My brother just came home from out of state and has been on this drug for awhile. Hes very paranoid and is haveing a hard time trusting anyone again..Hes off of it now and has been for about 5 days..One of my questions is what is the active ingredients in this drug? Some one told me that there is even battery acid in it? Anyone know much about this and its effects I would be glad to hear ..thanks *************************************************** 06-05-03, 04:47 PM DvdGStwrt Sam,
The full ingredient list for Meth is not available for public viewing. Though I know how to make it having been there, done that, I find that there tends to be very general descriptions, thus I will use those here.
The active ingredient is methamphetamine - aka Speed. The process of making it includes the use of acids and other things, and then there is the matter of what the product is 'cut with' the cut could be anything from aspirin to vitamin E - anything that dissolves in water (Since one of the popular methods of using speed is with a needle) The general process is to extract the amphetamine from common over the counter medications, there are several methods to do this, some include ammonia, while others include acids, insect poisons, and other things which are not healthy for one by themselves.
Ideally the end product is as pure amphetamine as possible, then it is cut (for resale) with over the counter drugs like aspirin. Some others would include vitamin E, Pep Pills, Diet Pills, etc. Anything that is in a powdery form or can be made into a powdery form.
Practically some of the processing chemicals used remain in the finish product. Thus the different colors of meth found on the street, either through the process used in the manufacture or due to the cut. Pink, yellow and white powders are common, so are brown and variations of all of these. This is a 'cut' product, having less pure meth than Crystal Meth.
Crystal Meth is nearly pure meth - it is processed and refined and forms small whitish/clear crystals, usually it is sold as is and gives the longest and most bang for the buck, so to speak. It is highly prized as being the 'best' available speed. It can cost more (depending where you are) and the usual dosage is .25 gram to .3 gram.
The reason why users of this form of meth usually spin out (have the bad side effects) sooner and longer is because of how pure this form of the drug is, it tends to last longer in the system (though it is water soluble and 'flushes' out of the system in days). It is highly addictive, has a far stronger rush, yet due to it's "clean" nature doesn't come with terrible hangover type headaches, and other post-rush issues.
Amphetamines are the culprit, and not because a person is doing them, but because of the upset to the sleep/wake cycle.
Human beings need to sleep every 'night', they go through several stages of sleep and rest. Part of that is the 'dream sleep' which is part of the brains filing and rebooting program. Meth use upsets that cycle and usually causes at least one night of loss of sleep. Extended use can deprive a person weeks at a time, this leads to hallucinations and other issues. The affects are accumulative, and it takes years of not using before a person could start using again starting from 'near' zero side effects.
Most cases of heavy meth use (meaning tweaking for extended periods at a time) result in the psychological affects (like paranoia) happening faster. The longer the subject tweaks and goes without sleep, and the more often they do this the shorter the period of time before they start seeing meth monsters (hallucinations) and start feeling that everyone is out to get them.
Most people who tweak tend to go for a couple of days then 'crash' for a couple of days, their body is trying to catch up with the loss of deep rem dream sleep. They will sleep very, very deeply (hard sleep) and may, in cases where they have built up a tolerance to the drug) fall asleep while tweaking to wake up shortly (a couple of hours) still tweaking.
A person can use speed for years if they are only tweaking occasionally and not for long extended periods of time without the side effects. Unfortunately, being an addictive substance, most people sooner or later start doing more and more and tweaking for longer periods of time.
Depending on the amount of time using and how far he has gone will determine how long the paranoia will haunt him. When I cleaned up nearly 8 years ago, the paranoia remained with me for three years For the first few months it was strong, slowly it started to fade. The longer I was clean, the less paranoid I felt. But then I was slamming (IV injecting) a gram at a time, having month long tweak sessions, and had been doing speed like this for nearly a year.
5 days without is a good thing, but not long enough for the last dose to be fully flushed out of his system. Further, the side effects may linger strong depending on how long his last run was.
If he has been using for 6 months or more, he will have a physical addiction to the drug. Also there will have been physical and chemical changes to the brain which are permanent, which means that he will continue having cravings for the drug for the rest of his life.
He may have an addictive personality, though he quits using meth, he may move on to another drug or alcohol - it is highly likely, most drug addicts have what is called a 'drug of choice' but are willing and most often do use other stimulants if they can not get their drug of choice.
Those who are alcoholic/drug users may stop drugging but continue for years drinking telling themselves that since they are not using drugs they are cleaned up.
8 years later I still have 'using' dreams - dreams were I relive drug use moments of my life. Further, I also go through stages where the craving is present and I even toy with the idea of going out and using again. This is because of the physical and the brain changes that took place through my years of drug use. I have reached peace with my addiction through my religious beliefs and through an ongoing 12 step program which I apply to every day of my life.
