Heroin (drugs)

hawkwind23

Not sure if right forum but reckon broad range of folk here might have answers.

Seen a few auld mates at a funeral , many years since been in contact.

They are all on drugs by the look of them.
Weird thing is they all look the same?
How is that possible?

Lost teeth
cheekbones totally sunk in
eyes pure dead

Man thats some seriously devastating drug to do that to people!

Is it a trait of the drug to leave that look on you? Or is it the lifestyle , lack of food, health etc?

i am upset about it , they all looked close to death but all couldn't of cared less.
Good friends they all were back in the day

ComfortKid

hawkwind23 wrote:

Man thats some seriously devastating drug to do that to people!

hawkwind23 wrote:

Is it a trait of the drug to leave that look on you? Or is it the lifestyle , lack of food, health etc?

Heroin isn't the only drug that will have that affect, but yeah, lack of food and personal hygiene would be the cause of deformation of the face I'd imagine.

Do Me Good

Are these guys on the dole?

Well Charlie Sheen lost quite a few teeth alright... before he bought a complete new set. And he aged about a decade in the years of 2010/11

hawkwind23

Why do the teeth fall out? seemed about 3 teeth in the head between 6 of them.
WTF like?
and sunken eyes , like skulls man with dead skin tripping off them.

At what point do you look in the mirror and not see that.

I KID YOU NOT! one of them was preening himself in a full length mirror at the bar , can they not see it?

ohnonotgmail

Is it a trait of the drug to leave that look on you? Or is it the lifestyle , lack of food, health etc?

heroin use does cause dental problems but the lifestyle doesnt help. Hard to remember to book a dentist appointment when you are looking for your next fix.

suicide_circus

I live maybe 200m from a methadone clinic and 150m from a homeless hostel in Dublin city centre so I see addicts every time I leave my gaff pretty much. They have nothing on their minds but their next bang of gear. Barely sentient. Ghosts.

LDN_Irish

Apparently methadone destroys your teeth, partly due to the drug itself but also the massive amount of sugar in the suspension. Lack of personal hygiene doesn't help. There's nothing inherent to heroin that does it, my gran in England was prescribed diamorphine (pharmaceutical heroin) for a few years, a nurse came round daily and injected her. Shes been on other strong opiates since her 30's and she's in her late 80's now. Her teeth stayed fine until late in to her old age which happens to a lot of elderly people.

hawkwind23

Ok yes , but surely when a tooth falls out you say , oh **** and get to a dentist.
Say i have really f'ed up here and i better sort myself out.

Personally i think they have all went too far and are now waiting to die , im not sure there is a way back from being that far gone.

Sad when you remember the life in them at school and the craic

seamus

Opiates in particular kill your appetite, but it would be a combination of factors; poor diet, no exercise, liver problems, etc etc, that give junkies that particular look.

People who are properly on the gargle - not the big bellied guys down the pub, the ones who wake up and crack open a can - have the same gaunt look.

Pat Mustard

Link

Heroin is known to cause serious oral health problems and in chronic long term users, bad teeth, bad gums and missing teeth are often apparent. In surveys of injecting heroin drug users, up to 70 per cent described problems such as teeth snapping off, teeth falling apart, gum disease and trauma. These problems are often a result of a lack of dental hygiene, access to health care or not caring about oral health due to drug addiction.

Individuals who are addicted to heroin or other opiates often experience severe decay in their teeth. This is because the drug causes them to crave sweet foods and drinks but their lifestyle often ignores the importance of mouth care. Additionally, many addicts consume sugary drinks and foods because they are inexpensive and readily available.

donegaLroad

poor liver function causes your teeth to fall out. Sustained heroin use can cause severe damage to the liver.

smash

Golden brown texture like sun
Lays me down with my mind she runs
Throughout the night
No need to fight
Never a frown with golden brown....

hawkwind23

http://www.drugs.com/forum/general/help-methadone-rotting-my-teeth-42547.html

This seems to be true , also saying they could be on meth etc as well.

Uncanny how they all look like that , must be even harder for the parents to see their kids change physically.
Dont even want to know whats going on mentally

ohnonotgmail

LDN_Irish wrote: »

Apparently methadone destroys your teeth, partly due to the drug itself but also the massive amount of sugar in the suspension. Lack of personal hygiene doesn't help. There's nothing inherent to heroin that does it, my gran in England was prescribed diamorphine (pharmaceutical heroin) for a few years, a nurse came round daily and injected her. Shes been on other strong opiates since her 30's and she's in her late 80's now. Her teeth stayed fine until late in to her old age which happens to a lot of elderly people.

being on a controlled course of opiates is not the same as being an addict on the streets. She was presumably getting regular dental checkups as well. Opiate abuse leads to a reduction in the amount of saliva produced. Saliva protects against decay. Addicts tend to also not notice dental pain as the use of opiates mask the pain. Combined with the lifestyle associated with drug abuse dental loss is inevitable.

