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Crystal Meth Knowledge Guide

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In this knowledge guide I’m going to quickly go through the effects of crystal meth with you.

 

We will talk about what it is, and the effects it produces when you take it. We will talk about the side effects and how they get worse.

 

I will also explain why crystal meth is so addictive and dangerous. It’s destructive and damaging, and once you are in its grip there is no way back.

 

So what I want to do here is give you these quick facts so you can spot the danger and admit something that yourself before it’s too late, so that you can turn around in the road and head back the other way.

 

 

What Exactly Is Crystal Meth?

 

Bizarrely, Crystal meth was first synthesized in Japan in 1919. During the second world war it was used to keep troops alert and awake, because it did this more effectively as a methamphetamine than the previously used amphetamines.

 

So it’s a central nervous system stimulant that’s been artificially made, and originally for express intention of keeping you alert, awake, focus, and positive.

 

The key positive feelings of methamphetamine are:

 

  • Euphoria
  • Self-confidence
  • Wakefulness
  • Increased energy and alertness
  • Feeling totally relaxed

 

Right up to the 1970s, methamphetamine supplements were used without prescription. They were used by athletes, truck drivers, and basically anyone who wanted alertness, focus, and a rush of positivity and happiness.

 

 

With more scrutiny though, it became obvious this stuff was highly addictive and damaging. Therefore, it was banned.

 

 

But criminal gangs quickly realized that there was still a market for it. Crystal meth is easy to make and highly addictive, making it perfect for producing high and repeat profits at the expense of people’s rapidly diminishing health.

 

 

The Key Signs And Signals Of Crystal Meth Abuse

 

When you take it, Crystal meth produces an intense high. Your body will produce and flood itself with both dopamine and adrenaline.

 

 

This produces an incredible pleasure feeling. It’s addictive in itself, because it makes you feel so fantastic.

 

The problem is that it’s highly addictive. The part of your brain that deals with memory and emotion quickly links crystal meth use with pleasure and reward, especially because it spikes dopamine which is our risk and reward chemical.

 

Once you are hooked, and it will be rapid, these are the key signs of use and addiction:

 

  • Rapid speech
  • Inability to make sense sometimes
  • Dilated pupils
  • Significant body overheating
  • Vomiting & nausea
  • Delusional thinking
  • Confusion
  • Hallucinations
  • Insomnia
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Anger and irritation
  • Changes in physical appearance (especially facially)
  • Significant weight loss

 

There are definitely other signals to watch out for though:

 

  1. There are financial signals that you are addicted, including running out of money, stealing, borrowing money will never pay back, and cutting back on food and clothing for yourself and others in order to fund your habit.

 

  1. Lying and cheating are key signals of heavy methamphetamine use. You literally lose all of your morals to get your next hit.

 

  1. All of your thoughts end up about the drug. No matter what you’re doing or where you are, you will be having thoughts about meth, it will be on your mind. Money, who’s going to sell it to you, when you’re going to take it, how it’s going to feel, all of those things will be rushing through your mind almost constantly.

 

 

The Risks Of Using Methamphetamine

 

One of the worst problems with methamphetamine use is the horrific meth face that you can develop.

 

It attacks the gums and destroys your teeth and gums completely. Facially, you will start to look sunken around the mouth.

 

 

Because you aren’t eating you will lose muscle tone and energy. Your skin will go grey, and you will look gaunt and haunted.

 

 

Because you are so stimulated and aren’t sleeping properly, you will look and feel exhausted. At this to the rest of the facial effects and it can almost bring on half dead appearance once you are fully addicted and heading down the line.

 

 

There are also social risks. You will lose everything eventually. You can’t keep juggling it forever, and you can’t keep hiding the signs.

 

 

You also cannot keep paying out increasing amounts of money when you are wanting to work and earn money less and less.

 

 

 

The Positive Feelings That Get You Hooked

 

Although people mostly get addicted crystal meth because of the spike in dopamine and adrenaline it produces, alongside the addictiveness of the substance itself, is the positive feelings it induces.

 

 

Some may use it to get high, while others may use it to stay awake. But whatever the main feeling that drives it, it’s all about pleasure.

 

 

In the beginning it can really mask the horrific danger you are in. By the time the positive feelings start to become an escape from the overwhelming horror of what the drug has done to your life, it’s too late.

 

Side Effects That Will Get Worse

 

When it comes to side effects of crystal meth, in the beginning they can be tolerable. They can seem like a bearable downside the pleasure you get using it.

 

However, very quickly the side effects will become horrific. It becomes a spiraling problem as well because of the side effects.

 

Because the comedown feels so awful, you start to want to take it to offset that, to stay in a good place. So use becomes more frequent.

 

That means you start to fear the side effects, which drive increased frequency of dosing. The side effects get worse because this cycle. When you can’t get meth, you feel so hideous that you will do almost anything to get your hands on it again.

