Methamphetamine Addiction, Ecstasy & Other Party Drugs

Party drugs or club drugs are a broad spectrum of drugs that induce a state of intoxication conducive to long hours of partying and dancing. Popular examples such as Ecstasy (MDMA) and methamphetamine are stimulants and produce an excited active euphoria.

Methamphetamine Addiction (Meth) and Rehabilitation

Methamphetamine (also called Meth, crystal, chalk, and ice) is an extremely addictive stimulant drug. It takes the form of a white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder. Methamphetamine is taken orally, smoked, snorted, or dissolved in water or alcohol and injected. Smoking or injecting the drug delivers it very quickly to the brain, where it produces an immediate, intense euphoria. Because the pleasure also fades quickly, users often take repeated doses, in a “binge and crash” pattern.

Common Addiction

Methamphetamine addiction is a very common addiction.

“Crystal Meth” has stimulant effects and produces a pleasurable feeling, because it increases the amount of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is involved in the reward, motivation, the experience of pleasure, and motor function. When the stimulant wears off it produces the opposite effect. This is because the drug suppresses the normal production of adrenaline and creates a chemical imbalance. This imbalance translates mentally as irritability and a demand for more of the drug to go back to feeling good again.

Methamphetmine and the Brain

Tremors

Methamphetamine is neurotoxic and affects the brain deeply. Methamphetamine amplifies apoptosis-the normal process by which the brain kills defective cells – to the point where it also eliminates healthy cells. In extreme cases, methamphetamine use can cause such severe destruction that users become severely disabled. For example, some methamphetamine abusers have developed a syndrome marked by uncontrollable tremors similar to those seen in Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease manifests as tremors and is due to decreased production of dopamine. Studies show that dopamine production is also decreased in prolonged use of methamphetamines, which can result in symptoms similar to those of Parkinson’s disease.

Toxic Effects

Meth has toxic effects. In animals, a single high dose of the drug has been shown to damage nerve terminals in the dopamine-containing regions of the brain. High doses can elevate body temperature to dangerous, sometimes lethal levels, as well as cause convulsions.

Serious Brain Damage

In scientific studies examining the consequences of long-term meth exposure, researchers report that as much as 50% of the dopamine-producing cells in the brain can be damaged after prolonged exposure to relatively low levels of meth. Serotonin-containing nerve cells may be damaged even more extensively. Whether this toxicity is related to the psychosis seen in some long-term meth abusers is still an open question

In animals, a single high dose of the drug has been shown to damage nerve terminals in the dopamine-containing regions of the brain. High doses can elevate body temperature to dangerous, sometimes lethal levels, as well as cause convulsions. Animal research shows that high doses of meth damage neuron cell endings. Dopamine- and serotonin-containing neurons do not die after meth use, but their nerve endings (terminals) are cut back, and regrowth appears to be limited.

Brain Self-Repair

However, under the right circumstances, first, the brain can self-repair some types of damage. Second, the brain is plastic – that is, when cell losses disrupt the neural circuits that the brain has been using for a specific function, it can learn to use other circuits to perform that function. Plasticity is extremely powerful, as shown by numerous patients’ recoveries from extensive cerebral injuries.

Medical Consequences

Chronic methamphetamine abuse can result in inflammation of the heart lining, and among users who inject the drug, damaged blood vessels and skin abscesses. Methamphetamine abusers also can have episodes of –

• violent behavior,
• paranoia,
• anxiety,
• confusion, and
• insomnia.

Heavy users also show progressive social and occupational deterioration.

Acute Lead Poisoning

Acute lead poisoning is another potential risk for methamphetamine abusers. A common method of illegal methamphetamine production uses lead acetate as a reagent. Production errors may therefore result in methamphetamine contaminated with lead. There have been documented cases of acute lead poisoning in intravenous methamphetamine abusers.
Often time, chronic use will cause skin irruptions.

Withdrawal Symptoms

Methamphetamine does not create physical dependence and does not require medical detox. However, breaking the addiction to methamphetamine may bring the following withdrawal symptoms:

• Fatigue,
• disturbed sleeping patterns,
• irritability,
• intense hunger,
• moderate to severe depression,
• anxiety, and
• psychotic reactions.

