Relapses: how heroin takes its toll on local residents

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One of the major problems with the heroin epidemic affecting so many families in Ohio is that the addiction is just as strong as the drug. It is persistent and it is aggressive. Many people who attempt to get clean simply do not have the strength or the resources to keep up the fight for as long as needed and end up relapsing. Heroin relapse is defined as a resumption of heroin use after an elongated period of abstinence.

According to a study done by doctors at an opiate detox center in Dublin, Ireland in 2010. Of the 109 patients who completed the six-week inpatient treatment program successfully, 99 reported a relapse. That is a relapse rate of 91%. In 64 of those cases, 59%, it happened within the first week.

According to Portage County judge Becky Doherty, a relapse can happen at even the most unlikely of times.

Judge Doherty runs the drug court in Portage County, and says that a lot of times when people successfully undergo the inpatient process they will come see her, to give thanks and let her know how they are doing.

She talked about one case in particular, where a girl had been clean for over a year. She had come back to visit Judge Doherty and talk to her. She was seemingly very proud of her new lifestyle. This was on a Wednesday. By the time the following Monday had rolled around, her and her boyfriend had overdosed and died.

One local former user,  Kayley Macarine, 24, was willing to speak about her experiences dealing with heroin and her successful recovery. Kayley’s experience is an uplifting story in that she was able to regain a normal life after the drug, however like so many others her first attempt to quit the drug ended with a vicious relapse resulting in an overdose. This happened four times.

“I had tried so many times. However, one day I woke up and I had just hit the wall. I was so tired of it. So tired of living this nightmare. Tired of waking up sick.”

Kayley, like so many others, was introduced to the drug by someone she knew at a relatively young age.

“My brother had a deep addiction to it. I never really knew what it was. One day he just had it out in front of me. I asked if he would shoot me up. That was day one of three years I wasted on nothing.”

According to a story by the Columbus Dispatch, in 2014 over 11 percent of all heroin deaths happened in the state of Ohio. The number of heroin deaths keeps growing, too. According to a story by the New York Times, the over 64,000 drug overdose deaths in America was higher than the all-time high in gun deaths, HIV related deaths and car crash deaths.

There are many reasons that heroin is harder to stop than other drugs, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, the 91% relapse rate is the highest among testable substances.

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, studies have shown some deterioration of the brain’s white matter due to heroin use, which may affect decision-making abilities, the ability to regulate behavior, and responses to stressful situations. Using heroin not only gives you a high, but it affects the brain’s ability to judge what is important. This leads to prioritizing the high of heroin use over anything and everything.

Many people also feel shame admitting they have a problem. This is not a problem restricted only to heroin use, but the pride of not wanting to seek help has especially deadly consequences when dealing with the drug. Many times, people will try and defeat the addiction on their own, without going through the proper channels. Shortcuts and other ways to go around asking for help often have terrible results.

“I was looking for any sort of loophole, so I tried kratom,” said Kayley. Kratom is a plant grown in Thailand and has been used for hundreds of years for its opiate stimulating effects. Many people use it as a relief from withdrawal symptoms. “I can’t remember how I exactly found Kratom but it always led me back to relapsing. Definitely don’t use it to try and quit, you’ll just find yourself on a darker road.”

The people the recovering person surrounds themselves with can also have a huge part in whether or not the rehabilitation keeps them sober for good or not. Thinking about the good times one had using, or even worse thinking that “one time won’t kill them” are fairly common stories when it comes to relapses.

“I know of people who still use, but I do not talk to them.” said Kayley, “For me to stay sober I do not want to hang out with someone who is using unless they need help. I will help anyone any day of the week, but I cannot be near someone who does not want help.”

Kayley, after four relapses and a near fatal bone infection near her spinal cord which put her in a nursing home, finally got inpatient treatment. She followed by going to Alcoholics’ Anonymous. She’s been clean for 2 years now.

Seeing as how as of June 1, Montgomery County alone has had 365 heroin overdose deaths in 2017, Kayley has one of the happier heroin related stories you’ll see. As of now, she is still clean and living a very successful post-heroin life. However, relapses can always happen. Addiction is a disease and can come back at any point in your life. The rehabilitation process may start when you decide to stop using, but it never really ends. While the chances of relapse decrease over time, they never truly hit zero.

A less feel-good story is the story of Alexis Hudgins, whose uncle has recently relapsed on heroin again and is currently missing.

“He can’t get away from it and he doesn’t want to get away from it,” said Alexis, “I do fear that one day I will lose my uncle to heroin.”

What is particularly damning in this case are the widespread effects of his addiction.

“He has a daughter who doesn’t live in Ohio and he has a pregnant girlfriend. He hasn’t been a father at all honestly, he’s just been in and out of prison too much,” said Alexis, “The only time he’s ever been clean is when he is in prison. Being in prison isn’t even really being clean, he’s just in prison. He’s been in and out of prison four times that I can remember”

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, over 80,000 or 46% of people currently imprisoned are in there for drug charges. Coupled with the fact that, according to the United States Sentencing Commission, among federal offenders the recidivism rate is 49.3%, the story of (Alexis)’s uncle is not uncommon.

“I do fear that I will lose my uncle to heroin. We know it’s gonna happen. We’ve all talked about it.”

It is all too easy to advise people to just not ever use heroin, however, that strategy doesn’t seem to be working as the number of overdoses keeps going up all over the country. One damning thing about quitting heroin is that one dose is enough to drag you all the way back in. Also, that a user can’t really quit until they are 100% committed to changing, like Kayley. If they aren’t, they could end up like Alexis’s uncle or worse, as just another statistic.