Crystal meth is a stimulant that impacts your central nervous system within seconds. What does crystal meth look like? Meth comes in two primary forms but is entirely odourless, making it an incredibly subtle drug that can be difficult to spot with family and friends. Meth addiction can have a severe impact on both physical and mental health. This addiction can damage one’s career, social life, and family without the correct understanding and care. This is why it’s so important to understand the effects of crystal meth and how to treat the addiction sustainably. Want to learn more about crystal meth? Keep reading to learn about how addictive crystal meth is, withdrawing from crystal meth, the possible treatment options available, and more.

What Is Crystal Meth?

Crystal meth is a powerful, addictive drug that targets the central nervous system. This addictive substance is found as a powder and as a crystalized rock. The clear, crystalized rock is the purer form of meth known as crystal meth.

Once broken down, crystal meth can be smoked, snorted, or injected into the bloodstream. Injecting crystal meth gets to the brain much faster, resulting in an instant feeling of euphoria.

What Does Crystal Meth Look Like?

Crystal meth can come in two forms that can either look like a fine, crystalline powder or a clear, glass-like rock. The glass-like substance is known as crystal meth and is far more addictive. The glass rocks are purer than the powder, making the highs more intense and addictive.

The colour of meth is usually white or clear. The clearer the meth, the purer the substance. Meth can also appear yellow, brown, or pink, depending on how it was made.

What Does Crystal Meth Smell Like?

Crystal meth smells like nothing discernable in its raw state, making both the clear power and crystalline rocks incredibly difficult to detect. However, when meth is smoked, a sweet, chemical smell might be noticed.

How Addictive Is Crystal Meth?

Crystal meth is one of the most addictive drugs, according to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) data. Meth works to rapidly increase the amount of dopamine the brain releases, giving the feeling of happiness and euphoria. Since the substance highjacks the body’s natural pleasure response, it’s incredibly effective and addictive.

Withdrawing from crystal meth comes with a host of symptoms, including anxiety and depression. This further emphasizes the addictive nature of the substance.

How Long Does Crystal Meth Stay In Your System?

Crystal meth typically stays in your system for a few hours.

The high received after taking meth can vary depending on how much of the substance is used and its route of administration. The higher the amount, the longer the high. However, these times will shrink as the body naturally tolerates the substance over time.

Meth has a half-life of around 9 to 24 hours, meaning that it can take between 9 and 24 hours for the amount of meth in the body to be halved. However, urine tests will indicate the presence of meth for around 72 hours after use.

Effects of Crystal Meth

Crystal meth has a significant impact on your physical and mental health. Once you use the substance, it stimulates the central nervous system immediately. Here’s a quick look at how it affects the brain and body.

How Crystal Meth Affects the Brain

Crystal meth affects the brain by radically increasing the dopamine signalling within the nucleus accumbens, resulting in elation and euphoria. When the brain reverts to homeostasis, the physical effects that an individual may feel can cause sensations of anxiety and depression. 

How Crystal Meth Affects the Body

Crystal meth affects the body by raising your risk for heart disease, weakening the immune system, and damaging the kidneys, teeth, and skin. Meth use requires the kidneys to work overtime to help remove the toxins from the blood; this can result in decaying kidneys over time.

Crystal Meth vs Meth

As mentioned above, there are two primary forms of meth. This includes a powdery substance and a crystalline rock known as ice. In simple terms, crystal meth refers to the crystalline rock as it’s the purest form of meth.

Crystal meth is incredibly pure and is far more addictive because of it. This kind of meth comes in clear glass crystals to emphasize its purity. These rocks can be broken down to be smoked, snorted, or injected.

Since the substance is pure, the effects of crystal meth are more intense and last longer than normal meth. This makes the highs higher but also makes the lows lower.

The Challenges of Withdrawing from Crystal Meth

Withdrawing from any addictive substance is challenging, especially if one is alone. This is one of the significant benefits that come with inpatient treatments. Crystal meth is incredibly difficult to withdraw from because of how addictive the substance is and its effect on one’s daily life.

Depending on an individual’s use of meth, withdrawal symptoms can vary in effect and duration. In most cases, withdrawal symptoms can stick around for two weeks after one stops using crystal meth. However, withdrawal symptoms tend to be at their peak within the first few days before easing off over the next week.

