Meth Addiction: Causes, Risks, and Treatment

As a result, meth addiction often follows a pattern of bingeing on the drug for several days at a time, followed by a crash. This is because dopamine remains in the brain’s synapses for long periods after use. The dopamine keeps the brain cells activated, allowing the user to experience powerful feelings of euphoria. The pleasurable effects of methamphetamine happen when the body releases very high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine. This is the brain chemical involved in motivation, pleasure, and motor function. Regardless of a person’s reason for using crystal meth or the length of time they have been using it, treatment is possible.

What Are Some Signs of Meth Use?

Beyond these common symptoms, some people who use methamphetamine experience severe and immediately life-threatening issues such as seizures, heart attacks and liver failure. This change in behavior is known as meth addiction, or methamphetamine use disorder. Methamphetamine — also known as ice or crystal meth — is a highly addictive psychostimulant drug similar to amphetamine. It has powerful euphoric effects similar to those of cocaine. Crystal meth, or methamphetamine, is a stimulant drug that carries a high risk for physical dependence. In the United States, a different formulation of methamphetamine called Desoxyn is available by prescription to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

1. The increased production of these two hormones is taxing on the body, making it unable to produce these at sustained levels, causing depression to set in.
2. It’s important to know when friends, family members or others are using crystal meth so you can be cautious around them.
3. It also boosts alertness, reduces appetite, increases activity and talkativeness, and offers a general sense of happiness and well-being.
4. Consistently using drugs takes over the brain’s reward circuit and teaches the brain to seek drugs so it can feel good, causing changes in how the brain works.

Exploring Treatment Options

In comparison, around 4.8 million people said they used cocaine in the same timeframe. Scars can form in your veins when you put drugs into them with needles. You may also get bruises around the injection sites or have trouble with blood flow through injured veins.

Does it interact with alcohol and other drugs?

The only surefire way to avoid harm from drugs is to not use them. But if you choose to use meth, there are steps you can take to make your experience safer. You probably won’t be able to tell if the drug you take has dangerous stuff in it, so try to buy meth from someone you trust.

Over-the-counter cold remedies are usually used as a base and are then combined with chemicals like battery acid, drain cleaner, ammonia, and antifreeze. These chemicals are particularly dangerous and many who manufacture methamphetamines are burned or killed during production. Medically, methamphetamine is a Schedule II stimulant with a high potential for abuse. Medical methamphetamine is used to treat narcolepsy and ADHD. Medical methamphetamine is prescribed at a far lower dose than the street version. CBT addresses the learning processes underlying drug addiction and other harmful behaviors.

If you know someone who can’t control their drug use, ask for professional help. In the past, middle-aged white people used this cheap drug most often. But over the past decade, rates have https://sober-home.org/dealing-with-stomach-pain-after-quitting-alcohol/ gone up among Black people and younger folks aged 18-23. That said, you always have the option to reach out and find support, and it’s never too late — or too early — to ask for help.

It resembles shiny “rocks” or fragments of glass of varying sizes. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness. Listed below are the short-term and long-term effects of using meth. If possible, offer a ride to their first appointment with a doctor or therapist. Even if you can’t take them every time, your support can help them successfully navigate the first steps toward recovery, which can empower them to continue.

Methamphetamine lacks the glamour that movies and music have imparted to cocaine and heroin. By the mid-1980s, some Mexican drug cartels had gotten involved in the trade, but most meth was still produced locally at makeshift clandestine labs. Any such agreement must have fallen apart, because in recent years meth has been spreading eastward. Meth «cooks» taught others to make the drug, who in turn taught others. Not long after, however, the black market for meth took root in San Francisco. Motorcycle gangs, notably the Hell’s Angels, started to make and distribute the drug.

Nevertheless, «treatment admissions are a lagging indicator,» Rawson says. «One of the things that has been documented in the data is that meth users generally will use for on average seven years before they hit the treatment system.» Swallowing – Swallowing meth has a more delayed onset, which could lead a person to take more to hurry up the high, leading to an overdose. Transnational criminal organizations in Mexico produce most methamphetamine.

Feel free to share the images and information found on this page freely. When doing so, we ask that you please attribute the authors by providing a link back to this page. Doing so will allow your readers to learn more about the effects of meth and any additional research. It’s unwise to try to communicate with someone who is on meth.

Symptoms first appear within 24 hours after the last dose. Ongoing meth use can lead to mild to severe withdrawal symptoms once you stop taking the drug. Your doctor can assess your overall health by performing a physical exam. They can also refer you to a treatment center and answer any questions you may have. Meth works by flooding the brain with massive amounts of dopamine, a neurochemical normally released in small amounts in response to something pleasurable.

It involves working with a therapist to develop a set of healthy coping strategies. Studies have found that CBT is effective at reducing meth use, even after only a few sessions. If you — or your loved one — are ready to get treatment, you may find it helpful to bring a supportive friend or family member into the fold.

Meth withdrawal symptoms can include severe depression, sleep problems, and powerful drug cravings. Meth sometimes floods the brain with so much dopamine that it damages dopamine receptors. That can make it more difficult to achieve pleasure sensations, especially from natural sources that aren’t meth. That can deepen your meth dependence, but it can also cause something called anhedonia, which is the inability to feel pleasure.

The only legal meth product is a prescription medication approved to treat ADHD. You can only get it from your doctor, but it’s not used very much. People who use meth often need a professional counselor or drug treatment program to help them get better. The chances you’ll take too much meth are higher if you inject meth, but harmful or life-threatening health problems can happen no matter what method you use.

The risks of overdose are higher when you mix the drug with opioids or other stimulants such as cocaine, ecstasy, or amphetamines. Withdrawal can make you feel so bad that you can’t stop using meth. If you have serious psychological symptoms, you may hurt yourself or someone else. Medical detox can help you manage your withdrawal symptoms comfortably and in a safe place, lessening your chances of relapse. Some of the negative effects of meth use, including hallucinations or movement issues, may go away in the weeks or months after you stop using the drug. But some changes may take years or longer to resolve or never get better.

In the 1970s, regulators added the drug to the Schedule II list of controlled substances in the U.S. Methamphetamine is illegal except when a physician prescribes it for a very limited number of medical conditions. In time, the need for the high becomes more important than other factors in the person’s life, while the use of the drug increasingly achieves only a break from withdrawal symptoms.

People may also be distracted easily and suspicious of others. Some individuals tend to isolate themselves and don’t wish to interact with others. Lakeview Behavioral Health provides a full continuum of care for adults and adolescents who have been struggling with psychiatric health and addiction concerns. Your doctor can help you find support resources in your area. Although research shows that CM interventions reduce meth use, it isn’t clear whether this continues once treatment has ended. So-called «super labs» across the border, in Mexico, now supply as much as 65% of America’s meth.

When a person consumes a large amount of the drug at one time, their body may become overwhelmed by the drug, resulting in coma, seizure and sometimes death. Inpatient programs are typically the most expensive, costing anywhere from $5,000 to $80,000. But what you’ll pay depends on where you https://sober-home.org/ get treatment, how long you stay, what services you need, and your health insurance coverage. It stimulates the central nervous system, increasing alertness and energy in the short term. It also has a high potential for addiction and causes significant harm to the brain and overall health.