Why Does Heroin Make You Throw Up?
Heroin is in a class of drugs known as opioids. Many people think that when a person uses[...]
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Urine retention is an inability to pee, and we get it, this is not an exciting topic to read about. However, it’s one of the most common complaints from heroin users. That begs the question. Why do heroin addicts have a trouble peeing? That’s what this page will answer.
It would be difficult to fix a broken television unless you understand what an unbroken television was supposed to do. Following that logic, it’s important to understand normal urination, so that you can fully understand abnormal urination.
Normal urination requires two separate events to occur simultaneously.
When the bladder contracts and the urethral muscles relax we urinate.
The primary reasons why heroin makes it difficult to urinate is linked to functional changes within two organs in the body. These two organs are the bladder and the kidneys.
Heroin use relaxes the detrusor muscle that surrounds the bladder, which increases bladder capacity by 20 – 65 percent. At the same time heroin use inhibits the parasympathetic nervous system, which decreases the sensation of bladder fullness. Lastly, it tightens both internal and external urethral sphincters, which increases resistance through the outflow tract of the bladder.
Everyday, our kidneys filter about 135 quarts of blood to produce about 1 1/2 quarts of urine. But when a person uses heroin, the brain tells the pituitary gland to release ADH (antidiuretic hormone). ADH tells the kidneys to reabsorb water from urine and move it back into the bloodstream. This tends to make urine much darker, because it’s more concentrated, i.e. there are more solutes and less water.
The combination of decreased water in urine, increased bladder capacity, decreased sensation of bladder fullness and increased outlet resistance results in an uncomfortable problem whereby people who use heroin cannot pee.
We know now that intravenous heroin users are more likely to experience higher rates of urine retention as compared with heroin sniffers and smokers. In addition, short half-life opioids such as heroin generally have less urine retention as compared to longer half-life opioids, such as Methadone. In other words, heroin wears off quickly while Methadone does not.
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I’m having trouble peeing Urine retention is an inability to pee, and we get it, this is not an[...]
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