 

 

One side effect that can be a huge issue in the long term is seizures. This is alongside a diminishing in the cardiovascular system, and increase pressure on the heart, lungs, and kidneys.Seizures can be fatal, and can also lead to stroke and other serious health conditions as your addiction progresses.

 

 

Your Appearance & General Health Will Diminish Dramatically

 

When using meth, one of the biggest problems is the change in physical appearance that quickly becomes so noticeable that it’s impossible to hide.

 

 

The problem with meth is that it affects the part of our brain which is related to decision-making, which means we have a warped sense of proportion. This stops people getting help or seeing the problem, because they are delusional.

 

 

Basically, you become absolutely incapable of seeing the damage that is being done. Because the cycle is so frequent you don’t even have time to step back and take a look at the mess that taken place.

 

 

But eventually you will notice and others certainly will unless the only people you know are also users.

 

Muscle wastes away through malnutrition. Problems in the mouth occur, and you are generally exhausted when not stimulated by meth. All of that together makes you look skeletal, weak, pale, and half dead. Almost at times unrecognizable.

 

Don’t think this can’t happen to you. If you are in the early stages of meth use, I’m telling you it can come on quick. In a matter of weeks, because the delusion is so bad that by the time you realize, it’s too late a few months down the line and your entire life is destroyed.

 

Can You Take Crystal Meth Recreationally?

 

In the beginning you will fool yourself that you can keep control on this, you can keep a lid on it. You can take Crystal meth recreationally and be fine.

 

 

But it just isn’t reality. What happens once happens again. It happens with bigger doses, and it happens more frequently. You can’t stop the snowball running down the hill unless you have an incredible sense of self-awareness, which the crystal meth is chipping away at every single time you take it.

 

 

It literally dismantles the part of your brain that allows you to make an objective decision making, turning you into an unpredictable, aggressive, deluded, and erratic.

 

 

This will creep into your normal life both financially and in terms of your interpersonal relationships. It always does, and you would be the only person on earth who manages to avoid it if you did.

 

 

Crystal meth even destroys the dopamine receptors. That means you are chasing that high and wonderful feeling with higher and higher doses and actually having little chance of actually getting the rewards you are seeking.

 

That is the point of no return. You will then do anything to try and get that feeling, huge doses, all the time. The frustration of never quite getting there, never getting that reward again, drives criminality, despair, anger, and an even more rapid onset of the problems.

 

 

So please don’t fool yourself, look at what I’ve been telling you here. You simply cannot take crystal meth is an occasional recreational substance.

 

 

It is simply too addictive. Because of how it targets the reward and decision-making hormone and areas of the brain, and gives you a rushing high at the same time, it is targeting the very center of your central nervous system, tearing it out and destroying it so that you are stuck in an endless loop of trying to get a feeling like you experienced at the beginning.

10 Signals That You Have A Growing Addiction Problem & What To Do Next

 

meth addiction treatmentAddiction to any substance doesn’t just happen. It builds up over time, and often the person doesn’t recognize it, and is mostly in denial, until it’s too late and the addiction has completely taken hold.

 

Once it’s taken hold, whether that person is aware or not, they can often hold it together. But it’s hard work juggling normality with hiding drugtaking (whether it’s prescription meds, alcohol, or narcotics).

 

Mostly though people are aware, and they can feel their life starting to head downwards and then spiral out of control.

 

There are some themes around this. So what I want to do here is talk you through the top 10 signals. If you recognize even two or three of them then you are already on the slippery slope downwards, and if it’s five or more, then you need to stop right now and decide what to do next.

Signal #1: You Are Scrapping Around To Get The Prescription Meds

 

If you suspect you are on prescription meds that you are addicted to, whether it’s amphetamines like Adderall, opiates like Valium, or something else, then you will spot some signals.

 

 

Obviously, if you are just taking prescription meds without prescription for no reason, then you already know you are abusing them and have a problem.

 

 

If you start taking them for a health condition, then you may not be aware. But if you are still getting prescriptions even though you sense the problem has gone away or is getting better, or you keep asking for stronger ones, then it could be a problem.

 

Also, you could start trying to get prescriptions from other sources, or looking in people’s medicine cabinets, or stealing them in some way. You could be looking online to try and buy them from dubious sources.

 

Signal #2: The Way You Look Is Changing

 

The way you look will be changing. Obviously, to some degree this will depend on what you are abusing. But, definitely with alcohol, things like crystal meth, most other narcotics, and some prescription meds at high doses, you will start to look different.

 

You will eat less so you will be thinner. Your skin will look worse. You will not be as physically fit. You will look tired and older than you are.

 

At the extreme, you will be dramatically different, and with crystal meth you could be mostly unidentifiable after six months of heavy use.

 

Look at old photos of yourself before you started taking drugs, and take one of yourself now. Be sober and honest when you do this, and look at how you have changed.

