Certain medications are commonly used in heroin addiction treatment. These include:
Clonidine: This medication is a generic drug used to treat high blood pressure, but it has also been shown effective in treating opiate withdrawal symptoms, acting as a sedative and reducing many of the initial withdrawal symptoms mentioned above.
Methadone: This drug is an opioid medication used to treat moderate to severe pain. It has also been used for decades in heroin addiction treatment. Generally, a person is switched off heroin onto methadone, and over time, the dosage is slowly lowered until the person is drug-free. Methadone lessens withdrawal symptoms and decreases cravings for heroin.
Buprenorphine: This drug is a partial opioid agonist (heroin is a full agonist), meaning it blocks receptors in the brain that would normally be triggered by the use of heroin. At the same time, it may reduce or even eradicate withdrawal symptoms and cravings, as the brain receptors responsible for the high achieved with heroin are led to believe that an encounter with that opiate has taken place. Buprenorphine has gained popularity as an alternative, potentially with less abuse potential, to methadone in opiate addiction treatment.
Naltrexone: This drug also blocks the ability of an opiate to affect receptors in the brain. It can be beneficial in preventing relapse, though it has little effect on withdrawal symptoms and therefore should not be used during the withdrawal process, but rather as a safeguard against further use of heroin, as it blocks any effect heroin might have. This medication comes in pill form or in an
injectable format.