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what got you into heroin?

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washingtonbound

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Aug 19, 2013
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Just curious to see what got people to try what many consider to be the most dangerous and addictive substance there is. Curiosity? Boredom? Self-medication? I myself have tried it out of boredom cause I figured one time for everything doesn't hurt. Luckily I didn't enjoy it and didn't get into it much at all.
For those of you who would consider themselves addicted, please elaborate on how you feel you got there.
 
Like most people, I started with other opioids first. Codeine, oxy, tramadol. Eventually the opportunity to try heroin came up, and I took it. I was suicidally depressed, I didn't think I'd live particularly long, and I was already addicted to opioids, so I saw no reason not to use it. And I loved it. Just like I loved opiates when I first tried them, I loved heroin the same way.

There's lots of ways people wind up on heroin. Some start with legitimate physical pain, get prescribed pills, get addicted, find heroin would be better and cheaper, so they try it. And eventually wind up using the needle too. One small step after the other. Pushed by small rationalizations. Some convince themselves they won't get addicted.

I wasn't one of them, I made no attempt whatsoever to avoid dependence or addiction. I used as much as I could from just about day one. Nor did I ever have physical pain. But like I said, I had no particular expectation of living all that long, so I figured it didn't matter.
 
My introduction to heroin was well defined... a decade ago (aged mid 30s) I met a guy touring India on an Enfield Bullet who gave me a pellet of opium with instructions not to chew... Coming up on it was a case of 'where have you been all my life?!'...

I remembered this a few months later back in London, walking home from clubbing in Brixton a young dealer sold me a few baggies of brown. I chased the dragon for the first time that night and loved it, despite the initial projectile vomiting.

That was my first time doing heroin, but what really got me into it - other than the beautiful honey like rush - was the fact it not only hit the spot but it satisfied needs without any of the messiness associated with other drugs... specifically alcohol.

Ultimately, emerging alcoholism, my disgust and shame of obnoxious drunken me, combined with an addictive nature and inability to live without 'rewards' made it a 'no brainer'... heroin was an extremely attractive alternative to alcohol.

On smack I am at first alert and never nod off until several hours after, when I begin to slide off my high (not sure whether anyone else's experience of heroin is like this? I read about people immediately on the nod after pinning / smoking)

On smack I don't look shit or smell like crap,.. I don't embarrass myself talking bollox to strange women in bars... I can think and communicate clearly enough to fool most people (unless they're in the know and recognise pinned pupils)... my focus and especially concentration for mundane tasks improves... and for the initial honeymoon period (before physical dependence) the major downside was I often struggled and failed to keep my eyes open at work on Monday after a weekend dabbling.

Until I became physically addicted* the negative associations of smoking heroin were confined to the stigma surrounding the drug, its cost, criminal risk and having to associate with the low lives who sold it.

Now I'm well aware of the major negative aspects of heroin use and dependency. If I could travel back in time to before I 'really got into heroin', I'd try my best to warn myself off. Whether my advice and warnings would succeed isn't at all clear... nor is it clear that the likely alternative of alcoholism would be preferable to heroin addiction. I would however, have definitely been a lot more cautious and reticent about going on subutex if I knew then what I know now about buprenorphine dependency and withdrawal.

*physical dependence on heroin only became serious for me after nearly 12 months of concerted and devoted habitual - eventually daily - use. something that surprised me: initially the effort and time I dedicated to H without succumbing to addiction beguiled me into considering physical dependency might not be a significant risk if i only chased the dragon
 
I have been a lover of opioids for nearly 20 years. For the majority of this time it was the pharmaceuticals that fed my addiction. I have taken every common opioid available on the US market (and a few not so common ones as well) but oxycodone was my baby. As my ability to get oxy disappeared I became interested in heroin. Frankly, I knew I wanted to IV dope simply because I never had and once finding a source, within a week or two thats exactly what I did. I still think I prefer oxy but its close.
 
I never had any addiction issues with heroin and only tried it three or four times, although I never injected it. It was one of those things where it felt so gross in my body that I didn't want to mainline it. The unbearable nausea and nasty drip from snorting it was enough to deter me from future use. I didn't get much euphoria from it.
 