JupiterKid

Crystal meth has the same effect - facial wasting, rotten teeth and a generally horrible appearance. The drugs do take their toll on the bodies of users.

ComfortKid

JupiterKid wrote:

Crystal meth has the same effect - facial wasting, rotten teeth and a generally horrible appearance. The drugs do take their toll on the bodies of users.

Even speed and ecstasy can have the same affect on appearance if taken enough. I ruined my teeth from partying too much when I was younger, my face was all sunk in too. They wouldn't do much damage mentally though.

c_man

Which would be a better drug to become addicted to (relatively speaking), meth or heroin? Is there not a lot of crossing the boundaries for users, or are they like PS4 and Xbox fanboys?

hawkwind23

Very sad and unsettling to see.
Wish i could show a timeline of photos of some of them boys and girls to how they looked the other night.
Would surely put people off and save a life or two.

Im not anti drugs either , no issues with recreational use but whatever the feck they are doing to themselves is scary

ohnonotgmail

hawkwind23 wrote: »

Very sad and unsettling to see.
Wish i could show a timeline of photos of some of them boys and girls to how they looked the other night.
Would surely put people off and save a life or two.

Im not anti drugs either , no issues with recreational use but whatever the feck they are doing to themselves is scary

There is a famous series of mugshot photos of a woman taken over 10 years or so that show the effects of drug abuse over time. the difference is striking.

LDN_Irish

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

being on a controlled course of opiates is not the same as being an addict on the streets. She was presumably getting regular dental checkups as well. Opiate abuse leads to a reduction in the amount of saliva produced. Saliva protects against decay. Addicts tend to also not notice dental pain as the use of opiates mask the pain. Combined with the lifestyle associated with drug abuse dental loss is inevitable.

You're right and it was a simplification to leave out the effects of dry mouth on tooth decay and gum disease, but I was trying to stress that ultimately it's the effects of drug abuse on personal hygiene and dental/medical check ups rather than it simply being "heroin wrecks your teeth." Same goes for meth, every side effect of methamphetamine will be there to a lesser extent with amphetamine, and yet we don't see people with scripts for adderall/ritalin with a mouth full of stumps because they are still taking care of themselves despite taking amphetamines daily for most of their lives.

hawkwind23

ComfortKid wrote: »

Even speed and ecstasy can have the same affect on appearance if taken enough. I ruined my teeth from partying too much when I was younger, my face was all sunk in too. They wouldn't do much damage mentally though.

I think thats misleading.
General consensus being that the long term effects of MDMA are hard to judge.
Nowadays the kids are using derivatives which without doubt are causing mental health issues and also this new herbal shyte which is likewise causing major mental health issues.

Personally know a load of speed freaks from the 70's whos brains are mush.

Not criticising , just in case someone is reading and thinking of trying them out , hang on , abuse any drug and there are consequences which you may not come back from.

kneemos

Always assumed they'd had them knocked out at some stage.
Poor diet and lack of care though will do a good job on them.

hawkwind23

So can you for example recover from being a chronic user with above symptoms to regain health and mental stability and total rehabilitation?

What are the likely outcomes? I would like to help or do something but my gut feeling is that they are already dead

LDN_Irish

c_man wrote: »

Which would be a better drug to become addicted to (relatively speaking), meth or heroin? Is there not a lot of crossing the boundaries for users, or are they like PS4 and Xbox fanboys?

Well, meth isn't physically addictive in the same way as opiates/opioids but it's psychology addictive enough to give physical withdrawal symptoms anyway. Heavy stimulant abuse really **** your mind up in a way that opiate abuse doesn't do as severely. But opiate addiction and it's spikes tolerance makes getting effective pain relief of you ever need it quite hard. Much of a muchness I'd say. You wouldn't want to play with either.

kylith

hawkwind23 wrote: »

Ok yes , but surely when a tooth falls out you say , oh **** and get to a dentist.
Say i have really f'ed up here and i better sort myself out

Yeah, you or I would, but they don't because it doesn't hurt because they're on heroin. And they don't care, because they're on heroin. And why would they waste money on a dentist when they could use it to buy more heroin instead?

ComfortKid

hawkwind23 wrote:

Personally know a load of speed freaks from the 70's whos brains are mush.

