Meth Comedown

Using a Meth Crash to Seek Effective Rehab Programs

As a former meth user, I’ve felt the meth comedown countless times. Despite the hell that many meth users feel during a meth comedown, rarely is it enough to seek treatment and get sober. Meth addiction changes you and takes over every aspect of your life.

When I finally made the decision to get clean, South Shores Detox and Recovery were there to help me get over my persistent meth use. And they can help you or your loved one too, I am willing to bet.

Every single part of being a meth addict is scary. The intense cravings, the meth withdrawal, the meth-induced psychosis, staying up for days on end, withdrawal symptoms, all of it is terrifying. The deeper you go into meth addiction, the more your mind and body breaks down.

Keep reading to understand more about crashing from meth, and how to use my experience as your own motivation to seek support and recovery!

The Crystal Meth Comedown

There are a lot of drugs that cause withdrawal symptoms. Some of these withdrawal symptoms are worse than others. When it comes to a meth addiction, you will do anything to avoid the first comedown symptoms. No matter how hard you try, you are going to feel the crash eventually.

I have stayed up for nearly a week without sleep in order to avoid the comedown. Prolonging it only makes it worse. When you alter your brain chemistry with a drug like meth, you drain your brain of dopamine and you are left feeling anxious, depressed, and severely agitated. Read more to find out how a meth crash can spur you into recovery.

How Meth Addiction Changes You

I first used meth in high school. I came from a good family, but I went through a rebellious phase that saw me trying as many drugs as I could get my hands on. Hanging around with the wrong crowd quickly led me to fall into substance abuse. My use of alcohol and marijuana, then cocaine, led me to try stronger drugs like opiates and meth.

The first time I tried crystal meth, I was hooked. The effects of meth are so intense that anybody who tries it can get addicted after one high. The meth comedown wasn’t as bad at first, because I hadn’t built up a tolerance. The higher my tolerance got, the worse the meth comedown symptoms became.

The Characteristics Of Methamphetamine Addiction

It isn’t difficult to spot a meth addict. Using methamphetamine for a prolonged period of time leads to obvious physical changes. We’ve all seen the before and after photos of meth users. Many addicts who suffer from meth use disorder scratch and pick at their skin due to phenomena known as meth mites.

Meth addicts develop unhealthy skin as a result of neglected personal hygiene and a poor diet. Meth causes skin irritation, which leads to picking and scratching. The meth mite phenomenon refers to meth addicts believing that they have bugs crawling around under their skin. I’ve experienced this hallucination many times while using meth myself.

The Worst of Meth Withdrawal Symptoms

The highs and lows of meth addiction are difficult to explain to people who haven’t experienced them. You are living in a constant cycle of intense euphoria and pure dread. I’ve felt on top of the world one day and then like I got hit by a bus the next. The crystal meth comedown is one of the most uncomfortable forms of intense withdrawal symptoms any addict can experience.

The withdrawal symptoms of meth include intense cravings, mood swings, hallucinations, paranoia, psychosis, and depression. It’s hard for me to convey just how bad these symptoms can be. A lot of people feel anxiety and depression from time to time, but imagine that anxiety and depression are amplified by a thousand. That’s what a meth comedown is like.

The dramatic crash you get from meth makes it even more addictive since most people will turn back to the drug to avoid the deep depression and total loss of energy that comes when stopping.

The Physical Symptoms Of Meth Withdrawal

Beyond the mental hell of chronic meth withdrawal, there is a lot of physical discomfort that comes along with a meth crash. Because meth is a stimulant drug, it can make you stay awake for much longer than the human body can handle. After staying awake for a prolonged period of time, there is an intense fatigue associated with the meth comedown.

I’ve slept for two days before following a meth binge. When you wake up after a binge like that, you feel like death. It takes every bit of energy to get yourself out of bed. This physical exhaustion is crippling. When you are in this cycle, your physical health plummets.

Meth Mouth and a Face Shaped by My Meth Use

Meth addiction often leads users to grind their teeth, which can result in the teeth cracking and breaking. When I got sober, it took me almost a year of oral surgery to fix my mouth. You will sit there and grind your teeth down to the bone without even thinking about it or feeling it. Just thinking of my days as a meth user makes my mouth hurt.

Many meth users suffer from meth mouth. Along with broken and decaying teeth, meth mouth can lead to gum disease and other oral health issues. You would think that a meth user would look in the mirror and be horrified by what they saw. That’s not the way it works when you are that deep into your addiction: quitting meth isn’t really a thought that entered my mind. It all becomes relative.

