Studies show that meth users who are also sexually promiscuous tend to suffer higher rates of HIV and AIDS due to having unprotected sex, and that continued meth use can actually worsen the progression of these diseases. There is no medication approved by the FDA for the treatment of methamphetamine use disorder (MUD). In one study of adults with MUD, of those treated with extended-release injectable naltrexone plus oral extended-release bupropion, short-term study success or harm reduction outcomes were low but higher than among participants who received placebo. Lisdexamfetamine appears to reduce methamphetamine use over a 12-week treatment period, although there is only weak evidence that reduced use is maintained during the last 4 weeks.
Links to NCBI Databases
Meth addiction especially causes organ failure in the liver, kidneys, lungs, brain, and heart. These physical manifestations serve as stark reminders of the destructive power of methamphetamine. Most exciting is the emerging development of vaccines to prevent methamphetamine intoxication or overdose.
Recognizing A Meth Addiction
- Meth is highly addictive and can be difficult to stop using without professional help and support.
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- Despite multiple research studies and clinical trials performed, there is no FDA-approved pharmacotherapy for MUD.
- The program is highly structured and is largely made up of group therapy sessions.
- Among those are oxytocin, doxazocin, lobeline, disulfiram, acamprosate, atomoxetine, and entacapone ().
- Apart from medications, another novel approach being tested for MUD treatment is the administration of METH antibodies (passive immunotherapy) or compounds that turn the body’s own immune system against METH (active immunotherapy).
And meth makers commonly “cut” their products with strong chemicals or medications (such as fentanyl or other opioids) to save money. Methamphetamine is a man-made stimulant that’s been around for a long time. People have also taken the drug to lose weight, ease depression, and manage attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
How Common Is Meth Use?
“It is Russian roulette, pure and simple. And for a large portion of those who try it, their lives get destroyed.” Meth is a central nervous system stimulant that makes users feel more anxious and nervous on a constant basis. Anxiety is one of the most common psychiatric symptoms reported among meth users, and studies estimate that over 30% of people who use meth also have anxiety disorders.
- Meth is often made with multiple toxic chemicals that put undue stress on a person’s organs.
- Patients under the influence of methamphetamine may exhibit symptoms mimicking psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression.
- Meth addiction can lead to loss of motor control and cause twitching, spasms, and poor coordination.
- (A higher resolution/colour version of this figure is available in the electronic copy of the article).
- Mental illness was common also; of persons who used methamphetamine, an estimated 57.7% reported any mental illness, and 25.0% reported serious mental illness during the past year.
CURRENT TREATMENTS FOR METHAMPHETAMINE USE DISORDER
This review outlines the history of METH use, provides information on current prevalence of METH abuse and MUD, describes medications that have been in clinical trials for MUD, and addresses current as well as potential new treatments for MUD. Methamphetamine poses severe health and social risks, including overdose deaths, cardiovascular damage, psychotic behavior, and increased rates of infectious diseases from injecting the drug with shared needles. Many users combine methamphetamine with fentanyl, known as “speedballing,” a particularly lethal combination. Counterfeit drugs sold as methamphetamine are often adulterated with fentanyl, increasing fatal overdose risks.
Another telling symptom of meth use is “tweaking” – a period of anxiety and insomnia that can last for 3 to 15 days. Tweaking occurs at the end of a drug binge when a person using meth can’t achieve a rush or high any longer. Tweaking can cause psychological side effects, such as paranoia, irritability, and confusion due to the desperation to use again. Tweaking from meth can also cause people to experience hallucinations and become prone to violent behavior. 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.
People with OUD reported that they sought a synergistic high by combining the drugs or that they wanted to balance the effects of opioids with METH effects. Among treatment-seeking people with OUD, reports of past-month METH use nearly doubled from 18.8%–34.2% between 2011 and 2017 16. Synthetic opioids (e.g., illicitly-manufactured fentanyl) have contributed to increases in stimulant-involved deaths 5. Overall, METH is one of the leading causes of drug overdose deaths in the US. It accounted for 10.6% of deaths in 2016, 49.8% of which involved concomitant use of another drug(s) with heroin (21.8%), fentanyl (11.1%), and cocaine (8.3%) being the top 3 concomitant drugs.
