St. Louis Methamphetamine Addiction Treatment Center
“Addiction is a battle, but recovery is a journey. Each step forward is a step closer to freedom.”
Methamphetamine Addiction Treatment
Methamphetamine (meth) is a highly addictive drug that acts as a stimulant on the body’s central nervous system. It gives a high to users along with intense bursts of energy and anxiety.
What is Meth?
Methamphetamine is a white, bitter-tasting, odorless powder. It dissolves easily in alcohol or water. Meth can also be distilled into crystal meth, which looks like small white or blue-tinged rocks. In this form, it is a highly potent form of the drug. Crystal meth can be manufactured in home-based labs. On the street, it is called speed, ice, or glass.
Meth is a stimulant that was initially developed in the early 1900s in a laboratory for use in bronchial inhalers and as a nasal decongestant. Currently, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classifies methamphetamine as a Schedule II stimulant: It is legal only with a non-refillable prescription.
Doctors rarely prescribe meth. When physicians prescribe meth, the dosage is much lower than what people are ingesting when they use the drug illegally.
How Methamphetamine is Used?
Meth can either be smoked or snorted, taken in pill form, or dissolved into a liquid and injected. The user experiences a rush to their brain, which releases a flood of neurotransmitters, including serotonin and dopamine. These effects can last for up to eight hours. In most cases, though, the meth high only lasts for a few minutes.
What is the Cycle of Binging and Coming Down from Meth?
Eventually, the meth high ends, and it is replaced by a “comedown.” Users have described the experience as being similar to the hangover someone would experience the morning after a night of heavy drinking.
Comedown symptoms may include the following:
- Decreased appetite
- Fatigue accompanied by an inability to sleep
- Feeling anxious, depressed, hopeless, or sad
- Headache from dehydration
- Jaw pain from clenching
- Muscle pain and weakness
These comedown symptoms – especially the negative feelings that impact a meth user’s mental health – can last for several days after using the drug. The comedown symptoms can be more difficult for a user to cope with if the user has mixed meth with other drugs.
It’s possible to ride out methamphetamine comedown symptoms. If the meth user doesn’t take any more of the drug, the comedown symptoms will eventually resolve themselves.
Binging on Meth
Unfortunately, many people who use meth find it challenging to wait out their comedown symptoms. They miss feeling high when they use meth and want to avoid the negative feelings they experience when the drug has left their system. They continue using meth to keep their high going.
This type of behavior often leads to the person binging on meth. The user may live in a vicious cycle. They are taking more of the drug to avoid experiencing comedown symptoms. The person experiences a more intense high (and more side effects) from their drug use. The amped-up high they are experiencing can be followed by more intense comedown symptoms, leading to the user going back to get more meth.
Physical and Mental Consequences of Binging on Meth
The above cycle can interrupt the body and brain’s normal processes. At this point, the individual with a methamphetamine addiction is “tweaking.” Someone who is tweaking may be up for more than two weeks straight. Most people appreciate that someone who doesn’t sleep for up to 15 days in a row will have some health issues.
The lack of sleep will contribute to the severe paranoia and temporary psychosis the meth user experiences during the tweaking stage. The drug doesn’t give them any positive feelings during this stage. Instead, the user experiences negative emotions and symptoms only, including the following:
- Aggression
- Anxiety
- Dehydration
- Excess Energy (ongoing)
- Hallucinations or delusions that may include the sensation that the user’s skin is covered in bugs, leading to severe scratching and the possibility of infections
- Irritability
- Loss of appetite
- Obsessive behavior
- Overheating
- Pain throughout the body
Hopefully, the individual with a methamphetamine addiction will decide to stop using the drug before the situation deteriorates to the point where they are having hallucinations about bugs crawling on their skin. Many people who use drugs continue their substance abuse to avoid going through withdrawal.
Meth Withdrawal: Psychological and Physical Withdrawal Symptoms
Psychological and physical withdrawal symptoms of meth withdrawal can start within hours of stopping meth use. The severity of meth detox symptoms varies from person to person. Someone undergoing meth detox may experience more severe side effects depending on the following factors:
- how often they were using meth
- the amount of meth they were using
- the length of time they were using meth
- the method used to consume meth
- whether they were using more than one drug and alcohol
Someone who has been injecting meth will generally experience a longer, more intense withdrawal process than someone who used it differently.
Signs and symptoms of meth withdrawal include the following:
- Agitation
- Anxiety
- Confusion
- Dehydration
- Excessive sweating
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Hallucinations
- Increased appetite
- Insomnia
- Loss of motivation
- Nausea
- Paranoia
- Red, itchy eyes
- Severe depression
- Stomach ache
- Suicidal thoughts
- Tremors
Many people feel hesitant to begin the meth detox process. Any detox center wants its patients to feel safe and comfortable while receiving treatment. The detox treatment is divided into three stages to ensure that all meth detox patients receive the correct type of care.
Patients undergo a review of their current health so doctors know the best way to proceed with treatment. Then, patients begin their personalized detox plan. After the initial withdrawal, the medical team may sit with the patient to discuss the next steps.
Detox and Methamphetamine Addiction Treatment near St. Louis
Evaluation for Methamphetamine Addiction
The medical team assesses the patient’s overall health. The medical team will use urine tests to determine the amount of meth that a patient has used recently. Then, the treatment team can develop a detox plan to fit the patient’s needs.
The doctor may ask the patient about their current and past levels of substance abuse. This information is required for the patient’s long-term recovery plan. The doctor also needs this information to determine if the client has any co-occurring disorders.
Stabilization for Methamphetamine Addiction
Many patients arrive at the detox center while experiencing the peak of their detox symptoms. The medical team starts treatment shortly after patient evaluation to ensure the patient is comfortable. Once the patient’s symptoms improve, the doctor adjusts treatments accordingly. The medical staff keeps the patient’s loved ones informed about the patient’s progress.
Transition to Further Treatment
The doctor will discuss the next steps with the patient when the detox is almost finished. Meth detox is the first step in a lasting recovery. It removes a person’s physical dependency on the drug and makes them more receptive to therapy offered in an addiction treatment program.
The Aviary Recovery Center offers its clients services from individual therapists who will be available to provide support. Trained nurses are available 24/7 to ensure detox clients are kept as comfortable as possible during this process. They share techniques with clients to help them decrease anxiety and deal with the stress that is often part of the detox process.
Medications may be used if necessary to keep clients comfortable during detox. The entire process depends on several factors. Most clients can expect to spend about five to seven days in detox.
Residential Meth Addiction Treatment Program
After this process has been completed, a client will move on to a meth addiction treatment program. For many clients, it means residential treatment. It is much more challenging to get sober while balancing the distractions of work, family, and personal responsibilities. It is difficult to leave one’s family behind to seek help for an addiction, but focusing entirely on recovery leads to positive results in many cases.
The doctors at the Aviary Recovery Center are familiar with medication-assisted therapy (MAT) used to treat substance use disorders like Methamphetamine Addiction Treatment. When appropriate, they will prescribe it as part of a personalized approach to treatment for clients. All of our clients receive a holistic treatment plan that considers their physical, emotional, and spiritual health to assist them in maintaining their sobriety.
Our program includes healthy eating, exercise, and alternative therapies. Massage, acupuncture, art, and music therapy are beneficial in treating addictions. At Aviary Recovery Center, we also focus on providing our clients with education about substance abuse and teaching strategies for preventing relapse, including stress management, coping skills, and healthy lifestyle changes.
Aviary Recovery, contact us anytime at (314) 464-0222.