Meth
Addiction
Treatment
Crystal meth is a psychostimulant synthetic drug. It speeds up the brain and the central nervous system. People who use this drug also call it glass, ice, tweak, crank, go, zoom, speed, crystal, yaba, poor man’s cocaine, shards and shizzo. It is also called Tina, so people think a woman is being talked about rather than drugs.
People abuse this drug by swallowing pills of it, injecting it into various parts of their body, smoking it or snorting it. The drug has dangerous effects on anyone who uses it. Basically, meth is a concoction of poison.
Things That Happen While on Crystal Meth
People who use crystal meth often report different symptoms, but there are some in common they usually share such as euphoria, pleasurable feelings, blood pressure spikes, and moving around a lot. When someone is under the influence of this drug, they usually feel more productive and powerful even if they aren’t getting hardly anything done.Meth also makes most users feel more confident and outgoing which can lead to some bizarre or even dangerous social interactions.
After the user experiences the rush, they get high. If they are snorting this drug, the high generally happens 3 to 5 minutes after using it. If they are swallowing the drug, the high will generally occur between 15 to 20 minutes after taking the drug. The length of time the drug is active in one’s system depends on various factors such as how often and how much of it they use, their age, whether they are healthy or not, and whether they eat healthy foods.
Tweaking is what happens to the mind and body of the user when their body quits reacting to methamphetamine. Most users go into a state that is nearly psychotic. They can be completely unpredictable and experience severe symptoms such as:
- Paranoia
- Hallucinations
- Digging or scraping at their skin or face
- Picking at “bugs” crawling under their skin
- Increased body temperature (so they will feel very warm/hot)
- Sweating
- Oily skin
- Severe crash
- Sleeping for days on end after the crash
As noted, tweaking occurs after the user’s body and mind quit reacting to the drug. However, there also some physical effects that most users experience when they are coming down from meth use such as:
- Heartburn
- Body aches
- Lethargy
- Confusion
- Nausea
- Anxiety
- Depression
Most people do not want to or even allow themselves to crash from meth use, so they keep using more and more of the drug to avoid these symptoms and the ones above. This is just one reason why meth addiction is such a vicious, dangerous and life-threatening cycle.
If you or someone you know is using meth, please don’t keep waiting out the addiction. There are treatment programs, such as the ones here at Desert Rose, that can help you to feel more comfortable while you withdraw from this drug. Our meth addiction treatment programs have helped thousands of people and they can help you, too.
Many people think the mugshots of meth users are exaggerated, but they aren’t. There are severe physical effects from long-term abuse of methamphetamine such as meth mouth, skin sores, weight loss, sores, tooth decay and hair loss.
There are psychological effects of meth use, as well. The ones that you might notice in your loved one if they are abusing this drug include:
- Obsessive thoughts
- Aggression
- Obsessive behaviors
- Psychosis
- Extreme paranoia
- Hallucinations
- Delusions
- Feeling of bugs (not real) crawling under their skin
- Feeling distressed
- Decreased appetite
- Increased wakefulness
- Euphoric episodes (usually quite regularly)
- Increased noise sensitivity
- Acting very nervous like picking at their skin or fidgeting non-stop
- Dizziness
- Irritability
- Tremors
- Fatigue
- Mood swings
- Anger outbursts
As Seen On
