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How Long Does Heroin Stay In Your System?

  • Reviewed by: Dr. Carl Williams, Ph.D., LCADC
  • Modified:
  • Reading Time: 14 minutes
  • Reviewed by: Dr. Carl Williams, Ph.D., LCADC
  • Last Update:
  • Reading Time: 14 minutes

Heroin can leave your bloodstream quickly. However, its effects and the risk of addiction can last much longer than you think.

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Heroin is a potent opioid that can have serious, lasting effects on your body. Many people find the strong high that heroin provides appealing. However, heroin is extremely dangerous and highly addictive. It can result in overdose, long-term health issues, and even death.

Unfortunately, despite these dangers, heroin use is still quite common, causing chaos within families and communities alike. About 3.1 million Americans aged 12 and older have tried it at least once. Among these individuals, many teens and young adults have tried heroin. This includes 76,000 people aged 12 to 17 and 474,000 aged 18 to 25.

When it comes to street heroin, you are dealing with a substance that is unpredictable. Often, harmful additives are mixed in. No matter your level of experience, using it carries risks. If you’re trying to learn how long heroin stays in your body, you’re not the only one.

If you are concerned about passing a drug test, you are not alone. Many people worry about this. You might also want to track your recovery or learn about the effects of drugs.

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Levels of Care
Popular Topics
Families & Addiction

Different Forms & Dangers of Heroin

What Is Heroin?

Heroin is a powerful drug that acts quickly on your body and has a strong potential for addiction. It actually comes from morphine, which manufacturers extract from opium. Opium itself is a natural substance that’s found in the seedpods of the opium poppy. These plants grow mainly in Southeast and Southwest Asia, Mexico, and Colombia.

When you use heroin, it can hit you hard, fast—and that’s part of what makes it so dangerous. The way it works in your brain makes it incredibly easy to become dependent on it. You might come across heroin in different forms:

  • White or brown powder
  • Black tar heroin – a sticky, black substance.
On the streets, it’s known by many names, including:
  • Chiva
  • Diesel
  • Thunder
  • Smack
  • Dope
  • Boy
  • Big H
  • China White

Heroin works by targeting the opioid receptors in your brain. When you use it, it can bring on intense feelings of euphoria, relaxation, and a sense of pain relief. People frequently end up chasing that high. Over time, this search for relief can turn into something much more challenging to escape—addiction.

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Common Methods of Use

How Is Heroin Used?

Since heroin lacks any legitimate medical use, people consider any kind of use as misuse. Regarding misuse, people often turn to different methods to get the drug into their system:

  • Injecting – This is probably the most common method. People inject heroin in different ways.

They may inject it directly into a vein, which is called “mainlining.” Others may inject it into a muscle, known as “intramuscular.” Some people inject it just under the skin, a method called “skin-popping.”

  • Snorting – Some crush the heroin into a fine powder and sniff it through their nose. This method still delivers a quick high.
  • Smoking or inhaling – This is called “chasing the dragon.” It means heating heroin on aluminum foil. Then, you inhale the smoke through a tube.

Each of these methods leads to a rapid start of effects. The faster a drug enters your body, the stronger the effects. This quick start is what makes heroin so addictive.

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Impact on the Brain and Body

How Does Heroin Affect the Body?

This drug works by targeting certain opioid receptors in your central nervous system. This system includes your brain and spinal cord. This is what causes the common effects of heroin: pain relief, feeling ecstatic, and being utterly relaxed. Even though these effects might feel incredibly good, heroin can also cause serious harm to both your mind and body.

The dangers of heroin extend beyond the drug itself. Often, unregulated producers mix heroin with other substances.

They may add starch or even harmful poisons. They do this to increase volume, cut costs, and boost potency. All of this is for their own financial gain.

A common additive linked to the synthetic opioid crisis is fentanyl. This strong painkiller is about 100 times more powerful than morphine.

