why drinking alcoholic beverages make a person urinate more than usual. As such, excessive peeing during drinking sessions tend to dehydrate a person’s body.
And the more dehydrated the body is, the less oxygen it receives and the less the system has to circulate, which then causes the usual toll that alcohol consumption takes. These hangover symptoms include headaches, nausea, vomiting, light sensitivity, and muscle aches.
For the most part, hangovers are an almost exclusive trait that comes with alcohol use—or especially alcohol abuse—and lasts less than 24 hours: the sufferer need not necessarily get help. It could be nursed using different methods and will eventually pass.
However, the question is: does a hangover happen to people who do drugs? Does an opiate hangover exist?
Hangovers and Drug Abuse: The ‘Heroin Hangover’
We had to take our research to the Urban Dictionary for this one because information about an opiate or heroin hangover is hard to find.
The opiate hangover happens the day after the drug abuse, and usually accompanied by headaches, dizziness, vomiting, and depression.
An opiate hangover could be perceived as a prolonged withdrawal symptoms, which normally starts immediately after putting the substance in the body.
The hangover effect for opiates is usually one or two long-term phases, lasting months after doing the drug. The horrible, ‘death’ feelings can last in your system for months, and even longer if you were a prescription drug user, until you start to feel normal again. This is the real opiate hangover. So, even when you get over that initial ‘kick’ you still got a long road ahead of you to getting back to your regular self. But remember, that road to recover is worth traveling at the end!
During this hangover period you might feel depressed, sleepless, or ‘snappy’ with bad tempers. And even though the drug test might come up clean, the effects are still in your system because you can feel them. Just know that it will take time for your body to re-adjust.
The short answer here is: no, drug abuse—be it through heroin, molly, or cocaine—don’t have hangover symptoms that come with them.
Instead, it ends with a “comedown”, which is entirely different from a hangover.
One could view hangovers to be side-effects of drug use. On the other hand, drug comedowns are the eventual—and, of course, ultimate—dissipation of its effects in the human body. Comedowns affect predominantly physically, which then extends to their emotional and mental states.
How does an opiate comedown occur?
To explain that, one must first look at how a drug affects the human body. Be it an upper or a downer, drugs provide its users with, of course, a high: the bliss and euphoria that occurs when the drug’s chemical content interacts with the body. These last anywhere between a few minutes to several hours.
In doing so, the person gets these changes in the chemistry of their brain (the high), which then affect how much neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, to name a few— are released in the body and thereby affecting the emotional and mental states of the sufferer.
Once this euphoria subsides, the chemicals and metabolites from the drug are continually ejected from the human body. The problem is that when the drug effects dissipate (it comes down), the body doesn’t regenerate the released neurotransmitters from the high right away, which then causes further changes in the brain’s chemistry.
A good example would be by looking at a lack of dopamine, which affects pleasurable moods in the person. The lack thereof leads the sufferer to have a depressive spell or feelings of exhaustion.
Drug usage causes the brain to go on overdrive and produce these neurotransmitters. Much like all other muscles, it needs time to recover, which means its functions slow.
What is a Comedown, Then?
Suffice it to say that the comedown is much different from a hangover, with the former being more of what comes naturally after the drug use, while the latter is a side-effect.
Comedowns begin when the drug’s metabolites start to dissipate and the body ejects them: it may last as long as a few days.
And it goes without saying that although hangovers and comedowns are different, they’re very unpleasant happenings that a person might suffer from.
Even worse, one of the reasons that drug abuse occurs is in part to avoid a comedown by countering it with an additional or, at times, even more intense high. However, this only makes matters worse, as the body becomes overworked—particularly the brain— and the eventual loss of neurotransmitters become more drastic.
Not to mention, there are the dangers of a drug overdose and the more intense side-effects from any given substance. As such, it’s ideal to get help through addiction treatment if an individual finds difficulty in combating comedowns.
Withdrawal Symptoms: Is It Exclusive to Drugs?
Symptoms might appear when an individual withdraws from using drugs, which could range from depression all the way to obvious physical changes (excessive sweating, convulsions, etc.). But just because alcohol is legal in most parts of the world doesn’t mean that people never experience any alcohol withdrawal symptoms. They definitely do.
Specifically, the ones who are at the most risk of experiencing withdrawal from alcohol are those people who are long-term, excessive drinkers that have abruptly stopped their respective alcoholic habits. Simply put, those individuals with a dependency on the substance are the ones who are the most susceptible to withdrawal.
Think of the human body as having these rhythms and frequencies that it accustoms itself to. For a heavy drinker, their body gets used to an excessive amount of ethanol circulating throughout their system—and that’s not to mention the tolerance built by the body as more alcohol is consumed, which in turn causes the individual to drink more.
Once this rhythm and frequency is disrupted by the sudden stop of alcoholic intake, the body will naturally need time to adjust to this new norm. As such, individuals suffering from withdrawal might experience some rather unpleasant side effects, which may include anxiety, insomnia, nauseum, and uncontrollable shaking.
And not to be alarmist, but these withdrawals could even become so severe that they threaten the individual’s overall well-being.
As mentioned earlier, long-time drinkers are the most susceptible to this condition. However, one must make no mistake: even people who are causal drinkers, and even the ones who have only started drinking alcohol as recently as a few weeks, are not exempt from withdrawals.
How Do Withdrawals Occur?
Simply put, alcoholic beverages and the ethanol within them tend to affect a number of physiological functions instead of just one (as with, say, bath salts or molly, which mainly targets the brain). At its simplest, alcoholic drinks affect the human body’s central nervous system.
To be specific, ethanol is more of a downer: it has a sedating effect on the individual, especially when pointing to the brain, which inhibits its neurotransmitters. So, in contrast with uppers like cocaine or crack, alcoholic drinks tend to mellow out the individual in addition to giving them a certain high that makes them feel happy, outgoing, and at ease.
However, if the person is a long-term heavy drinker, the amount of the alcoholic substance required by the body to achieve this euphoric state—this high—is increased gradually. As time passes, the amount of substance needed to achieve the high increases. Yes, one will experience the same high they did, say, when they first had a bottle of wine, but it will require ten bottles when the body becomes dependent.
Once a given long-term drinker abruptly quits their habit, the then-suppressed neurotransmitters (which were inhibited by the ethanol to produce the high) are released in droves. This is not a good thing, because now the individual has to contend with a chemical imbalance in their bodies, which then manifest as the symptoms of withdrawal.
In fact, much like with drugs, people tend to become dependent on alcoholic substances at times due to the fear of experiencing the pains of withdrawal, which then leads to more alcoholic beverage consumption. However, this only further exacerbates the individual’s problem.
Knowing When to Quit Substance Abuse
Of course, Getting professional help is important if one is a long-term drinker who has chosen to drop the habit. There are various steps and rehabilitation centers that could aid and support a sufferer in their battle with either alcohol dependency or substance abuse in general.
Not to mention, support also stems from a loved one and the people around them.
Addiction stems from many causes: It could be the person’s psyche; their emotions; or external social factors. Regardless, there is no reason for a person to be trapped in a cycle of overconsumption and the abuse of these substances.
Ignore the stigma and instead focus on getting clean. Completely quitting drugs or booze is a daunting and sometimes long process. However, the rewards the individual could reap from this far outweigh the challenges they face.
There’s a way out, and one need only reach out to the right channels and professionals in order to free themselves from addiction’s grip.
It’s not an insurmountable obstacle.