Is My Husband Using Meth Again
Editor Melissa Carmona
As the content director at Advanced Recovery Systems, Melissa Carmona puts years of writing and editing... read more
Medically Reviewed By Jessica Pyhtila, PharmD
Dr. Jessica Pyhtila is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist based in Baltimore, Maryland with practice sites in... read more
Updated on 02/25/22
Methamphetamine is a dangerous illicit drug that tin affect the body in a number of ways. Being the spouse, parent, friend or loved one of someone using meth can be difficult once you recognize the furnishings that meth has on the body and mind. Possibly you're just familiar with the side effects based on what is portrayed in the media, or you aren't sure what signs to look for in your friend or relative. Knowing the signs of meth use can help you talk to your loved 1 about getting treatment. Information technology tin even save their life.
Article at a Glance:
- Methamphetamine, or meth, is a Schedule II stimulant often trafficked illicitly.
- Signs a person is on meth can include behavioral changes like psychosis and physical signs like premature crumbling.
- Meth use is often accompanied by paraphernalia, including needles, spoons and homemade pipes made from drinking straws.
What Is Meth?
Methamphetamine, also chosen meth, is a stimulant drug with many street names, including crystal meth, chalk, ice or speed. It is a Schedule Ii controlled substance often trafficked illegally in the Us. In its legal form, information technology tin can be prescribed to treat attending-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) .
Equally of 2019, about two one thousand thousand people annually are using meth. This number includes most one.7 1000000 people aged 26 or older, 275,000 people aged 18 to 25, and 41,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17.
What Does Meth Look Like?
In most cases, methamphetamine looks like a white crystalline powder. It is also sometimes pressed into a pill class. The drug is odorless with a bitter sense of taste and tin can dissolve in water or alcohol.
The form of the drug known as crystal meth is shiny, clear or blue crystals that expect like drinking glass fragments or rocks.
Crystal Meth
Crystal meth is a more potent form of meth that tends to be purer and more concentrated than other forms. It is typically smoked, or heated into a liquid so injected. Similar other forms of meth, crystal meth is entirely synthetic rather than derived from a plant like many other illicit substances. Making crystal meth is dangerous, as it creates toxic, explosive chemical byproducts.
What Does Crystal Meth Look Like?
Crystal meth earns its proper noun considering of its crystal-similar physical properties, earning the street proper name "ice" due to its glass-shard and water ice-like appearance. The crystals tin exist white, clear, bluish or a combination of these colors.
Meth Powder
The powdered form of meth may exist more common, as it is less potent and potentially less expensive. Powdered meth is most ordinarily used by snorting it, but can be taken in pill form or dissolved in fluids and ingested.
Producing powdered meth is similar to creating crystal meth — information technology'southward just as unsafe, with the possibility of toxic or explosive chemicals occurring every bit a byproduct. Powdered meth is often cut, or combined, with other substances. This can either dilute the corporeality of meth to increase the profit to the dealer or combine the intended effects of meth with other substances.
What Does Meth Powder Look Like?
Powered meth can vary in appearance, but is unremarkably a white or yellowish pulverisation. It is normally impossible to tell powdered meth apart from other drugs that are in powdered form. It is likewise difficult or incommunicable to tell if other substances take been added to powdered meth.
Liquid Meth
Meth is usually used in its solid crystal or powder forms, but tin be turned into a liquid for transportation. In this procedure, powdered meth is dissolved in water, then transported. To set the meth for utilize, the water is boiled off, leaving only the powdered form.
Liquid meth tin also exist injected every bit-is. It is normally prepared in a spoon or a similar utensil then fatigued into a syringe.
What Does Liquid Meth Await Like?
Liquid meth is ordinarily a clear liquid, but it may take a tinge of color depending on its purity, and whether or non it was cut with other substances. It is typically difficult to tell if a liquid contains meth just past looking at it.
How Is Meth Used?