It is often made and sold illegally. The scary truth is that if you don’t know fentanyl is in the heroin you use, you could overdose. Plus, the combined impact of such mixtures can affect nearly every organ in your body.

Besides fentanyl, heroin may be “cut” with other substances, including:
  • Quinine
  • Powdered laundry detergent
  • Baking soda
  • Caffeine
  • Powdered milk
  • Sugar
  • Over-the-counter painkillers
  • Antihistamines (to ease itching)

These factors can make the drug much more dangerous, putting your body at greater risk.

What Are the Short-Term Effects of Heroin?

When you use heroin, it takes effect quickly, and the feeling hits hard. Here’s what you might experience:

  • Warm, flushed skin
  • Loss of appetite
  • Intense itching
  • A sudden rush of euphoria
  • Small, constricted pupils
  • No interest in sex
  • Your arms and legs feeling unusually heavy
  • Relief from pain
  • Upset stomach and vomiting
  • A dry mouth

What Are the Long-Term Effects of Heroin?

Using heroin for a long time can change how your brain works. You might need more of it to feel the same good feeling, called tolerance (or getting used to it). If this happens often, you might become dependent on it.

You may need the drug to feel normal. You could keep using it, even when it causes serious problems. And once it becomes physically dependent (having heroin use disorder), stopping suddenly can trigger withdrawal symptoms.

You might feel:

  • Restlessness
  • Pain in your muscles and bones
  • Insomnia
  • Diarrhea and vomiting
  • Sudden chills or cold flashes, often with goosebumps
  • Uncontrollable leg movements (a common withdrawal symptom)

Withdrawal symptoms typically start within hours of your last dose. They reach their worst within 24 to 48 hours but usually begin to fade after about a week. However, in some cases, certain withdrawal symptoms can linger for months.

Heroin is incredibly addictive, and how you take it matters. The quicker it gets to your brain—by injecting or smoking—the stronger the addiction can become. This makes it harder to break free. When heroin use disorder takes hold, the drug becomes your focus, pushing everything else to the side.

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Metabolism, Half-Life, & Testing Windows

How Long Does Heroin Stay in Your System For?

The time heroin stays in your system depends on a few key factors. Heroin can usually be found in your body for several days. However, how long it stays depends on the person. Your metabolism, how often you use it, and even how you use it all affect how long it lingers in your system.

Factors Affecting How Long Heroin Stays in Your System

Heroin can be detected in the body for varying amounts of time, depending on several factors, including:

  1. Frequency of Use: The more often you use heroin, the longer it might stay in your system. Heavy or regular use can lead to the drug lingering for an extended period.
  2. Age and Health: As you age, or if you have liver or kidney problems, your body may take longer to clear heroin. These organs play a significant role in breaking down substances. Thus, any health issues can slow the process.
  3. Metabolism: If your metabolic rate is fast, your body will process and remove heroin quicker. This is true compared to someone with a slower metabolism.
  4. Body Fat: Heroin is fat-soluble and can be stored in your fat cells. If you have a higher body fat percentage, the drug may stay in your system longer than someone with less body fat.
  5. Method of Use: How you take heroin can influence how quickly it hits your bloodstream. For example, injecting or smoking can cause the drug to enter your system faster. However, this doesn’t necessarily change how long it stays in your body overall.

What Is the Half-Life of Heroin?

To understand how long heroin stays in your body, it’s helpful to know about its “half-life.” This term refers to the time your body takes to eliminate half the substance. Most drugs generally take 4 to 5 half-lives to be almost completely eliminated from your system.

  • The half-life of heroin itself is pretty short—between 2 to 8 minutes.
  • This means that within 8 to 48 minutes, heroin can be mostly cleared from your body.

However, even though heroin can leave your body quickly, it changes into other substances. One of these is 6-monoacetylmorphine, which is a leftover part that stays in your system for a longer period of time.

How Is Heroin Metabolized and Excreted?