Sex and Meth
Patients under the influence of methamphetamine may exhibit symptoms mimicking psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression. Often intoxication with meth includes euphoria, hyperactivity, anxiety, and pressured and disturbed speech. Patients also may present with agitation, irritability, or violent aggressiveness. Methamphetamine users may experience a pre-psychotic state with delusional moods followed by psychosis with hallucinations and delusions. Patients often become suspicious or paranoid of friends and family members. One of the first symptoms of meth abuse is a sudden loss of interest in areas of life that were once important to the person.
But if you choose to use meth, there are steps you can take to make your experience safer. There’s ongoing research into the health effects of secondhand meth smoke. In general, you may feel the effects of meth for around 2-6 hours if you smoke it or 6-8 hours if you inject it. The high may linger a little longer if you snort or swallow the drug, lasting up to 12 hours or longer. Unless you use an approved methamphetamine medication under the direction of a doctor, there’s no recommended dose for meth. Your odds of harmful effects go up if you put meth into your vein with a needle.
When addicts use meth over and over again, the drug actually changes their brain chemistry, destroying the wiring in the brain’s pleasure centers and making it increasingly impossible to experience any pleasure at all. Although studies have shown that these tissues can regrow over time, the process can take years, and the repair may never be complete. After more than a year’s sobriety, these former meth users still showed severe impairment in memory, judgment and motor coordination, similar to symptoms seen in individuals suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. Currently, there aren’t any medications that are FDA-approved to treat meth addiction. Behavioral therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and motivational incentives are cited among the most effective therapies for meth addiction.
In addition, stimulants such as meth cause tremendous bursts of physical activity while suppressing the appetite, an attractive combination for many people who began using meth to lose weight. But while contemporary culture may idealize slim figures, heavy meth users often become gaunt and frail. Their day- or week-long meth “runs” are usually accompanied by tooth-grinding, poor diet, and bad hygiene, which lead to mouths full of broken, stained and rotting teeth. In addition to affecting cognitive abilities, these changes in brain chemistry can lead to disturbing, even violent behavior.
The drug is toxic to nerve terminals in the brain and meth can destroy the brain cell synapses where dopamine is released, causing mood disturbances and dependence on the drug. The serious health risks of using meth are widely known, yet many people still experiment with the drug. The euphoric rush that causes so many to use methamphetamine is caused by the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. During this period, the body is deprived of the dopamine that meth was previously supplying and causes extreme exhaustion. A crash can last anywhere from 1 to 3 days and is characterized by long periods of sleep, intense drug cravings, and depression.
A key brain area Meth addiction mediating drug reward/reinforcement and drug cravings is the nucleus accumbens. This area receives dopaminergic innervations (red) from the ventral tegmental area. This area sends dopaminergic projections also to the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala. The nucleus accumbens receives glutamatergic input (green) from the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala. GABAergic (blue) interneurons within the ventral tegmental area regulate the activity of dopaminergic neurons projecting to the nucleus accumbens. METH enters the dopaminergic terminal via the dopamine transporter (DAT) where it subsequently enters dopamine storage vesicles via vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) (black arrows).
This data underscores the need for additional efficacious therapies, such as pharmacotherapies, to help relieve withdrawal symptoms and support motivation for METH-dependent individuals to stay abstinent. Scientific evidence supports CM as the choice of non-pharmacological treatment followed by CBT and then rTMS/tDCS. The neurobiology of methamphetamine use disorder extends beyond the acute effect of the drug as a monoaminergic modulator and includes intracellular pathways focused on oxidative stress, neuro- and excitotoxicity, and neuroinflammation. Similarly, the clinical picture extends beyond the acute psychostimulatory symptoms to include complex cardiovascular and cerebrovascular signs and symptoms that need to be identified by the clinician. Although there are no pharmacological treatments for methamphetamine use disorder, cognitive behavioral therapy, behavioral activation and contingency management show modest efficacy. Meth addiction is often treated using a medical or medically assisted detox combined with therapies that treat psychological symptoms of meth addiction.