Meth comes in unlike forms and can exist taken several dissimilar ways, including snorting, injecting, consuming orally or smoking it. Crystal meth is most commonly smoked. In a recent study of current and former meth utilize, 63% of people smoked meth, 44% snorted meth, 27% injected meth and thirty% swallowed it. Nearly half of all people who apply meth consume it with multiple methods, and vii% use all four methods over their lifetime.
When meth is first used, it creates an immediate rush. That rush lasts up to 30 minutes and is described as extremely pleasurable. Following the initial blitz, a meth loftier can last for up to xiv hours. The onset and length of the high vary based on how information technology is taken.
According to our 2021 survey of former and current meth use, meth use tends to be frequent. In fact, 44.4% of respondents use or used meth daily and 22.ix% use or used information technology several times per week.
Common Signs Someone Is On or Using Meth
People on meth typically exhibit certain physical signs. If yous're wondering how to tell if someone is using meth, symptoms can include being energized or physically agile, and a reduced appetite.
Wait For Meth Paraphernalia
Paraphernalia includes accessories that people use when taking drugs. Some types of paraphernalia are used for multiple types of drugs. Mutual paraphernalia linked to meth include:
- Needles
- Syringes
- Spoons, frequently with burn marks on the bottom from being heated
- Cotton balls
- Butane lighters
- Tinfoil
- Small drinking glass or metal pipes
- Plastic pen casings
- Drinking straws
- Small mirrors
- Razor blades
- Plastic cards, such as credit cards, for breaking up the substance
- Rolled paper, such as dollar bills, to snort the powdered substance
If y'all doubtable someone may exist cooking meth, there are telltale signs to identify a meth lab. Outside, you may see blacked-out windows or smell unusual odors, and signs within can include the appearance of funnels and lab equipment. Be enlightened of the physical furnishings that can come with cooking meth, including asthma, insomnia or tremors.
If you come up across a meth lab, practice not approach it. Protect yourself and others by leaving immediately and alerting constabulary enforcement.
Behavioral Signs of Meth Use
If a loved one is struggling with meth, you may notice some of the drug'due south side effects. Some behavioral signs that a person is using meth include:
- Dilated pupils
- High claret pressure
- Elevated body temperature and centre rate
- Shortness of breath
- Grinding of teeth
- Beingness very warning or physically active
- Reduced ambition and weight loss
- Outbursts or mood swings
- Paranoia or hallucinations
In a survey by The Recovery Village, people who currently and formerly used meth reported symptoms that lasted long-term, even after they stopped using meth. 23% reported high blood pressure, 27% reported sudden or severe weight loss and 16% reported hallucinations. People who utilized multiple methods doubled their chances of experiencing weight loss and hallucinations.
Physical Signs of Meth Employ
Methamphetamine is a dangerous and highly addictive drug, and its signs of employ are among the most recognizable of all substances. Some of the most common signs of meth utilize are credible in the person's advent. Crystal meth tin dramatically touch the user's looks and give them sure distinctive characteristics. Roughly 37% of people who apply or used meth written report a significant impact on their appearance.
Some visible meth symptoms can include:
- Premature aging
- Picking at skin or hair, causing meth sores
- Loss of ambition and weight loss
- Outbursts or mood swings
- Paranoia or hallucinations
- "Meth mouth," the characteristic tooth decay caused by meth use
Visible signs are less common than you lot'd think, so just because someone isn't exhibiting these signs doesn't hateful they aren't using meth. One in three people who apply or have used meth reported meth mouth or broken teeth, and 31% reported sores, abscesses or infections on their skin from scratching.
However, these signs are more common amongst people who report heavy meth utilize. People who employ meth heavily are four times more probable to experience meth mouth and two times more likely to have sores or infections.
The method of utilize besides plays a part in physical signs of employ. In our survey, people who smoked meth were three times more probable to become meth mouth, while those who snorted it were ii.5 times more than likely to have nasal impairment. Those who injected meth were three times more likely to have sores or infections on their skin.
A combination of particular visible signs and matching paraphernalia — sores and a needle or syringe, for example — is a telling indicator.
RELATED: Starting Treatment with Online Rehab
What Is Tweaking?