Initial withdrawal symptoms can include the following:

• Dehydration
• Headaches
• Appetite changes
• Intensive cravings
• Muscle pain
• Muscle spasms
• Psychosis
• Fatigue
• Anxiety
• Insomnia

Withdrawing from crystal meth has both short-term and long-term effects on your body. The long-term effects may take a while to spot but should be addressed as soon as possible.

Understanding the Long-Term Effects

The long-term effects of withdrawing from meth include both mental and physical effects. The effects of withdrawing can include mental health issues such as intense anxiety and depression. However, cognitive problems are also common in the long run.

The physical effects of withdrawing from meth include difficulty sleeping, irregular sleep patterns, and insomnia. This results in not getting the sleep that is needed every night. Not getting enough quality sleep can cause even more health and mental health issues, such as fatigue, decreased productivity, and even depression.

The treatment received when overcoming addiction includes focusing on managing these symptoms. Medications can also help with muscle pains, anxiety, and psychosis. These carefully controlled medications help one recover sustainably.

Prescriptions must be from a medical centre or a doctor when taking medications. This will ensure that one receives the proper care at the right time for one’s specific needs.

Treatment Options

As mentioned above, crystal meth addiction can impact all aspects of life. This is why finding the proper treatment is so important. A few treatment options are available, with holistic treatments always being the most effective.

Holistic treatments tackle the cause of addiction and the symptoms you experience daily. This helps give you the tools you need to overcome your addiction sustainably. Here’s a quick look at the treatment options.

Medical Detox

The first stage of all addiction treatments is detox. This is simply the process of removing all traces of the substance from your body. This process is far more complex than one may think, with many detoxes requiring medical attention to remain safe and sustainable.

There are medications available to help one detox. However, these medications are only available and prescribed by certified medical professionals in medical facilities. In this way, one can rest assured that they have medical professionals on hand if medical attention is required. 

Withdrawal Management

Whenever you stop an addiction, withdrawal symptoms kick in. As mentioned earlier, the withdrawal symptoms of crystal meth are complicated to deal with alone. Having a rehab facility’s support and medical care can help ease this burden significantly.

While medications are available to help mask the effects of withdrawal, understanding is the best way to overcome any addiction. This is why education is a core part of all our addiction treatments. Understanding the causes of addiction and how to deal with withdrawal symptoms can help you stay sober long after you have left the rehab facility.

Personal Counseling

Personal counselling is a vital aspect of inpatient treatment. Qualified counsellors will help guide one through the struggles of addiction so that one understands the root causes that led an individual to this point. 

Overcoming triggers is essential as it allows one to continue their everyday life without fearing a relapse into old habits. This includes giving one the tools to understand, avoid, and overcome triggers in daily life. Group therapy is also offered in rehab and is incredibly effective.

Group therapy brings individuals suffering from addiction to the same room. You can then share your personal experience and hear the personal experiences of others. This provides you with better insight into addiction and allows you to learn from others in the same position.

Family Counseling

Addiction affects the individual personally and their social and family life. This is why family counselling is important to help educate loved ones about addiction. These sessions focus on helping everyone understand addiction and how it can help recovery.

Love and support are the most effective tools to help one sustainably recover. Many addicts feel alone and quickly relapse because of it. Having family support can help ease those feelings so that one can tackle your addiction head-on. Love and support are the most effective tools to help one recover sustainably.

Physical and Mental Wellness

Living a healthy, active lifestyle is the best way to recover from addiction. This does not just mean living a physically healthy life but also a mentally healthy life. Inpatient treatment usually focuses on living a healthy lifestyle with realistic tips that one can use daily.

This kind of treatment starts at a fundamental level and begins with nutrition. Staying away from bad habits like alcohol and smoking can help reduce temptations. Since many people rely on alcohol and smoking to cope with daily stress, learning how to manage your stress is critical.

This is why counselling is so important; it will teach you healthy coping mechanisms you can use throughout your day. This way, you’ll have everything you need to live a physically and mentally healthy lifestyle.

Overcoming Meth Addiction

If you have asked yourself, what does crystal meth look like? The answer is that there are two primary forms of crystal meth. This incredibly addictive substance is found in either a crystalline powder or as a glass-like rock.

As an addictive substance, overcoming meth addiction can be a massive challenge. This is why holistic treatments that tackle the cause of your addiction are always the most effective. The best treatments centre around giving you the tools to recover sustainably.

If you want more information on the treatments we offer to help with addiction, contact us today.