Heroin is processed in your liver, where it gets broken down into 6-acetylmorphine and then further into morphine. It’s these metabolites—6-acetylmorphine and morphine—that drug tests typically detect when they’re checking for heroin use.

  • After being metabolized, heroin and its breakdown products are mostly eliminated through urine.
  • Smaller amounts can also be found in your sweat, saliva, and feces.

Your body clears the drug quickly. However, the metabolites can stay in your system longer. This is why they appear on most drug tests.

How Long Can Heroin Be Detected in Different Drug Tests?

Heroin can be detected in various types of drug tests for different lengths of time:

  • Urine tests – These are the most common because they’re easy to administer and cost-effective. Heroin can usually be detected in your urine for 1 to 4 days after you use it. However, if you’ve been using heroin heavily or for a long time, it could appear for longer.
  • Blood tests – Heroin itself doesn’t stay in your blood for a long. Typically, it remains detectable for about 6 hours after use. But its metabolites, the byproducts your body creates when breaking down the drug, can stick around for up to 24 hours.
  • Saliva tests – Heroin can be found in your saliva for roughly 1 to 4 days.
  • Hair tests – These are the most reliable for longer detection times. However, they are not used often because they can be expensive. Hair tests can detect heroin (and other substances) for up to 90 days after use.
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Serious Health & Emotional Consequences

What Are the Risks of Long-Term Heroin Use?

The pull of heroin, once you’re dependent, is powerful. Not just about the high, it becomes an overwhelming need to use, regardless of what it costs you. Regular and long-term heroin use can also lead to:

  • Strong feelings of sadness that seem to stick around.
  • Collapsed veins, which can happen from repeated injections.
  • Insomnia—you may struggle to get proper sleep.
  • Constipation that just won’t go away.
  • Heart issues: Infections in the lining and valves of your heart.
  • Skin infections like abscesses and cellulitis.
  • Risk of contracting HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.
  • Liver and kidney disease
  • Sexual health problems, such as trouble getting or maintaining an erection.
  • Mental health concerns: Anxiety, depression, and other disorders.
  • Lung diseases such as pneumonia or tuberculosis.
  • Menstrual issues for women, including irregular periods or even miscarriage
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Safe Detox & Holistic Treatment Strategies

How to Get Heroin Out of Your System?

If you’re trying to get clean, your body naturally works to process and eliminate the drug over time. That said, there are ways to support the process and ensure you do it safely.

Detoxing can help speed up recovery. However, it is important to do it safely. You need to consider the physical, emotional, and mental effects of withdrawal. This way, you can protect your overall well-being.

Treatment Options for Heroin Addiction

When you want to overcome heroin addiction, remember that recovery is more than just stopping the drug. A solid, personalized treatment plan is key to getting better. It’s not just about detoxing; it’s about taking a whole-person approach to healing. Here are some treatment options to consider:

  • MAT: Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) helps you on your journey. It uses medication given by healthcare providers. Medications like methadone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone are often used to help people overcome addiction.
  • Behavioral Therapy: Addiction isn’t just about the drug—it’s about the underlying reasons that drive the behavior. Behavioral therapy helps you dive into these deeper issues.

It’s effective and can be done in both inpatient and outpatient settings. When used with medication, therapy creates a strong treatment plan. This plan gives you the best chance for lasting recovery.

Here are two key approaches:

  • Contingency Management: This method uses a reward system to encourage positive behaviors. Patients earn “points” for clean drug tests, which they can exchange for items that promote healthy living. The idea is to reinforce progress and motivate continued recovery.
  • Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT helps individuals recognize and change the thoughts and behaviors that fuel drug use. It also focuses on building skills to cope with stress, triggers, and life challenges without turning to drugs. It’s about rewiring how you think and react so you’re better equipped to face tough situations.
  • Inpatient Rehabilitation: When you are in an inpatient or residential treatment program, a team is there for you all day and night. A haven exists where the only thing on your mind is getting better and putting in the work to recover. You can profoundly zero in on healing without all the distractions and stress of everyday life getting in the way. These programs are especially helpful for those with severe addiction and offer a higher level of support.
  • Outpatient Treatment: For less severe cases, outpatient care can still provide essential support. You’ll get counseling, medications, and monitoring, but you can live at home and continue with your daily life.

