• N&PD Moderators: Skorpio | thegreenhand

lung damage from methamphetamine use

asshatjoe

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Messages
14
as im sure many have heard this urban myth before, i will ask with reluctance. i have done a search, and my results came up pretty much inconclusive (there were some answers but they sounded like the regular spread of misinformation.). i want to know if anyone has any proof to the myth "smoking meth puts holes in your lungs."

it has been something that i had heard long ago and, in my naivety, accepted as truth because i had no other sources than those few who surrounded the culture at the time.

thanx
req.
 
If you "put holes in your lungs" you would have a fairly severe medical crisis on your hands. This doesn't seem to happen very often to most meth smokers.
 
mm, no, I would consider this a myth. You're probably putting a lot of carcinogenic compounds into your lungs (as you would with smoking anything), but not holes...
 
Is smoking meth bad for your lungs? Almost certainly. Does it put holes in your lungs or "crystalize on those hairs in your lungs"? No.

There is a case of methamphetamine causing acute pulmonary oedema
Nestor TA, Tamamoto WI, Kam TH: Crystal methamphetamine-induced acute pulmonary edema: a case report. Hawaii Med J 1989, 48:457-458
and other effects
Schaiberger PH, Kennedy TC, Miller FC, et al.: Pulmonary hypertension associated with long-term inhalation of crank methamphetamine. Chest 1993, 104:614-616.

But there haven't been many reports yet.
 
There is a case of methamphetamine causing acute pulmonary oedema

Isn't that more to do with heart conditions (a bit like oedema anywhere else in the body), only with the pulmonary version, it's due to damage to the right atriole and ventricle. Meth would definitely cause some heart problems, like thickening of the muscles of the heart (can't remember the medical term for it)- ah, cardiac hypertrophy, I think
 
^^^did some research on the term "Pulmonary edema" and found this:"Pulmonary edema can also be caused by direct lung injury from toxins including heat and poisonous gas, severe infection, or an excess of body fluid as seen in kidney failure." from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000140.htm

i didnt know the term, and stil dont know if this is a resolution to the question.

joe.
 
I suspect it was a direct effect... probably from a highly acidic drug... that's my geuss.
 
You should be more worried with "holes" in your brain than your lungs.
 
I thought the holes in the teeth were from jaw clenching, I noticed I do that, especially on my 3rd day or so. I tried the pacifier thing and that just messed up the alignment of my teeth, so now I'm trying chewing a shitload of gum along with magnesium.
 
^^^

Yeah, that causes damage as well...and so does the smoke from meth, due to the acidic qualities, which would cause tooth decay with constant exposure...

I've heard that magnesium helps too but never did get around to using it. I get the jaw clenches at the first high dose...but the headaches are the ones that discomforts me more.

Does the pacifier help? I don't like eating on meth and I can't imagine putting something in my mouth...but it's worth a try for my dentist's sake. ;)
 
i think i get the headaches from the clenching. but it usually takes about between three and eight hours. i take asprin for it(though im not tooo sure if this is a good thing. don't really know if there could be any interactions/liver toxicity, but its not like im taking a lot of them). and as for the dental thing, well ive chosen not to smoke it; however, if i do i brush after(or at least 'swish' with something warm like tea). i also find that if i put things in my mouth (like my chain, pen, straws, basically anything, but i find its better if its something that i don't want to chew the hell out of) it will stop me from clenching. but even then i do the old the old open mouth chin forward jaw flex thing.


but yeah i was referring to the acidity when i meant holes. ive heard that it is quite acidic and one day i was pondering how the smoke sticks to pretty much everything that it touches.... this disturbed me. if it sticks to my lung like that before it dissolves(as it is water soluble). and how long does it take to dissolve?? it probably takes longer to dissolve the longer you're on it, as it is a decongestant (i think??)
anyway you can see the train of thought... usually these are the types of thoughts that you look back on and are like man!... but this one turned in my mind over and over. it almost seems valid.

these questions drove me to ask in the only place that ive ever seen where advanced chemistry is applied in such a professional way to these topics. ha its not like i can go ask my chemistry professor.hahaha(though it did cross my mind at the time, but was later decided that this was a bad idea.)

thanx
joe.


.
 
Holes in the teeth is actually not from the meth itself, but from decreased saliva production creating less protection for teeth enamel. That's why injecting meth users have teeth problems too. This from a dentist friend who used to dabble in meth. He advised chewing gum to promote saliva production.
 
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