Was it just speed though? Or were they taking a few acid trips aswell..

You grind your teeth and "chew your jaws" when taking speed or Es, this leads to the bad teeth and bony face I think.

hawkwind23

LDN_Irish wrote: »

Well, meth isn't physically addictive in the same way as opiates/opioids but it's psychology addictive enough to give physical withdrawal symptoms anyway. Heavy stimulant abuse really **** your mind up in a way that opiate abuse doesn't do as severely. But opiate addiction and it's spikes tolerance makes getting effective pain relief of you ever need it quite hard. Much of a muchness I'd say. You wouldn't want to play with either.

This makes sense.

Would i be right in thinking opiates cause physical damage but dont directly cause mental health issues ( they may come from living conditions and related but not directly from chemical alteration )

However stimulates change brain behaviour (dopamine , endorphins etc ) and this will cause mental health issues.

Neither preferable but if you have seen a few acid users go wrong i think id be erring on the opiates side

BlibBlab

ComfortKid wrote: »

Even speed and ecstasy can have the same affect on appearance if taken enough. I ruined my teeth from partying too much when I was younger, my face was all sunk in too. They wouldn't do much damage mentally though.

Both can do massive long term mental damage if overdone. You'll blow out your dopamine and serotonin receptors if done too much.

hawkwind23

ComfortKid wrote: »

Was it just speed though? Or were they taking a few acid trips aswell..

You grind your teeth and "chew your jaws" when taking speed or Es, this leads to the bad teeth and bony face I think.

Yeah SWIM took a lot of the MDMA and experienced the grinding and gurning
Then the compounds changed and it had negative effects which increased that and harder withdrawal.
Not the peace loving drug it once was , wonder why it ever changed? surely keep it MDMA? why the need to make it so coarse?

Graces7

c_man wrote: »

Which would be a better drug to become addicted to (relatively speaking), meth or heroin? Is there not a lot of crossing the boundaries for users, or are they like PS4 and Xbox fanboys?

NONE.. .this thread is the saddest I have ever read; tears flowing here. Addiction can be fought, believe me. WHY do people start?

SEPT 23 1989

hawkwind23 wrote: »

Yeah SWIM took a lot of the MDMA and experienced the grinding and gurning
Then the compounds changed and it had negative effects which increased that and harder withdrawal.
Not the peace loving drug it once was , wonder why it ever changed? surely keep it MDMA? why the need to make it so coarse?

the original plant ingredient it was made from is running out/too hard to get

cant think of the name

that's why its all garbage now

hawkwind23

Graces7 wrote: »

NONE.. .this thread is the saddest I have ever read; tears flowing here. Addiction can be fought, believe me. WHY do people start?

I dont want to upset anyone and i wish i knew that answer
I also wish i could tell my friends that they are dying and that life is precious.
But i am all to aware they have closer family that has been doing this for years to no avail , i will be of no use at all.
Utter devastation.
The person being buried threw away his life to heroin leaving behind 2 kids and a family that loved him and supported him more than most.
Horrible horrible thing addiction

c_man

Graces7 wrote: »

NONE.. .this thread is the saddest I have ever read; tears flowing here. Addiction can be fought, believe me. WHY do people start?

Ah c'mon, I did say relatively speaking. I'm not planning on going out this evening and stocking up on one for the Christmas!

People start because they like getting fuked up and forgetting about troubles. Soon you're down the spiral and there's no way out. It's not that difficult to understand I think.

SEPT 23 1989

Graces7 wrote: »

WHY do people start?

because like everything else initially it feels great

hawkwind23

I guess it highlights how little i know about addiction.
We have all partied and overdid it , weekends become wednesday to tuesday and after a few years you start to knock it on the head.
You have kids , you have responsibilities , you get older , i dunno.
It therefore is a disease , the users dont see any of that.
Very sad and as someone who cares utter helplessness and frustration.
I pray none of my kids get involved with hard drugs and im not religious

Do Me Good

hawkwind23 wrote: »

and sunken eyes , like skulls man with dead skin tripping off them.

At what point do you look in the mirror and not see that.

Well if they already have a lower IQ!

KungPao

Another factor could be massive long term dehydration. Alcoholics and other drug addicts simply don't prioritise getting water in.

Look at the state of yourself when your massively hungover or after a week of having the flu when you can't even stomach a glass of water for a few days...imagine that over a number of years...you dry up and your organs just dowt work very well. Then of course the lack of nutrients etc.