How to Detox from Heroin?

Detoxing from heroin is something you should only do with medical help. The withdrawal symptoms can be intense and, in some cases, even dangerous. When your body starts adjusting to life without heroin, you might experience:

  • Jitters and restlessness
  • Chills that lead to goosebumps
  • Trouble sleeping (which is pretty common)
  • Restless legs, making it hard to stay still
  • Intense cravings for the drug
  • Vomiting and diarrhea
  • Bone and muscle pain that feels like it’s never-ending
  • Cold flashes that come out of nowhere
  • Uncontrollable leg movements

And that’s not all. You could also find yourself feeling:

  • Anxious or irritable
  • Your heart racing
  • Sweating excessively
  • Hot flashes followed by shivering
  • Yawning uncontrollably
  • A runny nose or watery eyes
  • Stomach cramps that seem to come and go
  • Muscle twitches that don’t stop
  • Increased pain in places you didn’t know could hurt

It may feel overwhelming, but medically assisted detox can help you manage these symptoms safely. It provides a more controlled environment. This makes the process much more manageable and less risky.

This treatment plan works best when it takes a holistic, comprehensive outlook. It’s important to view harm reduction from all sides.

This includes looking at physical, emotional, and mental effects. We should also use behavioral therapies like CBT and family therapy. Making healthy lifestyle changes is key too.

How to Pass a Drug Test for Heroin?

If you have a drug test coming up and are worried about heroin, there is no guaranteed way to pass. This is especially true if you have used heroin recently.

While some people might try to:

  • Drink excessive amounts of water
  • Use detox products that claim to “cleanse” the system

The only real way to get heroin out of your system is time. Your body needs time to process and eliminate the drug. The best thing you can do is avoid using heroin altogether.

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Rolling Hills Recovery Center: Find Help for Heroin Addiction and Abuse

If you or a loved one is struggling with heroin addiction, it’s time to take the first step toward recovery. Long-term heroin abuse can lead to serious, life-threatening health issues, including overdose. Going to rehab with skilled therapists can give you the support and tools you need for lasting recovery.

At Rolling Hills Recovery Center, we have diverse evidence-supported behavioral therapies and programs. This includes care for dual diagnosis. We offer holistic treatments like yoga and equine therapy. You will also find emotional support from our friendly community.

To learn more about our comprehensive care and programs, visit us at 425 Main St., Chester, NJ 07930, or you can contact us online. Our compassionate team is ready to help you start your journey to recovery today.

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Written By:

Geoffrey Andaria

Geoffrey Andaria mental health writer at rolling hills recovery center
Rolling Hills Recovery Center

Mental Health Writer

About Author:

Geoffrey Andaria is an experienced mental health content writer and editor. With a B.A. in English and Journalism, Geoffrey is highly educated in freelance articles and research. Having taken courses on social work, Geoffrey is adamant about providing valuable and educational information to individuals affected by mental health and the disease of addiction.

Medically Reviewed By:

Dr. Carl Williams Ph.D., LCADC

Carl Williams, medical content reviewer at rolling hills recovery center
Rolling Hills Recovery Center

Expert Contributor

About Reviewer:

Dr. Williams presently serves on the board of Directors for two non-profit service organizations. He holds a Master’s degree in Human Services from Lincoln University, Philadelphia, Pa, and a Ph.D. with a concentration in Clinical Psychology from Union Institute and University. In Cincinnati, Ohio. He is licensed to practice addictions counseling in both New Jersey and Connecticut and has a pending application as a practicing Psychologist in New Jersey.

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