Drug Treatment centers are useful, they usually have trained psychologists and MDs who can prescribe various psychotropic drugs which can help him through this period of adjustment and alleviate some of the paranoia. I did not clean up at a center, I did it through moving away from the drug scene and keeping out of the drug scene in my new location. But I have heard the 'shares' of individuals who went through treatment centers, starting even months after their last using - who swear that it was the best thing that could have happened for them.
I would also recommend Program - Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). I suggest AA be priority not NA, NA has people who will relate their drug experiences and this may upset or cause cravings to arise. AA, which follows the same 12 step principle, tends to focus on Alcohol at meetings which may be less tempting than hearing about others using Speed. I had a relapse in back of the NA building only because I got all anxious and wanting to use from hearing several shares from people about using. After I had become comfortable enough in program at AA (a few months under my belt) I started attending NA sporadically, leaving when I started feeling the urge, standing outside to smoke a cigarette until who ever was sharing stopped sharing.
Part of the program is to get a sponsor, a person who you can call and work through the 12 Steps, someone who you can trust and knows were you are having been there themselves. Both programs have their successes and failures, however kicking the habit is very hard and not many people can do it the first time.
Personal experience has taught that a sponsor who has used like you did, in my case IV use, is better than one who has not experienced that or do not relate to it. My second sponsor never used a needle and couldn't relate to the 'romancing the needle' angle thus she wasn't able to help me through a critical period in my sobriety.
Try the yellow pages for finding a Central Office for AA( http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/ )and NA( http://www.na.org/ links-main.htm )in your region, they will readily help you find a meeting place close to you. Meetings take place all the time in most big cities. There are also AL-ANON Meetings (http://www.ola-is.org/) for those who are family of recovering alcoholic/addict in program ot otherwise.
This program may be especially helpful for you, not so much to understand where your brother is at, but to give you an outlet for your feelings that his addiction has caused and his recovery will cause, it also provides a place for people to find strength in knowing when to help and when to let go and Let God.
Best wishes and God bless,
David
[This message was edited by Sherasi on 07-21-03 at 01:18 AM.]
06-06-03, 01:09 AM samantha Jeeze David I can't even start to thank-you for all the knowledege you have shared with me here. He has been on this for a month or a little more I guess. I have heard that this drug gets stored in your fat cells and can take five to seven years to flush out unless you go to a treatment center where they specialize in this drug.. He is now sleeping hours and hours since hes been home and eating alot. So really he just eats and sleeps mostly. Thank you so much and If I have more questions I hope you dont mind if i ask? Also thanks for the sites too. Your post was a great help to me and my family..God Bless
06-06-03, 11:42 AM puppyblues It helped me too, David. Thanks for all the info.
06-06-03, 07:56 PM DvdGStwrt Your Welcome:
The Sleeping and the eating is cathcing back up with what he didn't eat and when he didn't sleep. Its normal for the problem.
David
06-06-03, 08:54 PM puppyblues David, what if they've been taking it a little at a time for about four years now? Doing more and more all the time? Will they ever be able to make up for the lost sleep?
06-06-03, 11:14 PM Sherasi Puppy Blues, if I am not mistaken, some people can develop Psychotic problems on an almost permanent basis because of these kinds of drugs and lack of sleep.
06-09-03, 07:16 PM DvdGStwrt
quote:Originally posted by puppyblues: David, what if they've been taking it a little at a time for about four years now? Doing more and more all the time? Will they ever be able to make up for the lost sleep?
Well Puppy it depends on the person.
I started using a long time ago, at first it was the occasional toot, then about a year later I was introduced to Mr. Happy Needle - My attitude changed and nearly every weekend I was tweaking (I maintained and held a job through all of that).
When I lost my job (Due to having a seizure at work, well, several seizures) I decided to take the vacation time and use my unemployment to pursue drug use on a fulltime basis.
That's when things went just a little crazy. Up to that time I used 'responsibly' this is to say that I would start friday night, making sure I crashed and burned on sunday.
This is called a 'Functioning Addiction' one which the addict only parties when they can and still makes it to work, and pays bills.They usually give themselves enough time between speed runs to recuperate.
After I started on my heavy binge period, I was soon making a sleep debt which I could never really pay back. It got to the point that I could slam more speed, but having been up for so long, I would pass out. The brain and the body took over and decided it was time to sleep.
That was all 8 years ago - Today I sleep 'normally' though I am prone to insomnia. I have also gotten over the side effects (paranoia).
Some people are known to slip into a permanent psychosis - We are talking about the brain, which is a relatively Big Unknown when it comes to medical science. Some people will display the ill effects of drug use faster than others. Some can recover while others do not.
