Yes, you can die from a heroin withdrawal. I would recommend using a treatment center, physician or addiction specialist to help you get sober.

The state of Maine provides a variety of drug addiction treatment and alcohol rehab for residence without insurance or money. This assistance is restricted to those who do not have any other means of attending an alcohol treatment center or drug addiction rehab program. Generally speaking these resources are handled by the state itself and managed at the county level. In Maine, there can be a waiting list for drug rehab facilities and alcohol treatment programs. Some states, like Maine, require a financial statement to make sure the person cannot afford alcohol treatment centers or drug rehab programs. For more information, please contact: Maine Detox, Drug Rehab and Alcohol Treatment Programs
AMHI Complex,
Marquardt Bldg
SHS #159, 3rd Floor
Augusta, 04333-0159
Phone: 207-287-2595 Note: If you are calling the Maine department of drug rehab centers and alcohol treatment programs from within the state, you may use the federally funded toll-free number, 800 662 4357. This number automatically connects you to the state office of the state you are calling from. If you wish to contact a different state than the one you are calling from, you will have to go to that state on the map on our website.

Thank you for your question.  Long term sobriety requires a plan.  Here are some of the things you should be thinking about as you prepare for the next phase of your recovery:

Nutrition
Nutrition (or lack of it) can lead to high levels of stress and the ability to manage symptoms of stress leading to relapse.  Malnutrition contributes to poor health.  The recovering person may be malnourished due to poor eating habits or because their body, damaged by drugs or alcohol, was not able to utilize the nutrients that were consumed.  Abstinence does bring improvement but it is not sufficient to rebuild damaged body tissue and maintain good health.  New eating habits must be established and practiced with regularity and over time.  Daily diet should contain a balance of vegetables, fruits, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and dairy (if tolerant).  A nutritionist may be useful in understanding calorie need and portion sizes.  Hunger produces stress.  Planning an eating schedule so that meals are not skipped, including snacks, can maintain blood sugar levels which are important to stress reduction.  Concentrated sweets such as candy, syrup, and sugar will offer a quick pick-up, but will also cause just as quick of a letdown and result in irritability.  Caffeine must also be mentioned as a possible cause of nervousness and restlessness.  It may also interfere with concentration and ability to sleep.  Loss of sleep or irregular sleep causes irritability, depression and anxiety and can trigger relapse.

Exercise
Exercise helps rebuild the body and keep it functioning properly while also reducing stress.  Exercise produces endorphins in the brain which result in a good feeling.  These are nature’s tranquilizers and relieve pain, anxiety, and tension.  Different types of exercise are helpful for different reasons.  Stretching can help keep the body limber; aerobics are good for large muscles and raise the heart rate.  Regular aerobics and swimming (with physician approval) can reduce anxiety and symptoms of stress.

Relaxation
There are activities that you can engage in that reduce stress, especially when you feel you are unable to change a situation in everyday life.  Laughing, playing, listening to music, storytelling, fantasizing, reading, and massage are some methods of natural stress reduction.  Playing is a necessary form of relaxation that is often neglected.  It’s difficult to define play because it is not so much what you do as how you do it.  Everyone needs time to have fun, laugh, and be childlike.  Deep relaxation is a way of relaxing the body and mind to reduce stress and produce a sense of well-being.  Deep relaxation rebalances the body and reduces the production of stress hormones.  When someone relaxes, their muscles become heavy, body temperature rises, and breathing and heart rate slow down.  A muscle cannot relax and be tense at the same time.  It is impossible to maintain tension while physically relaxing.  There are a variety of relaxation exercises that anyone can use.  Many books are available on these techniques and will offer a set of exercises.  One can simply close their eyes in a comfortable position and repeat a pleasant word over and over again.  Or, one can imagine themselves in a soothing environment such as sitting under a tree by a quiet lake or in a green meadow.

Spirituality
Spirituality is an active relationship with a power greater than oneself that gives meaning to life and a greater purpose than the self.  When the recovering individual works a spiritual program, they consequently and actively attempt to become a part of something bigger and more powerful than themselves.  Belief in a higher power removes you from the center of your universe and offers peace of mind and serenity through the awareness that there is a power not restricted by weaknesses and limitations.  Through spiritual development you can develop new confidence in your own abilities and sense of hope.  It is through a spiritual program that you can reach with hope and a positive attitude toward the future.

Balanced Living
Balanced living refers to bio-psycho-social harmony in life.  It means that you are healthy physically and psychologically and that you have healthy relationships.  It means that you are spiritually whole.  It means that you are no longer focused on one aspect of life.  It means you are living responsibly, giving time to jobs, family, and friends, as well as finding time for your own growth and recovery.  It also means allowing a higher power to work in your life.  It means wholesome and healthy living.  Balanced living requires proper health care so that the body functions well.  Nutrition, rest, and exercise provide energy and help to manage stress.  Freedom from distress caused by unbalanced living allows psychological growth.  When you feel good, it is easier to have positive attitudes and work on eliminating denial, guilt, and anger.  Balanced living requires doing things to develop self-confidence and self-esteem, and enabling the you to feel good about yourself.  It includes relationships in which you feel valuable.  It includes family members, friends, relatives, coworkers, counselors, employers, self-help group members, and sponsors.

Massage is great for stress relief and has many additional benefits such as:

Physical Benefits of Therapeutic Massage

• Helps relieve stress and aids relaxation


• Helps relieve muscle tension and stiffness


• Alleviates discomfort during pregnancy


• Fosters faster healing of strained muscles and sprained ligaments; reduces pain and swelling; reduces formation of excessive scar tissue


• Reduces muscle spasms


• Provides greater joint flexibility and range of motion


• Enhances athletic performance; Treats injuries caused during sport or work


• Promotes deeper and easier breathing


• Improves circulation of blood and movement of lymph fluids


• Reduces blood pressure


• Helps relieve tension-related headaches and effects of eye-strain


• Enhances the health and nourishment of skin


• Improves posture


• Strengthens the immune system


• Treats musculoskeletal problems


• Rehabilitation post operative


• Rehabilitation after injury

Mental Benefits of Massage Therapy

• Fosters peace of mind


• Promotes a relaxed state of mental alertness


• Helps relieve mental stress


• Improves ability to monitor stress signals and respond appropriately


• Enhances capacity for calm thinking and creativity

Emotional Benefits

• Satisfies needs for caring nurturing touch


• Fosters a feeling of well-being


• Reduces levels of anxiety


• Creates body awareness


• Increases awareness of mind-body connection

It's important that you look for a therapist who is educated, certified and insured. Both the The American Massage Therapy Associationand Psychology Today have online directories with therapists.

Good luck and Feel better!