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. Some are related to your environment and life experiences, such as having friends meth addiction who use drugs.
Short-Term Effects of Using Meth
- Your doctor will use this information to help minimize your risk for drug interactions or other complications during detox.
- When you have an addiction, you can’t stop using a drug, regardless of any negative consequences.
- This is consistent with contamination from sewage and industrial runoff.
- Producers often mix it with other substances, including fentanyl.
When you take a drug, certain genetic factors can increase your risk of developing an addiction.Regular drug use changes your brain chemistry, affecting how you experience pleasure. This can make it difficult to simply stop using the drug once you’ve started. Dependence refers to a physical state in which your body is dependent on the drug. With drug dependence, you need more and more of the substance to achieve the same effect (tolerance). You experience mental and physical effects (withdrawal) if you stop taking the drug.
The risks
Each of the methods of meth use will have a different effect on the user and the amount of time that the drug is active will differ slightly from one method of use to the next. Yes, plenty of meth rehab centers accept various forms of insurance plans. When the drug is smoked or injected, the effects are felt extremely quickly; causing an immediate and intense, but short-lived, rush.1 Snorting or oral ingestion produces effects of euphoria within several minutes but not an intense rush. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 100,000 people died of drug overdose in the United States in 2021, a figure that is increasing significantly every year.
Drugs & Supplements
Meth addiction is an addiction many Americans face, one that can be overcome with proper intervention, and ongoing treatment. Take our free, 5-minute substance use self-assessment below if you think you or someone you love might be struggling with substance use. A person is more likely to overdose on meth if it is mixed with other drugs, such as synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which is a cheaper drug that is often added to meth without the person’s knowledge. Using meth can cause long-term damage to the person’s health, which often persists even after the person has stopped using the drug. There are some promising medical treatments for meth addiction currently in development.
- Scientists developed methamphetamine from its parent drug, amphetamine, in the early 20th century.
- The duration may differ for you depending on how often you use meth.
- Psychosis is a serious mental state where you lose touch with reality and may come to believe things that are not true.
Meth dependence is a physiological adaptation of the body, wherein the body becomes so used to meth being present in the system that when the individual cuts back on their use or quits, withdrawal symptoms emerge. In other words, the body feels like it needs meth to physically function. Dependence can lead to strong cravings and compulsive use in the absence of meth in order to avoid unwanted withdrawal symptoms. This partially https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/boredom-drinking-and-how-to-stop-it/ results in the psychoactive effects of meth, but also leads to later dopamine and serotonin depletion because the neurons have less dopamine to use later.
For example, you may have problems with coordination or learning. Your chances of getting Parkinson’s disease (a movement disorder) may go up. The odds of this happening to you are higher if you go on a multiday meth binge without sleeping. Some people swallow it in a pill form or smoke it by heating up crystals in a glass bowl or pipe and breathing in the vapors.
- 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.
- If you use meth on a regular basis, it can change your brain’s dopamine system.
- Outpatient programs look similar to inpatient treatment but allow you to live at home or in a sober living environment and travel to the treatment facility to attend counseling and therapy sessions at specific times.
But substance use treatment with medical detox and behavioral therapies for addiction can help you recover from meth use disorder. Inpatient programs are typically the most expensive, costing anywhere from $5,000 to $80,000. But what you’ll pay depends on where you get treatment, how long you stay, what services you need, and your health insurance coverage.