The withdrawal symptoms, especially the depression and physical agony, are reported to be worse than heroin or cocaine, and often addicts will drop out of recovery programs.

Ecstasy

MDMA, (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) commonly known as Ecstasy, is a neurotoxic drug. It is a synthetic, psychoactive substance chemically similar to the stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline. Ecstasy has stimulant and psychedelic properties. It is taken orally as a capsule or tablet.

Street Names: XTC, X, Adam, hug, beans, love drug.

Ecstasy exerts its primary effects in the brain on neurons that use the chemical serotonin to communicate with other neurons. The serotonin system plays an important role in regulating mood, aggression, sexual activity, sleep, and sensitivity to pain.

Use of MDMA may lead to long term changes in these “serotonergic” neurons. The result of these changes is a decreased concentration of serotonin in the brain which is associated with feeling of sadness and apathy.

Effects

Short-term effects include feelings of mental stimulation, emotional warmth, enhanced sensory perception, and increased physical energy. Adverse health effects can include nausea, chills, sweating, teeth clenching, muscle cramping, and blurred vision.

Dangers

The drug can be dangerous in combinations with dehydration and sustained physical activity such as dancing or sexual intercourse. The activity of the kidneys is impaired under the influence of MDMA and considerable physiological problems have been attributed to dehydration or water overload. Death has rarely occurred.

Effects of MDMA on the Brain

MDMA appears to have several effects on the brain. MDMA can:

• cause the release of the neurotransmitter called serotonin.
• block the reuptake of serotonin by the synaptic terminal that releases it.
• deplete the amount of serotonin in the brain.

Data suggest that MDMA may be toxic to the brain. Dr. George Ricaurte, an associate professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University, analyzed brain scans of people who had used ecstasy. The study included people who had used ecstasy an average of 200 times over five years. Although the behavior of these people appeared normal, brain scans showed that the drug had damaged their brains. In fact, those who used the drug more often had more brain damage than less frequent users. Moreover, memory tests of people who have taken ecstasy as compared to non-drug users have shown that the ecstasy users had lower scores.

Specifically, the drug damaged cells that release the neurotransmitter called serotonin. Using an imaging technique called positron emission tomography (PET), Ricaurte noted a 20-60% reduction in healthy serotonin cells in the drug users. Damage to these cells could affect a person’s abilities to remember and to learn.

Other Party Drugs

Other party drugs such as Gamma hydroxybutarate (GHB), Rohypnol, and Ketamine have effects that are along the lines of alcohol, relaxing, sleep inducing and potentially inducing amnesia.

• GHB is FDA approved for the medical treatment of narcolepsy; its effects are powerful suppression of the central nervous system. In cases of intractable insomnia it has also been quite helpful. It has a reputation as a date rape drug and in combination with alcohol or other central nervous system depressants it can cause individuals to lapse into a coma.
• Rohypnol (aka “Roofies”) is also known as a date rape drug and is often used in combination with or in lieu if alcohol to induce an intoxicated euphoria.
• Roofies is often associated with retrograde amnesia making its users susceptible to victimization while under the influence.
• Ketamine (aka “Special K”) is used in veterinary medicine as a tranquilizer. When taken for recreational purposes the desired effect is referred to as “dissociative anesthesia.” Some describe it as a “floaty out of body type of feeling.”

Natural Detoxification Program

• Our natural detoxification program supports the restoration of normal sleeping patterns and restores physical health very quickly.
• Brain chemical imbalance is addressed with our nutritional treatment and soon mental clarity replaces the fogginess.
• Daily counseling offers the opportunity to reflect on one’s life, review belief systems and create new goals.
• The use of cognitive behavioral therapy has proven to be very useful in the recovery process.
• Our natural detox treatment complemented with raw food detox diet, nutritional iv therapies, the FAR Infrared Sauna, hydrotherapy, psychotherapy and exercise therapy is aimed at restoring proper brain function and deals with the underlying issues leading to addiction.

Recommended Stay

We recommend a one month minimum stay and a longer time for those who have been methamphetamine dependent for a long time, or who have relapsed one or more times.

HAWAII NATURAL DRUG REHABILITATION                                       & RAW DETOXIFICATION CENTER