How To Quit Meth

Quitting meth can result in painful withdrawal symptoms. The best way to quit meth is through a rehab clinic with trained medical and mental health professionals.

Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine abuse is a huge problem in the United States. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2017, around 1.6 million people reported using methamphetamine in the past year, and 774,000 reported using it in the past month. An estimated 964,000 people aged 12 and older had a methamphetamine use disorder in 2017. The average age of methamphetamine users in 2016 was 23.3 years old.

Methamphetamine (meth) is a highly addictive stimulant drug that affects a person’s nervous system. Meth increases the amount of dopamine in the brain, which makes a person feel good. The drug’s ability to rapidly release high levels of dopamine is the reward area of the brain strongly reinforces a person’s drug-taking behavior, making the user want to repeat the experience. This makes meth highly addictive.

The short-term effects of taking meth are increased wakefulness, physical activity, decreased appetite, faster breathing, rapid or irregular heartbeat, and increased blood pressure and body temperature. The long-term effects of regular meth use are extreme weight loss, addiction, severe dental problems, intense itching, anxiety, changes in the structure of the brain, confusion, memory loss, sleeping problems, violent behaviors, hallucinations, and paranoia.

How to Quit Methamphetamine on Your Own

How to quit meth on your own? Before you decide to stop using meth and detox on your own the first thing you should do is find a safe place where you are away from other people who are using meth and have the support of friends, family, and your local physician. It will be a lot easier for you to have support from friends and family as well as your healthcare provider.

Additionally, if you are wondering how to quit crystal meth on your own it is critical for your mental and physical health and well-being to have the proper hydration, nutrition, medications, and exercise. When you feel better you are less likely to relapse and start using meth again. By having a strong support system, staying hydrated, eating healthy foods, and getting plenty of exercise, you can successfully overcome the addiction on your own.

Support

Seeking the help of counselors or support groups on a regular basis can also help you quit meth on your own without needing to enroll in a rehab facility. According to an article published in Substance Use Disorder and Rehabilitation Journal, peer support is a key component to many recovery approaches and helps recovering individuals stay abstinent. Individuals who have peer support show higher rates of abstinence and experience relapse less than those who do not have peer support. Peer support also has been proven to improve a person’s self-efficacy and reduces feelings of guilt and shame as well as cravings.

Hydration

You need to drink plenty of fluids so your body can flush out the toxins and recover faster. You should also reduce your caffeine intake and stop smoking, if possible. Caffeine is a known diuretic and can dehydrate you.

Nutrition

To keep up your nutrition is it important to make sure you eat small and frequent meals. Be sure to eat lots of high protein foods like fish and vegetables as well as include multivitamins in your diet. These are important to ensure you have enough vitamins in your system to withstand the toll your body is about to take.

Medications

Medications are also important to help stabilize your life and reduce illegal drug use. Your health care provider may be able to give you medications to target specific withdrawal symptoms. This will help increase your comfort at home while trying to detox from meth.

Exercise

Regular exercise and practicing meditation enable you to better manage the physical and mental stress your body is experiencing from withdrawal. This allows your body to flush out the toxins and increase your immune system.

How to Quit Meth

The safest way to quit meth is at a treatment facility where trained medical and mental health professionals can help you through medical detox. This can be done at either an inpatient or hospitalization setting. Stimulus withdrawal is associated with severe physical symptoms. Therefore, medical detox will provide a person with medications and behavioral therapies necessary to ease the withdrawal symptoms, overcome an addiction, and prevent relapse.

Behavioral Therapies

Behavioral therapies are the most effective treatments for methamphetamine addiction. Specific behavioral therapies used to target meth addiction are cognitive-behavioral therapy and contingency management. Both these therapies can be used to help a person emotionally overcome their meth addiction. Cognitive-behavioral therapy educates a person about addiction, provides relapse prevention, and attempts to alter a person’s maladaptive thoughts towards drug use. Contingency management is based on the notion that behavior is more likely to be repeated if it is followed by positive consequences.

Additionally, the Matrix Model has been shown to be an effective treatment model for reducing meth misuse. The Matrix Model is a 16-week comprehensive behavioral treatment approach that combines behavioral therapy, family education, individual counseling, 12-step support, drug testing, and encouragement for non-drug-related activities.

Medications

Currently, there are no Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medications to treat meth addiction. However, doctors can prescribe various medications to reduce certain withdrawal symptoms and increase a person’s comfort. For example, insomnia is often a symptom of withdrawing from meth. Therefore, diphenhydramine can be prescribed to target insomnia symptoms. This helps a person withdrawing from meth sleep better at night. Also, depression is a common symptom of meth withdrawal so antidepressant medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors can be prescribed to relieve those depression symptoms.

How to Stop Using Meth

Trying to quit a methamphetamine addiction on your own can be extremely difficult and even dangerous. Withdrawing can cause a lot of pain that can result in relapse. Unfortunately, relapse is often associated with a person experiencing a life-threatening overdose.

No one should have to go through the withdrawal process without physical and emotional support. If you or someone you love is suffering from meth addiction, getting help from a supportive and comfortable rehab clinic can greatly increase your chances of overcoming your addiction. Rehab clinics are equipped with trained medical and mental health professionals to provide the tools necessary to help you overcome your meth addiction.

References

• 4 Physical Detoxification Services for Withdrawal From Specific Substances. Detoxification and Substance Use Disorder Treatment.
• Addiction Treatment Options. Sunshine Behavioral Health.
• Benefits of peer support in the treatment of addictions. Substance Use Disorder and Rehabilitation Journal .
• Methamphetamine. National Institute on Drug Abuse.
• National Center for Health Statistics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Substance use recovery diet. Medline Plus.
• What is the scope of methamphetamine misuse in the United States. National Institute on Drug Abuse.
• What treatments are effective for people who misuse methamphetamine? National Institute on Drug Abuse.