Speed use does alter the chemical make up of the brain - it does cause physical changes, so does other drugs like alcohol, pot, etc. Addicts have physical alterations that can be detected by doctors - these changes are for the rest of the life of the patient.
Make up for the sleep they loss? Actually you never do, even if you miss one night sleep. The body recovers, the brain recovers, but you never get that lost night of sleep back.
I was perhaps more blessed since I have strong genes, youthful genes - longevity and youthful appearance and strong health can be traced back on both sides of my family. Some people are not so lucky and end up having long term health issues even if they only used hard for a month.
David
06-09-03, 09:03 PM puppyblues Thanks David. I may have some other questions for you, would you mind if I emailed them to you? Smile
06-10-03, 05:06 PM DvdGStwrt
quote:Originally posted by puppyblues: Thanks David. I may have some other questions for you, would you mind if I emailed them to you? Smile
No I wouldn't mind a bit, I'm most willing to share just about anything I know. My email addy is in my profile.
Cheers
David
06-11-03, 11:32 AM samantha David I wanted to again thank-you for all the information on this and to also say here that I just think its great you were able to get off this drug and turn your life around and now use your knowledge on this in a positive way to help others..thanks again
06-13-03, 02:52 AM SeattleRon give him soft foods sammy... i did ice once, and the come down was harsh. All I wanted was fruits and ****. water too. back in the day when i used to go on week long coke binges, once i finally passed out and wokeup i always was craving fruits and water. give him fruits and water sammy. something sugary. you need sugar. he gonna go through withdrawals and thats gonna be intense. just hang in there sammy. you are gonna see probably a lot of the shakes, vomiting, out of control behaviour, and some nutso stuff. try to hold him down..
06-13-03, 05:17 PM DvdGStwrt Ron, Sugars are good, but carbs are better, they convert to sugar which is released into the blood stream slowly and over a greater period of time.
Gateraid is a good drink, it does have those minerals and stuff which is sweated out during tweaking.
David
06-13-03, 08:20 PM samantha Thanks Ron and David im happy to say here hes doing very well..no craving at all for it i guess and is eating and sleeping normal now..but he ate like a pig for about three days and then would sleep.
06-18-03, 05:44 AM dogspit I was hesitant to add this post because David had covered it all so well, but thought I would add a bit of my personal experience from several years of abusing meth. I was a former user of pot, coke, and other chemicals, and had really never experienced "addiction" until my first taste of meth. I was immediately in love with it. My last few months of it were very hardcore, always pushing the envelope and staying up for a week at a time on several occasions. I had already been a manic depressive and I really made it so much worse. I developed severe sleep disorders which I still have (to a slightly lesser degree) and likely always will. Some of the paranoia is still around and I have much worse social anxieties than I ever had before. Though I have been clean for a few years now, I still have dreams about using so vivid that I wake up shivering, the taste and the smell of meth fresh in my mind. When I "hit the wall" I was down to just under 140 lbs (at 6' 4" rather horrid looking) and had rotted away the enamel of several teeth leaving gaping holes in the side of them. They still cause me a good deal of pain. Meth is a very mean mistress. How much damage it does it mostly based on how much, and how you did it ( occasionally or constantly, for a couple day binges or for non-stop multiple day idiocy). I was too stupid to heed the signs of impending disaster and pretty much fried every neuron I had left. It sounds very much like your brother got out of it before too much damage was done. I wish him luck in kicking it.
06-18-03, 01:32 PM samantha Thank-you so much Spit for sharing this with us. I am so glad that you were able to get out of this and go on with your life , and now help others who need it. It's the people who have been there in the past who know what they are going thru to reach them. Thank you. Now my brother is still using coke some. He goes back to california in a week or so. I wonder if he will go back to the meth once hes around it again? He worries me so much.. He had told me he was on it for 80 days straight..
06-19-03, 11:22 PM Sherasi Jim, I knew you had a rough road, and I respect you even more for taking that terrible decision to come clean and get off the drugs.
Bravo, Jim.
06-21-03, 12:23 AM DvdGStwrt DogSpit:
Thanks for the share: by sharing where we were and where we are now, we help others.
Again, thanks.
David
06-27-03, 05:15 AM SeattleRon thanks for sharing also brother... kinda tough to share, but your advice is appreciated.
07-02-03, 02:21 AM samantha I just wanted to say my brother is off of this and doing very well right now. Seems to have no craving for it at all. He looks good is eating and sleeping good. So Im hoping the worst is over.. and thanks for all your comments and help..your a great bunch of people! Smile
07-19-03, 11:15 PM puppyblues CRYSTAL METH Sammy, I have been doing so research on the subject myself. I think you'll find this link interesting. It helped me understand the side effects a lot. Hope it helps you too. Smile
