Ask a former IV heroin addict

[AceBoogie]

I don't know what you mean by "pretty addicted to heroin mentally" ? Can you expand?
To me, it seems impossible to imagine ever tying off your arm, and sticking a steel needle into your vein. But you seem to be implying that you were high on other drugs before injecting that first time. Were you taking heroin orally prior to injecting?

Since your kind enough and brave enough to share your experience, this idea of injecting is the one that most baffles me as to how anyone could do it under any circumstance. (excluding force, of course)

The same as being mentally addicted to cigarettes, shopping, pot, alcohol, etc. Even though I wasn't physically dependent on the substance I still had constant urges to use heroin. It went from me wanting heroin once every few months to every single day, multiple times a day.


when you're in the midst of abusing hard drugs your brain chemistry is drastically altered, even when you're not actively under the influence of the drugs. It changes your thinking and affects your ability to make sensible, safe decisions. So no, when I first injected heroin I wasn't high on anything. But prior to that I had been abusing heroin for maybe two years so I was not in any sort of position to make a smart decision about much of anything.

I was also well aware that injecting heroin produces a much more intense and immediate high than any other route of administration and at that time I think I was more focused on that than anything else.

Now, obviously, I see how insane it was.

It's much more complicated than that, but dopamine is a driving factor.

Yea I'll admit I'm not too educated on the biology of it.

It's also my understanding that your body has opiate receptors in the brain, spinal cord and other areas of the body. I'd be interested to hear a doctor or something explain exactly what happens when your body becomes dependent on opiates.

If anyone has a more informed view for catlady I'd be interested to hear about it as well