These responses reflect what I have seen/heard about from other people in my life as well. Most the time it seems to start with people getting introduced to painkillers, either legitimately or illegitimately, and that eventually propels them down the path towards IV heroin use in many cases. I think it has a lot to do with how it easy it is to come across opiates and the extent that they are overprescribed. Even something as simply as getting hydrocodone after getting your wisdom teeth taken out can lead some people far down the rabbit of harder opiates such as heroin.
 
washingtonbound said:
These responses reflect what I have seen/heard about from other people in my life as well. Most the time it seems to start with people getting introduced to painkillers, either legitimately or illegitimately, and that eventually propels them down the path towards IV heroin use in many cases. I think it has a lot to do with how it easy it is to come across opiates and the extent that they are overprescribed. Even something as simply as getting hydrocodone after getting your wisdom teeth taken out can lead some people far down the rabbit of harder opiates such as heroin.
Click to expand...

Most of the time you're probably right. In my case though. I've had people ask if I regret ever trying heroin. And the answer is no. Not because it hasn't been an astoundingly destructive influence on my life, it has. I don't regret it because I truly don't think of my choice to try heroin or opioids as a free choice where i could or should have chosen differently.

Way I see it, for all sorts of reasons I was always going to wind up getting the chance to try it. And even if I hadn't already had extensive experience with opioids, I think sooner or later I always would have. There's lots of reasons for that, most of which involve shit in my life I didn't have control over.

I'm still responsible for the choices I made as a result of my heroin addiction, but honestly, for myself, I don't think of my initial choice to use it as a choice at all. I think I still would have wound up trying it no matter how easy pharmaceutical painkillers were to access.

Of course, your point is probably still true, at the least it's a big part of the problem. But just not the whole problem. I know you didn't suggest that it was, I just thought this was a point worth making.
 
Self medication for the most part. for crippling anxiety.

Found xanax a couple months before heroin.. started partying.. at one party I was drunk and on xanax and everyone was shooting up in the bathroom so I said give me some. Obviously I overdosed but the day after someone called me to see if I was ok, we ended up dating and I continued to use every day because they did.

Today the person is dead after a 5 year relationship. It kills me every day. But I did decide to get clean finally.
 
yea I was just painting a general picture of what I've seen, there have obviously been exceptions. I had a friend who started using it out of nowhere because he had a death in the family; he is dead himself now.
but I do think generally speaking, people start on weaker opiates before venturing into heroin
 
So never tried it personally, don't have any interest in it (except the nausea sounds appealing, thanks bulimia) but just to add some more perspectives...

My partner tried snorting heroin once, he was already addicted to alcohol, benzos, and I think RCs, those might have started later though. Anyway a friend offered it to him and he was severely depressed and was just always wanting to be in some sort of altered state so he took it. Said he basically just passed out in his bed and didn't really see the appeal so he never felt the urge to do it again but doesn't really regret it or anything.

My mom went from doing no drugs and hardly even drinking to shooting heroin bc she was tired of dealing with my abusive dad and just really wanted to die but couldn't do the straight suicide route. Don't know all the details except that she was trying to help her heroin addict friend from high school get into rehab but they ended up just getting high together instead. Rest of my family didn't find out until she got hepatitis. She's clean now and separated from my dad :)
 
Poster above,
Sorry to hear about your mum's experience...
As well as being the time killer par excellence, Heroin is also a huge crutch capable of numbing pretty much all pain and uncomfortable emotions. It's easy to understand the temporary solace the drug brings.
 
Living in central Massachusetts. I tried sniffing it a couple times. I never injected it so it was not any more impressive than morphine. Now that fentanyl cut heroin seems to be the standard rather than the exception I wouldn't touch the stuff for free.

I do think it should be used in palliative care as in the U.K. since it is less likely to induce nausea compared to morphine with no additional risk. But unless regulated and legalised I won't touch it. Too many friends gone.
 
benzo wd i got hooked on heroin after 2 years in benzo wd had me really depressed
 
Depression but had been using drugs for years. Knew I liked opiates cuz that's what got me into drugs as a kid in the first place, the drug cabinet. Then was offered heroin years later and fell in love. Didn't realize it at the time but I was/am a poly drug addict. Until I met heroin...

Actually, this place is where I came to get all my info and harm reduction advice when I was 14... 24 now and I'm still here, fuck lol. Wonder if i can still get onto my old account xD
 
Ironically it was suboxone that got me into the bigger opioids LOL. I had a friend who sold his script for dope money and I loved it. Then I found Norcos, tramadol, oxy, then finally ran into H. Like most have said, it was like a love story. Sooner or later it bit me in the ass, big surprise.

Now I'm staying at my parent's home shackled to suboxone and tapering until I can be a functional member of society again. Will it work? Find out on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z.
 
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