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If you or a loved one has a meth addiction, there will be a withdrawal process to go through upon ceasing to use the drug. This occurs because the body has gotten used to the substance as part of its normal way of functioning, and now the body isn’t happy without the meth. The body revolts.
The meth withdrawal process won’t be the best days of your life.
Give us a call. We can help walk you through it.
The same drug is known by three names: meth, crystal meth, and methamphetamine. To better understand the methamphetamine withdrawal process, it’s helpful to first better understand the drug’s effects on the brain.
Meth directly affects the central nervous system and the chemistry in the brain, in particular triggering release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is the “feel good” neurotransmitter and is responsible for feelings of pleasure and reward.
That dopamine release is why we do things that are bad for us, like eating unhealthy foods because they are SO delicious, getting involved with the wrong people because they flatter us, and buying things we don’t need for the rush of the purchase. Dopamine is a very powerful behavior director as it drives us to seek pleasure, reward, and good feelings.
It sometimes takes a great deal of self-discipline to resist the temptation of the dopamine release even for those of us without a drug addiction.
So when we have a drug that promises endless bursts of feel-good vibes, it’s going to pose a major temptation to a lot of people. We see this in our communities, as the meth use in some areas seems to have taken over and has definitely reached levels of concern for public health.
The brains of habitual meth users get used to the high levels of dopamine, and come to depend on it. Also, the brain needs more and more of the drug to reach the same levels of dopamine release and feel-good vibes, leading to higher tolerance with the drug and increased possibility of dependency and methamphetamine addiction.
Crystal meth is consumed in a couple of common ways, one of which is intravenously using a needle and syringe. Drug users huddling in a group waiting for their turn to inject the drug are not often focused on the sanitation of their paraphernalia, so meth use can also bring risks of contracting blood-borne diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C.
Meth is highly addictive. Its continued use poses tremendous risks to personal health as all organs take a hit and self-care becomes a non-concern. It is also a stimulant, and can lead to aggressive behavior. The addiction destroys relationships, families, finances, careers, homes, vehicles, and everything else one gains in life.
Several symptoms accompany meth withdrawal. Common meth withdrawal symptoms include:
The symptoms of meth withdrawal can be quite severe.
It is not recommended that an individual face meth withdrawal alone. Seeking professional help from a treatment facility or healthcare clinic is important to help manage methamphetamine withdrawal symptoms. The professionals at these facilities have helped many many individuals through meth detox and withdrawal. They know what to anticipate, what risks and dangers are posed, and how to help in real ways.
You don’t have to know where to go. Give us a call and we will help you get it figured out. We will help you determine the right course of treatment options for your individual situation.
Because the brain becomes so heavily dependent on the drug, the detoxification process from meth can be quite severe.
Owing to the severity of the addiction and physical symptoms that accompany withdrawal from methamphetamine, it is strongly advised that detox take place in a treatment center where medical professionals can provide oversight.
The medical detox facility may be inpatient with full hospitalization or intensive outpatient, also called partial hospitalization, depending on the individual’s condition. Medical supervision is highly recommended in all cases.
Give us a call today if you’re thinking about getting yourself or a loved one into a detox program for meth abuse. We have deep connections with all reputable healthcare providers in the state, and we will help you find the right treatment programs for your individual circumstances.
At our Premiere Recovery Center facility in Happy Valley, Oregon, we offer an outpatient detox program on-site. It is for individuals who are ambulatory and don’t require hospitalization during their meth detox process. Post-detox, we welcome individuals into our meth addiction treatment programs whether they detox here or anywhere else. Once they are ambulatory and ready for intensive outpatient therapy services (Levels of Care 2.1 and 2.5), they are welcome here.
The meth withdrawal timeline can vary among individuals based on a variety of factors including amount of regular drug use (tolerance level).
Typically, the acute withdrawal phase lasts for 5 to 15 days from last use of the drug. The peak of meth withdrawal symptoms is experienced in this initial period, including intense cravings and strong mood swings. More enduring meth withdrawal symptoms such as fatigue, depression, and anxiety can last for several weeks or much longer.
As with many substance use disorders, actual drug cravings tend to persist over time, and the individual must learn to manage those cravings.
The cravings tend to be most intense at the beginning, when the body is still getting used to being without that powerful dopamine rush on a regular basis. But many former meth users admit that the cravings don’t really go away. They can be managed, however.
Science shows us that the most effective substance abuse treatment takes an holistic approach. That is, multiple modalities combine to help patients achieve greater well-being in all major facets of their lives.
Meth withdrawal is often accompanied by at least some level of medication-assisted treatment. The withdrawal symptoms from meth addiction can be very uncomfortable, and we often take the approach that healing is easier and more productive when a patient is lucid and present rather than caught up in a spiral of their own raging internal pain. Quitting meth is hard enough. If we can make that transition a little easier, that’s not a terrible thing. Naturally, this decision is taken on an individualized basis. As the patient’s withdrawal symptoms wane, we taper off the medication.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been found very effective at helping individuals overcome their addictive patterns. It is a standard in the field. It works by examining thinking patterns (“cognitive”) as related to actions (“behaviors”). Therefore, in order to change behaviors, such as addiction patterns, we examine the thinking patterns that brought us there. We identify the harmful ones and replace them with healthy thinking patterns. In this way, our behavior improves.
Group therapy is an important element of substance abuse treatment. A lot of people in the group have similar stories, and they can all relate to each other’s situations. Group therapy helps build compassion for the suffering of others, and for the suffering of the self. Science has repeatedly found that when people work together in groups, particularly healing-centered groups, they learn from each other and grow from each other’s influences. Group therapy is an important element of our holistic meth addiction treatment program.