But yes, it is strange that they all look so similar.

gctest50

KungPao wrote: »

..........
But yes, it is strange that they all look so similar.

not enough water, not enough vitamins n stuff from food

out under the sun all the time too a bit :

A truck driver that had sun exposure to the left side of his face for over twenty years, shows the dramatic impact of ultraviolet rays on the skin

http://i.imgur.com/30Jv1Ao.jpg

mynamejeff

hawkwind23 wrote: »

Ok yes , but surely when a tooth falls out you say , oh **** and get to a dentist.
Say i have really f'ed up here and i better sort myself out.

Personally i think they have all went too far and are now waiting to die , im not sure there is a way back from being that far gone.

Sad when you remember the life in them at school and the craic

Its from smoking heroin. When you inhale nasty $HIT like that for long enough it knocks the teeth out .

even if someone has only been smoking a short time you ll notice black crap wedged in the gums and teeth

irishgirl19

They all look the same AND sound the same too. Its mad

Junkyard Tom

smash wrote: »

Golden brown texture like sun
Lays me down with my mind she runs
Throughout the night
No need to fight
Never a frown with golden brown....

That's about toast and tea, isn't it?

Mmmmm... toast and tea.

mynameis905

donegaLroad wrote: »

poor liver function causes your teeth to fall out. Sustained heroin use can cause severe damage to the liver.

Nonsense. Exposure to hepatitis will cause liver damage but opiates in and of themselves cause very little damage to the body. Millions of people around the world take them everyday and experience only benign side effects like drowsiness and constipation.

99.9% of health problems related to heroin use come from using poor quality, impure street drugs of hugely varying strength, sharing needles, poor lifestyle choices and incarceration.

quarefarmers

hawkwind23 wrote: »

So can you for example recover from being a chronic user with above symptoms to regain health and mental stability and total rehabilitation?

What are the likely outcomes? I would like to help or do something but my gut feeling is that they are already dead

Depends on the person really, there can be lasting effects on the body and mind,but in many cases people make a full recovery,but its hard work,and you have to really want it for yourself

Harry Palmr

Heroin - drug

Heroine - brave female

Did the OP feel we'd not know the difference?

Clandestine

About a month ago I came across an album which showed the aftermath of heroin overdoses. Probably the only truly disturbing thing I've seen on the internet. Each entry had a picture of the person when they were healthy, and then the next photo was them sprawled on the ground, black and blue, lifeless. Here's one image from it (its not graphic) https://i.imgur.com/LEnCbDz.jpg

I'd post the album but mods would probably remove it

ComfortKid

Clandestine wrote:

I'd post the album but mods would probably remove it

Can you PM the link maybe? I'm not funked up wanting to see dead people, but the before and after pics interest me

SweetChaos

Ive seen a good few male addicts with a grey patch of hair on the back of their heads , does that have anything to do with addiction

ceadaoin.

SweetChaos wrote: »

Ive seen a good few male addicts with a grey patch of hair on the back of their heads , does that have anything to do with addiction

No

donegaLroad

mynameis905 wrote: »

Nonsense. Exposure to hepatitis will cause liver damage but opiates in and of themselves cause very little damage to the body. Millions of people around the world take them everyday and experience only benign side effects like drowsiness and constipation.

99.9% of health problems related to heroin use come from using poor quality, impure street drugs of hugely varying strength, sharing needles, poor lifestyle choices and incarceration.

I stand corrected :rolleyes:

yes, I know it is poor quality street heroin that screws up a person's system

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

It's horrible watching people in that state. I was on grafton street one evening where there was some guy trying to suck gas out of a can used to fill lighters. It was the saddest thing I've seen in a while. Or last Christmas, a young girl, bursted nose, passed out/begging on henry street. Blue lips, white ghost like face and a busted nose.

Scary thing about it is, it could be anyone's mam or dad, brother or sister, son or daughter. It doesn't matter what sort of family you come from, or upbringing you had, all it takes is some bad decisions during a rough patch, it could be anyone's family and no matter who they are, nobody deserves to eat their next meal from a bin.

A friend of mine is a pharmacist just outside of Dublin city centre and she used to dispense methadone and was saying how some of the people that would be on it would surprise you. People with good jobs from nice areas, would travel to her pharmacy so as to not meet anybody they knew. An older man who fell asunder when his wife died and now he's an absolute mess.

Apparently methadone really affects bone density, and is full of sugar so maybe that contributes to a gaunt appearance

Was always curious about it...but grew up in that era where we tried everything and anything but we were told that once you looked at heroin you were doomed. Have been told since that it's not as bad as that...just not sure I'd take the risk.

Anyone here tried it and had that "nah, not for me" feeling afterwards?