I didn’t look as bad as others I knew (most of them dead now) and so I justified it all as the ‘cost of doing business.’ Like I was a professional meth user. Looking back I have more clarity, but at that time, my delusions were very strong.

Temporary Psychosis

The psychosis associated with meth addiction was probably the scariest part of the detox process for me. When you stay awake for multiple days using stimulant drugs, you begin to dream while you are still awake. The body needs sleep in order to regulate itself. When you go without sleep, your mind is completely disrupted.

I went to a police station once and told them that people were following me and trying to kill me. I looked out the door and swore that I could see a group of tall men with weapons standing there waiting for me to come out. I pointed in their direction, and the police officers told me that there was no one there. They even laughed and shook their heads when I said, “But I can hear them talking, can’t you?”

They had seen this many times before, and I was put in a psychiatric ward for several days. This is not what I thought I would be doing when I first started using drugs. You can’t imagine ending up in a situation like this, even when using most other drugs, but before you know it, there you are.

Meth takes you there; to some of the most sad and dark places I have ever gone in my life.

When Severe Withdrawal Symptoms Go Too Far

As I mentioned at the beginning of this piece, I’ve been through the withdrawal process many times. Why didn’t my crystal meth withdrawal lead me to quit? Well, it finally did after one particularly awful meth comedown. I woke up in jail with no idea how I had got there. When they explained to me what happened, I was dumbfounded.

I was found lying on the street, going through the withdrawal process. The police were called, and when they tried to wake me, I began to fight them. I assaulted one of the officers and was promptly arrested and taken to jail. Apparently, when I was in jail, I was uncooperative and had to be restrained. As this was being told to me, I had no memory of it whatsoever.

After going through meth withdrawal symptoms in jail, I went to court a couple days later. I was given the option of rehab and decided to take it. I had gone off the rails long enough. I knew something had to change, and I was ready to at least give it a try.

Meth Detox

When I got to South Shores Detox, I had already gone through the bulk of my withdrawal symptoms. My physical dependence was so severe that I continued to suffer from severe depression and post-acute meth withdrawal a week into my stay at South Shores. Once I got through the physical symptoms, the mental symptoms continued.

The support groups I attended at South Shores were eye-opening. I met many meth addicts like myself who described the same kind of situations that I had been through.

I had been around plenty of other addicts, but I had never been around addicts who were speaking openly and honestly about their problems. Taking responsibility for their addiction. It inspired me to do the same.

Long Term Recovery from Meth Is Possible

If I could get clean off of meth, I feel like it’s possible for anybody. I had one of the most severe cases of meth addiction they ever saw at South Shores, and they were able to help me get back on track and cut out all of the nonsense and self-destruction that I engaged in for so many years. Having structure in my life helped a lot.

When left with too much free time, I find myself falling back into my old thought patterns, which can be triggering. I’ve almost relapsed multiple times, but I stayed the course because of the tools I was given at South Shores. I get high these days on exercise, recreational activities, and reading.

I love to learn and I especially love to learn about psychology, and what makes people do the things that they do. It has helped me to understand a bit more how I ended up where I ended up.

We all have issues, and you’re never going to meet someone who hasn’t had some form of trauma or pain in the past. It’s how we respond to that pain that is important.

A Second Chance At Life

You have to completely change your outlook on life to succeed in recovery. The blame game needs to stop if you are going to succeed. I know that my mental illness and addiction are no one else’s problem but mine. One of the greatest things I learned in recovery is to let go of my anger and my resentment.

I understand now that we are all just trying to get by the best way we know how. We all make mistakes and we all do and say things that we might regret. It’s important to keep things like that in mind.

Talk It Out: Getting Support in the Meth Recovery Process

I try to speak about meth recovery and my experience with meth addiction as much as possible. I don’t ever try to wave my sobriety in other people’s faces or view myself as better than anybody else. There are plenty of people in recovery who still need support.

I try to offer as much of that to whoever I can. If I ever meet recovering addicts going through a rough time, they can talk to me about it. At the end of the day, South Shores Detox and Recovery and their program gave me the strength to help myself, and others.

Reach Out to South Shores Now and Overcome Meth

If you or someone you love is deep in the meth scene (what I used to call ‘methworld’) it can seem impossible to climb out. But that is an illusion, and your mind trying to get itself fed more meth.

Support is available, and recovery can be accomplished, no matter how bad it has gotten. I am living proof.

Do yourself a favor, one that might even change your whole outlook on life, and reach out to South Shores today!