While all patients in the room have addiction challenges, each individual also has a unique situation. Individual therapy is another critical element of our holistic meth abuse treatment program. We care about everyone’s well-being. And we want to ensure we’re doing the best we can for every single one of the patients we have in our care. Individual therapy is important to monitor the patient’s individual progress in a very focused setting. It’s also important to know when to suggest alterations to the treatment strategy as the patient grows and the situation changes, sometimes in unexpected ways. Individual therapy sessions allow the individualized attention to help ensure each patient is getting the absolute optimal care possible in our recovery center.
Our drug abuse treatment program offers holistic meth treatment. We aim to strengthen every conceivable element of our patients’ brains and lifestyles in efforts to teach and solidify long-term lifestyle change.
Meditation is key to our treatment program. The science unequivocally indicates that mindfulness meditation reduces stress and leads to strengthening the brain in areas of attention, wellness, and contentment. It is a very simple, yet very powerful tool in our collection of treatment modalities.
Meth withdrawal is terrible. The individual is grumpy and cranky and generally feels bad. Depending on the situation at the patient’s home, that may or may not be the best place to experience the meth withdrawal symptoms in full swing.
As an extension of our treatment programs, we also offer our patients an extended housing option.
We have two homes nearby, in Happy Valley (men) and Pleasant Valley (women). These are spacious, quiet, very comfortable, upscale, clean-and-sober, private homes, filled with every conceivable amenity to maximize our patients’ comfort during the trials of meth withdrawal and meth treatment.
We at Premiere Recovery Centre also have an affiliate business offering transitional housing. Many of our patients, both during and after their treatment programs, enjoy the clean-and-sober, safe, and supportive lifestyle offered at Premiere Sober Living. We want to extend every opportunity to our patients for long-term success.
Edging into full independence and fully facing the world’s triggers and temptations alone and head-on is okay to take at a snail’s pace. The slower the transition, the more time spent in reinforcement of the new lifestyle, and oftentimes, the greater the success rates.
We selected Happy Valley, Clackamas County, Oregon for our treatment facility because of the ambience it offers. The area is safe, quiet, private, and upscale. It’s important that our patients feel as comfortable as possible during their treatment so that they can offer their full undivided attention to their healing. We’re near the junction of 82nd Avenue and I-205, a location far enough out of town to be quiet and private yet close enough to be easily accessible from all sides. You can’t heal in the same environment that made you sick, so a safe, healthy, clean environment is an important element of the treatment service we offer here at Premiere Recovery Center. It truly is all about making you as comfortable as possible so that we can achieve the greatest gains possible with your recovery.
Drug abuse and mental health issues often go hand-in-hand. Indeed, the drug use usually occurs to help dull the pain of mental anguish. We see this particularly with meth addiction. For example, PTSD results from a trauma. Yet, trauma is a normal and common part of life, and no individual gets through life entirely without it.
It happens to a lot of people in childhood in any of many ways. At the same time, enduring traumatic responses, in the form of PTSD, don’t ever heal on their own like the physical body does. That means that a lot of people are walking around out there with unresolved childhood trauma that affects their lives – for the worse – in myriad ways. For some people, it manifests as drug abuse to escape the enduring pain. Methamphetamines are a logical choice with the burst of dopamine they deliver. As a result, the individual is suffering from methamphetamine abuse on top of some mental health challenges.
Depression is common in substance use disorders as well. This occurs especially with methamphetamines: The more depressed person will unsurprisingly select a drug that delivers a beautiful burst of feel-good dopamine whenever desired. Remove the drug, and the original depression returns. Then, meth withdrawal itself brings its own depression.
So now, after detox and in the withdrawal stages of meth addiction treatment, the individual has once again unearthed the original depression that drove them to use in the first place, now compounded by an added layer of depression delivered courtesy of the meth withdrawal process. Indeed, the withdrawal from methamphetamine addiction is not to be taken lightly.
Sometimes, in severe cases, unexpected psychological symptoms surface in the first few days of methamphetamine withdrawal, when the individual begins to gain some lucidity and can no longer escape what they were numbing from. For the first time since they began using, they cannot escape their demons with a quick jolt of dopamine to take away the pain. Sometimes those demons are quite powerful. We never know when that’s going to happen, and it’s always reassuring to have a medical professional on hand who knows about the meth withdrawal condition and how to best treat it.
With this devastating combination of drug addiction compounded by mental wellness challenges, the meth addiction becomes even more difficult to overcome for individuals who try to do it without professional help. Withdrawal is too severe, and a drug-free reality too painful to live in. It’s much easier to just stay high on meth and not think about any of it.
Quitting is too hard. This is another reason to seek professional help when it’s time to quit meth – to get the kind of support necessary to learn to live and enjoy a drug-free life and sustain long-term lifestyle changes, free from the chains of addiction.
Help is just a phone call away – real help, with your specific situation and your own set of circumstances. Call us any time. We will walk you through it, beginning with wherever you are at the moment.
Premiere Recovery Center in Happy Valley, Oregon serves Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties, as well as our extended neighbors all around the area and throughout the Pacific Northwest. We are a reputable meth treatment center in the region. We also help comprise a much larger network of high-quality providers in the area that work together to help the people in our communities – drug users many of us see every day – with overcoming meth addiction and other kinds of drug addiction. We are proud to help offer this kind of community service to our hometown and its people.
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