 

Signal #3: You Can Feel Your Pride And Dignity Slipping Away

 

Everything is now about the drugs, so pride and dignity start to vanish. The quest to get more drugs, to take the more frequently, and to spend more money. Nothing else matters.

 

 

You may find you are stealing, lying, putting things off. You could be neglecting your children, partner, family, or close friends.

 

 

Nothing else matters much now, and the pride and dignity you used to have are now diminishing fast. Take a look at this, and be honest about your desperation for your next hit.

 

 

Signal #4: Your Thoughts Are Consumed With Drugs

 

During the day, and even at night in bed, most of your thoughts will be about drugs. Whether it’s about needing them, or how and when you’re going to next take them.

 

 

It could be about money worries, and where the next lot of money to buy drugs with his coming from.

 

 

Or, for alcohol, it could be resisting the temptation to head off to the nearest shop, or panicking late at night about where is going to be open if you run out.

 

 

Whatever it is you are addicted to, you will find your thinking starts to predominantly be about the drug and not more normal parts of your life.

 

 

Signal #5: Money Is Becoming A Problem (Including Stealing It)

 

If you are getting addicted to anything then money will start to become a worry for the normal person.

 

 

You will struggle to be as efficient at earning it, and could even lose your job. But whatever the situation, you will be spending a higher percentage of your cash on the drug.

 

 

So you could notice money becoming a problem. You could notice you are putting off needed purchases, even neglecting your family’s welfare in order to do so.

 

 

At the extreme, many people taking drugs steal money. Even if it’s not directly stealing, you could beg someone for a loan that you know you are never going to pay back.

 

Signal #6: The Things You Loved To Do Are No Longer Interesting To You

 

Whatever your passions and interests, you will find your interest in them starts to diminish. You are not as passionate about them, and your time spent doing them grows less and less.

 

 

This can apply to family and friends as well as hobbies and other activities. So don’t just think about it in one frame, think about things in your entire life you are interested in before you started taking drugs.

 

 

Alongside the thinking about drugs all the time, if you are finding you are feeling colder, depressed, disinterested, and only focused on them at the expense of everything you previously love, then that’s a huge warning sign.

 

Signal #7: Your Drug Life And Your Normal Life Are Blurring

 

In the beginning you can usually keep drugs and normality separate. As you go in deeper those lines get blurred because you are taking the drugs closer to, and even during those normal times.

 

 

Drinking or taking drugs with your family there is a huge warning sign, as is going to work under the influence of drugs. Could be that you can’t function because you are taking drugs and suffering effects late into the previous night.

 

 

However it manifests itself, your normality starts to blur with the drug taking. Not only the actual consuming, but thinking about drugs and how to get them, and when to take them, at the expense of every day focus. Sooner or later you will be drug tested at work, and even if you use synthetic urine in order to pass, sooner or later you will be fired

 

Signal #8: The Risks You Take Are Getting Bigger And Bigger

 

The risks you take to get drugs and take them will get bigger and bigger. Financially, socially, and personally everything will become riskier.

 

 

Risk of losing your job, running out of money, losing your family and friends, it can all take hold slowly until it snowballs out-of-control fast.

 

 

You could cheat on your partner, you could leave your children unattended, you could go to some really shady places with shady people and put yourself at risk.

 

 

If you are a woman, you could find yourself having sex to get your hands on drugs in return, or worse turning to prostitution.

 

 

In the end, no matter how much of an upstanding citizen you are, the risks you take will get so big that they almost don’t matter to you. You risk everything to get the next fix.

 

 

Signal #9: The Dose You Are Taking Now Is Far Larger Than The First Dose

 

The first time you take a substance is often the best. But whatever the case, you need to look at that first dose you took and compare it to what you are regularly taking now.

 

 

Usually, you’ll find it’s significantly more, often twice as much, or even higher doses than that. Even if you can’t quantify the exact dose change, look at the amount you spent initially compared to what you are spending now to get the hit.

 

 

If the dose is far larger, then it means that you aren’t getting the same dopamine spike and need more of the drug to get it. In addition, your tolerance of the drug will have grown so you also need more of it.

Signal #10: You Are Hiding An Increasingly Larger Part Of Your Life From Those Around You

 

Generally being shady and subversive is a key signal of drugtaking being out of control.

 

If you are lying to your family and friends about where you are going or where you have been. If you are dropping out and vanishing for hours and days on end, if you are letting people down just to take the drugs.

 

It’s also about hiding the finances, the financial burden you are under to keep taking more and more drugs to get the same feelings.

 

 

As it progresses, your addiction will mean that you are hiding a huge part of your life, the only part of your life that now matters, from the people around you.

 

You will know this is happening. You will be routinely lying to people you care about. You will miss appointments; you will avoid situations where you could be confronted or found out.

 

You will make up stories and lies about where you have been, where you are going, where the money has gone, all to take more drugs. And, you’ll be hiding that life from yourself because you will be lying to yourself about the scope of it as well.