Heroin Detox in Jail

I arrived at Monroe County Correctional Facility late on a Thursday night. I had never been to jail before and the circumstances of my arrest couldn’t of seemed worse at the time. It wasn’t the fact that I was going to be in jail for a few weeks that bothered me, it was that I was a heroin addict and I knew withdrawal wouldn’t be too far away. I had already used heroin that day so I knew I had at least another 24 hours of feeling somewhat normal, if you can even call it that. By day two in the county jail I was starting to feel the effects of withdrawal. Not only was I in jail sleeping on the top cot in a tiny cell but I was withdrawing so sleep was not an option. I spent all night tossing and turning trying to close my eyes and get some rest. I got up in the morning after maybe falling asleep for an hour, body full of aches and pains. There was nothing I could do about it.

Heroin withdrawal is one of the most painful and unpleasant experiences I have ever gone through. Every part of my body felt like it was in pain and I had cold sweats throughout the entire day. My appetite was gone but I tried to stomach down a couple bites at each meal. By day three and four I had leg and back pain that nearly brought me to tears. I laid in my cot all day sweating profusely. I would become hot and be sweating then the next minute I would be freezing cold. My head would not stop pounding and there was nothing I could do about it. There were no medications to help me through the detox. This was not like detoxing from opiates at a rehab or a detox center, it was just me and a cell. I lost a lot of weight in that first week of withdrawal. I barely ate and when I did it made me so nauseas that I had to stop. I felt defeated, pure and utter demoralization. I had been arrested and my freedoms had been stripped away. I was now just another junkie screaming about withdrawal with an orange jumpsuit on.

After the first week and a half the worst of the symptoms went away. I still could not sleep and just didn’t seem to feel right. At the time I didn’t even remember what feeling right was. I was as emotionally unstable as someone can be. Panicked thoughts and depression consumed me. I knew I had to make a change. This type of experience was hell for me. I was out of my element, sick and miserable. I got out of jail and went to treatment. I made the decision while in that cell that I would never return to this feeling of self hate and misery. I entered treatment and then continued to work my program afterwards. I have been sober ever since. I will never forget how miserable and painful it was detoxing from heroin in jail and hope I never have to go through something like that ever again.

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