METH ADDICTION: SIGNS, CAUSES, WITHDRAWAL & TREATMENT

After consuming methamphetamine, users can experience these effects for eight to 24 hours. Other substances do not produce effects that last this long. If a user binges on meth, they might stay awake for several days in a row.

At any time, methamphetamine can cause sudden death. It can also cause users to experience a heart attack or a stroke. This is especially true if the user already has a heart condition.

Long-Term Side Effects of Methamphetamine Use

The most dangerous long-term side effect of methamphetamine use is developing a substance use disorder. As people use methamphetamine continuously, they lose the ability to experience pleasure in other things. This leads them to take even more of the drug because they cannot feel pleasure unless they do. They cannot stop using this drug because stopping will result in withdrawal symptoms.

Long-term side effects include these psychological symptoms:

• Violent behavior
• Mood disturbances
• Insomnia
• Confusion
• Extreme anxiety

Even after stopping the use of methamphetamine, people can experience psychotic symptoms for several years. If users experienced psychosis before their meth use, they may experience psychotic symptoms during times of stress.

Mental and Physical Consequences of Meth Use

Abusing methamphetamine can have serious long-term consequences on a person’s mental and physical health. While methamphetamine only accounts for 15% of overdose deaths, the rate goes up to 50% when synthetic opiates like fentanyl are added.

Additionally, long-term use of methamphetamine can cause:

• Paranoia
• Memory loss
• “Meth mouth”
• Hallucinations
• Inability to sleep
• Violent behavior
• Extreme weight loss
• Intense itching (Many users have skin sores from uncontrollable scratching)
• Permanent changes to brain function

Some meth users never fully recover their brain’s full function. Some develop brain-related diseases like Parkinson’s later in life.

What Happens to the Brain?

Meth use changes the brain significantly. According to neuroimaging studies, methamphetamine alters the areas of the brain that are involved in verbal learning and motor speed. It appears to impair these two areas.

Studies have also shown that meth changes the structure and the functioning of the brain with long-term use. The areas associated with memory and emotion are particularly affected. Researchers believe that this is the reason that methamphetamine users have cognitive and emotional deficits.

Scans of the brains of long-term methamphetamine users showed that dopamine’s ability to bind to its transporters was greatly reduced in the areas where movement and memory occur. These areas can recover after people stop using, however.

Quitting meth also produces other positive effects. After about one year after the last methamphetamine use, biochemical markers for nerve damage return to normal. Neurons within the verbal memory and motor areas of the brain were also able to recover after a year of abstinence. Subjects of research studies performed better on tests of their motor skills and verbal memory.

Physical Side Effects of Long-term Methamphetamine Use

Long-term meth use also causes physical symptoms. Because of their delusions, methamphetamine users may believe that bugs are crawling underneath their skin. They tend to excessively scratch their skin because of this, and it causes skin sores to develop.

Methamphetamine use is also associated with poor dental hygiene. This may be because the drug causes dry mouth and teeth grinding. Many people experience severe tooth decay and tooth loss.

METHAMPHETAMINE PRODUCTION

Prior to 2005, meth labs were extremely easy to set up because the products needed to create meth could be purchased at the local pharmacy. Users needed products that contained ephedrine or pseudoephedrine so that they could “cook” the meth. The chemicals they needed for the process included camping fuel, starter fluid, hydrochloric or sulfuric acid, metallic lithium, paint thinner, drain cleaner, and anhydrous ammonia. Although these are common products, they are also very dangerous and toxic.

People build meth labs in their homes, but many others build them in the woods, away from prying eyes. When meth is “cooking,” it is a fire hazard because the fumes from these chemicals can easily blow up. After these “chemists” are finished using a particular place as a meth lab, no one can inhabit the house again because it contains so much toxic chemical residue.

Meth labs are dangerous to the environment and to people’s health. For example, the byproducts left over from meth production damage the skin, eyes, mucous membranes, and respiratory tract of anyone in the area. It is common for people who manufacture meth to experience delusions, tremors, insomnia, and asthma.

How Do You Know If Someone Is Addicted to Meth?

The Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders states that a person may be diagnosed with methamphetamine use disorder if they have experienced more than two of the following within the past year:

• Cravings for methamphetamine
• Psychological or health issues because of meth use
• Spending the majority of their time using meth
• Trying unsuccessfully to reduce or quit using meth
• Increasing the time spent using and the amount of meth used
• Tolerance to meth
• Experiencing withdrawal symptoms after stopping the use of meth
• Developing problems with friends or family because of meth use
• Quitting school or work or neglecting other responsibilities
• Continuing to use meth even though it may be dangerous to themselves or others

If a person meets two or three criteria, the issue with the drug is mild. If someone meets four or five criteria, this person has a moderate issue, but if someone meets six or more of the criteria listed above, it is a sign of a severe meth use disorder.

Where Can You Get Help for Your Meth Addiction?

If you have an addiction, otherwise known as a substance use disorder, you probably already know it. The symptoms of meth use, include restlessness, anxiety, weight loss, and dilated pupils. Crystal meth addiction harms every aspect of a person’s life.

If you’re trying to quit using meth, you may have tried to do it on your own. That’s unlikely to work. Treating methamphetamine use disorder is extremely difficult. Trying to “just stop using it” will backfire.

Types of Treatment Available

Outpatient Treatment

Most meth users need intensive rehabilitation. If a person chooses an outpatient treatment center, these are some of the options that may be available: