When the drug is smoked or injected, the effects are felt extremely quickly; causing an immediate and intense, but short-lived, rush.1 Snorting or oral ingestion produces effects of euphoria within several minutes but not an intense rush. When the drug is completely out of your system, your doctor will help you prepare for treatment.

Therapy

The researchers found that people receiving the two drugs were more likely to respond to treatment. Response was defined as having at least three out of four urine samples taken during the study testing negative for methamphetamine. The current epidemic of opioid overdose deaths has held the headlines for over a decade. Of particular concern is methamphetamine—a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. Certain insurance providers cover high levels of care, such as inpatient rehab stays, for meth treatment.

General Health

“I was shooting up every day, sometimes two to three times a day,” she says. Even users who don’t overdose often experience damage to the heart and other tissues, and can see their lives spiral out of control. “It’s almost like methamphetamines are falling from the sky right now, with the amount that’s coming through the border and on boats and planes,” says Matthew Donahue with the U.S. “As we understand the complexity of the human brain, it becomes very much of a magical thinking that meth abuse one pill will solve the problem of addiction,” she says.

Signs and Symptoms of a Meth Addiction

Dependence refers to a physical state in which your body is dependent on the drug. With drug dependence, you need more and more of the substance to achieve the same effect (tolerance). You experience mental and physical effects (withdrawal) if you stop taking the drug. Coming down can cause difficult emotional and physical symptoms, such as depression and insomnia.

How to get support

Post-rehab care and support are important in the recovery process to help maintain sobriety and prevent relapses. Meth addiction is a severe issue that affects not only the person who uses the drug but also their families and communities. It can lead to devastating physical, psychological, and social consequences.

How to reduce your risk of relapse

Aftercare may include community-based and family-based support systems, mutual-help groups, alumni events, and more. Another medication for meth addiction, ibudilast, may reduce some of the pleasurable effects of meth. CBT addresses the learning processes underlying drug addiction and other harmful behaviors.

Outpatient Methamphetamine Addiction Treatment

Naltrexone, which is already used for treating opioid addiction, blocks opioid receptors in the brain and is proven to reduce cravings in some patients. In fact, it is a man-made drug that was originally developed in the early 20th century for medical purposes and was used as a nasal decongestant in inhalers to treat respiratory conditions. According to evidence from early clinical trials, anti-methamphetamine monoclonal antibodies may reduce and slow the effects of meth in the brain. Learn more about the risks and side effects of substance use disorders, including the signs of intoxication or overdose. Ideally, he said, patients would receive the monoclonal antibody when they experience an overdose, and then receive continued doses to help prevent future use.

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There are evidence-based treatments that can help you live a drug-free life. CM interventions for meth addiction typically offer incentives for continued abstinence. You may receive a voucher or other reward in exchange for drug-free urine samples. The voucher’s monetary value increases the longer you go without using meth.

The test is free, confidential, and no personal information is needed to receive the result. American Addiction Centers (AAC) is committed to delivering original, truthful, accurate, unbiased, and medically current information. We strive to create content that is clear, concise, and easy to understand. Methamphetamine addiction impacts many different parts of the body including; the muscles, liver, brain, mouth, heart, circulatory system, and respiratory system.

• Some folks may do a “run,” which involves taking meth continuously for several hours or days, often without sleeping or eating.
• CBT addresses the learning processes underlying drug addiction and other harmful behaviors.
• These self-help groups are managed and run by other people who are working through recovery themselves.
• Those patients, he said, often need to be restrained or treated with sedatives — and their impairment makes them unable to consent to joining a medical study using an experimental treatment.
• A person is more likely to overdose on meth if it is mixed with other drugs, such as synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which is a cheaper drug that is often added to meth without the person’s knowledge.
• “I was shooting up every day, sometimes two to three times a day,” she says.

Lara Ray, a psychologist who studies medical treatments for addiction at UCLA and was not involved with this research, says the study changes the treatment landscape for roughly 1.6 million Americans who are addicted to methamphetamines. While a success rate of just over 11% may not sound like a home run, Volkow noted that other medications used to treat brain disorders, including mental illness and addiction, often have similar response rates in patients. This medication therapy provides another tool for doctors to try with patients. Researchers have found that a combination of two medications is effective at treating meth addiction.