But substance use treatment with medical detox and behavioral therapies for addiction can help you recover from meth use disorder. Early intervention in METH abuse by lowering METH intake is essential not only for preventing METH overdose, but also for subsequent interventions, as greater treatment participation is achieved when METH use is low 133. Consequently, behavioral therapies should remain the first line of treatment for MUD. In the future, a combination of cognitive therapy(ies) with medication(s), followed by an anti-METH vaccine to maintain low METH intake long-term, will likely work the best against MUD. Doctors treat it with naloxone or nalmefene because many ODs are methamphetamine plus fentanyl. Long-lasting behavioral, neurological, cognitive, movement and other consequences of meth are real, yet without specific treatment.
Treatment Options for Meth Addiction
The Food and Drug Administration has not approved any medications for treating methamphetamine addiction. However, researchers are investigating new medications in clinical trials. Ibudilast, for example, aims to reduce meth use and keep people meth addiction in treatment longer. A few recent reviews of medications tested for MUD between 2000 and 2020 have provided exhaustive information on different classes of medications that have been examined and the results of their clinical trials .
- The Food and Drug Administration has not approved any medications for treating methamphetamine addiction.
- He also notes that there isn’t a lot of human data regarding what happens during meth withdrawal, which makes it hard to give a general timeline.
- Research has shown that methamphetamine withdrawal follows a predictable pattern.
- Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, meaning it sends messages of pleasure and reinforcement, so when someone takes meth, they feel good and try to seek those pleasurable feelings again.
Health Conditions
Meth’s effects on brain structures affect decision-making and the ability to break habits that involve harmful behaviors. This decline in mental flexibility is a major driver of meth addiction10 and relapse. Meth reduces your body’s need for sleep, which is Alcoholics Anonymous why people who use it often stay up for days at a time. Even short-term meth use can cause dangerous weight loss and physical deterioration. First synthesized in the early 20th century, methamphetamine was initially developed for medical purposes.1 It was used to treat conditions like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obesity. But over time, this expanded beyond the medical field into recreational use—and its ability to cause dependency and addiction quickly became apparent.
- Amphetamine was first synthesized in Germany in 1887, when ephedrine was isolated from the ephedra shrub.
- The unpredictable nature of these interactions makes this combination particularly lethal.
- The extreme psychological and physical toll that methamphetamine (meth) takes on the body makes it one of the most dangerous drugs on the market.
PHARMACOLOGY OF METHAMPHETAMINE
The dopaminergic system has been a favored target for MUD pharmacotherapy, and several medications that target dopamine transporter or dopamine D2 receptor have been tested in clinical trials. Agonists for dopamine receptors mimic the action of monoamines to provide modest levels of METH reward/reinforcement. One of the reasons for the lack of efficacy of dopaminergic medications in MUD is a decrease in dopamine D2 receptor levels in the striatal sub-regions in people chronically abusing METH 69-73. In general terms, people who abuse METH can be divided into light, moderate and heavy users of the drug. Thus, some people take METH a few times a month while some take the drug every day for extended periods of time, at doses ranging usually from light to moderate 23-25.
Many individuals recovering from meth addiction continue to work on their sobriety after rehab. They attend 12-step https://msihs.org/50-sobriety-gifts-ideas-effective-substance-abuse-3/ meetings such as Crystal Meth Anonymous, where they communicate with others in recovery and learn ways to avoid triggers and manage cravings. This program is ideal for educating patients and their families, school faculty and staff, behavioral and mental health professionals, and more.