While some drugs slow down the body, meth speeds it up by triggering a burst of energy and an intense rush of euphoria. It also boosts alertness, reduces appetite, increases activity and talkativeness, and offers a general sense of happiness and well-being. You can’t take medication specifically approved to treat meth. But substance use treatment with medical detox and behavioral therapies for addiction can help you recover from meth use disorder. By law, private insurers have to cover some of the costs of substance use treatment, and most drug rehab centers accept private and public health insurance. Your costs will depend on the type of health insurance you have and what facilities or services your provider covers.
- Inpatient treatment is always the best option for addicts, especially long-term users who will have more severe withdrawal symptoms.
- With amphetamine placed under federal control, illegal drug suppliers found that ephedrine, used in over-the-counter cold medicine, produces methamphetamine, according to Frontline.
- The brain is a complex organ that can adapt to many stressors and circumstances, a concept known as neuroplasticity.
- Meth use, like other amphetamines, results in increased activity, decreased appetite, enhanced sociability and talkativeness, and can induce feelings of pleasure and a sense of well-being.
Users often experience increased heart rate, dilated pupils, decreased appetite, and heightened focus. Meth use immediately results in a flood of dopamine in the brain. This neurotransmitter handles feelings of pleasure and reward.
How long do the effects last?
Compared to a lot of other drugs, the effects of meth are relatively long-lasting. The high can last for six to eight hours, and as long as 24 hours. Meth is a drug that’s popular among people into all-night party scenes. The use of meth allows people to stay up for hours, or even days at a time. Many of the short meth addiction and long-term signs of meth abuse can be fixed once the meth addiction is treated and the user is no longer abusing the drug. Unfortunately, some of the severe complications of meth use, such as depression and severe paranoia, do not go away quickly and are often lifelong effects of having used this dangerous drug.
They target behavioral patterns and help individuals create healthier habits. Family therapy may also be incorporated, as meth addiction affects not just the individual but their loved ones as well. It is during this time that the individual may wonder how to come down from meth. It’s crucial to understand that this process should always be supervised by a medical professional, as withdrawal symptoms can be severe. In some cases, these mental health effects lead to suicidal thoughts and actions.
Effects of Addiction on the Brain
My parents didn’t know if the next phone call was going to be from the cops or the hospital telling them I had died from an overdose. On July 18, 2018, at 26, I was admitted to the psych ward and put on a 14-day involuntary hold after experiencing drug-induced psychosis. After a 10-day stay, I was transferred to a dual-diagnosis rehab to continue through the different levels of care.
Motor function and verbal memory will typically repair to some extent after two years of meth abstinence, but some other neurological aspects of prolonged use may not repair themselves even with time. Also known as ice, crank, or crystal, meth can be cheaply made by simply mixing together a number of chemicals, many of which are interchangeable. For this reason, this highly addictive substance is often called a bathtub drug. Crystal meth is easy to obtain, and due to the incredibly harsh chemicals used in its manufacture—including battery acid and ammonia—the physical and cognitive effects of the addiction are severe. Common physical effects of “coming down” from the drug use include body aches, heartburn and feeling extremely lethargic, nauseous and confused. When meth wears off, dopamine and serotonin are both depleted, resulting in anxiety and depression.
Methamphetamine Use and Addiction: Signs, Effects, and Treatment
Recent legislation in California would require coverage by the state’s Medicaid program. But this drug combination might not work for people like Leslie who sometimes used meth in combination with an opioid. Naltrexone, one of the two drugs in this study, blocks opioid receptors. It essentially pushes anyone who’s taken an opioid, including a very low dose medication like buprenorphine, into immediate withdrawal. So Dr. Laura Kehoe says while she’s excited about getting help with meth treatment, she doesn’t expect to begin frequent prescriptions of these two drugs.
Meth labs are notoriously dangerous because the gases and chemicals that are released during the drug’s creation process are toxic and combustible. Unless you or someone you love has been addicted to meth and you have lived in a world of hell that meth addiction causes, it is difficult to grasp the magnitude of the struggle caused by meth fully. Crystal meth addiction leads to some of the most severe consequences of any other drug on the market or on the streets today. With treatment, understanding, and a good support network, it is possible for a person to recover from meth addiction. Treatment focuses on relieving withdrawal symptoms and behavioral therapies that help a person identify and manage situations and behaviors that may have led to them using meth.
Rather than discouraging researchers, this complexity is empowering because it provides evidence that changes to gene expression in your brain aren’t permanent. They can also be altered by medications and lifestyle choices. Unfortunately, despite the intense high that people may chase by taking meth, it’s one of the most dangerous and deadly drugs. Meth is made with toxic chemicals, and it begins to destroy the organs and systems within the body of the person misusing the drug.