"Tweaking" is another element that tin assist determine whether or non someone is using crystal meth. Tweaking occurs at the end of a drug binge when the person using tin can't achieve a blitz or high anymore, struggles to achieve feelings of euphoria from meth and is often left with intense cravings and a sense of desperation.
Some boosted signs of tweaking can include:
- Feeling like bugs are itch under the skin
- Being unable to slumber for days
- Beingness in a psychotic land or completely disconnected from reality
- Growing increasingly frustrated, paranoid and unstable
- Experiencing hallucinations
- Self-harm
- Strong cravings for meth
What Is a Tweaker?
A "tweaker" is a slang proper noun for someone who uses meth and comes from the term "tweaking". While calling someone a tweaker may exist used to refer to tweaking specifically, it can also refer to someone in the context of their meth apply in general.
The Crash
Some other common sign of crystal meth use is the crash phase. During this menstruum, the person's trunk collapses later constant stimulation from meth, usually resulting in long periods of sleep. A crash tin can terminal anywhere from one to three days , and it tin can be an outward sign of meth use that's apparent to people around the user.
Meth Withdrawal Signs
If someone with a meth utilise disorder all of a sudden stops using it, signs of withdrawal may be credible. Withdrawal from meth can cause mental symptoms, particularly in those who have used the drug long-term. Along with intense cravings, signs of withdrawal tin include anxiety, fatigue, headaches and depression.
Headaches are the almost mutual meth withdrawal symptom, occurring in 63% of people who apply meth, followed past fatigue in 57%, sleep problems in 52%, and low and anxiety in 41%.
Remember that these withdrawal symptoms are also associated with many other medical conditions and should not be considered a sign of meth apply on their own. They should instead reinforce other visible signs and behaviors associated with meth use.
Recognize the Signs of Meth Apply So You Can Prevent the Dissentious Effects
Meth can have damaging effects on the user, both physically and psychologically, including:
- Changes in brain structure and office
- Deficits in thinking and motor skills
- Astringent dental bug
- Psychosis
- Aggressive or vehement behavior
- Heart or brain damage from the stress meth causes on the body
Some neurobiological effects could be partially reversible, but it's important to accost meth use as early as possible to prevent any long-term effects and increase the chances of successful treatment.
Taking the Next Footstep
If you lot recognize the signs of meth utilize, yous should seek assist from a medical professional person or professional rehab handling programme . Someone who is using meth can non only harm themselves but tin can be a danger to people around them.
If y'all or a loved i are struggling with a meth addiction, The Recovery Village can assist . Calls are complimentary and confidential, and so pick up the phone and get-go the road to recovery today.
- Sources
U.Due south. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). "Drugs of Abuse." 2020. Accessed April xi, 2021.
McCance-Katz, EF. "The National Survey on Drug Use and Wellness: 2019." Substance Abuse and Mental Wellness Administration (SAMHSA), September 2020. Accessed April 11, 2021.
Foundation for a Drug-Free World. "The Truth About Crystal Meth and Methamphetamine." Accessed April eleven, 2021.
U.Due south. Department of Justice. "Crystal Methamphetamine Fast Facts." National Drug Intelligence Center. Accessed February 9, 2022.
The State of Nevada. "Forms of Meth." Nevada Chaser Full general Aaron D. Ford. Accessed February 9, 2022.
U.S. Section of Justice Archive (USDOJ). "Meth Sensation In The News." 2021. Accessed Feb 9, 2022.
The University of Arizona. "Liquid." MethOIDE: methamphetamine and other illicit drug education. Accessed February 9, 2022.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. "What are the long-term effects of methamphetamine misuse?" Methamphetamine Research Report, October 2019. Accessed February ix, 2022.
- Medical Disclaimer
The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with a substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral wellness conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes. We publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals. The information nosotros provide is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical communication, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be used in identify of the advice of your md or other qualified healthcare provider.
View our editorial policy or view our research.
Source: https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/meth-addiction/faq/know-someone-crystal-meth/
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