Stimulants Is my sister abusing Meth?

[hh95]

Well, my older Sister has been struggling ever since she had her second child with Meth, I was living with her at the time when she was pregnant and she was completely sober whilst she was pregnant, not even a single beer. But when my 2nd niece was born, and after the birth, she sortve started doing it twice a month. Then 2 months later is was once a week, and this went slowly but surely over a 2 year period, until now where she does it every single weekend atleast and the bender will generally last well into the week. She does it sometimes in small amounts during the weekdays. She cant get things done in the morning and without it. However she can go extended periods without it like 8 - 9 Days without even thinking about it. Soo obvisously this is not healthy but what should I do? It is getting hard to watch my sister slowly tare her excellent and successful life apart.

 

[The Doc.]

Well you said in your post that your sister is abusing Meth so I'm gonna go with yes. There's not much a person on the outside can do for an addict they have to want to stop themselves not for someone else if she does it for somebody else besides herself then she's just gonna hide it better. Mabye sit down have a talk tell her your worried about where her life is going and tell her she has kids if she keeps it up the kids will be taken away from their junky mother. Sad but true

 

[hh95]

I was sortve getting at is that classified as abuse? and yeh well her relationship has gone too shit, Her partner does it too but nowhere near probably once a month if that. They own 2 houses together, her partner makes an absolute killing (about $4000p/w) so they are in an excellent position in life I don't want too see her lose her family, its just she is the one ive always looked upto its hard for me to talk down to her I guess I have spent so much time taking her advice it will seem strange giving her life advice... Ive had my own battle with the shit and I know its hard but she just has to do it. should I be like mean or sortve just bring it up I can talk to her about it but up until now ive just stayed out of it now, but I think its time someone intervened.

 

[The Doc.]

If you do it on a regular basis like once a week once a month or whatever then yea she is definitely abusing meth. Most Meth addicts can binge then stop for awhile that's how its usually done if a person did it everyday they go nuts pretty quick cause of its long half life and stimulating effects Jeeping the user awakr

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

it sounds like your sister is primed to slip up. if she is binging for days then it's definitely abuse.
^^pretty much nailed it

not really much more you can do, besides extinguish the worlds supply of meth.

 

[The Doc.]

I think you should be nice but let her know this is serious not a joke. Addicts don't respond to being yelled at it makes them wana get high even more so its pointless like I said you can talk to her and tell he ryou think she needs help but the fact is if SHE doesn't want to get clean then she won't if she wants to get high she will do so. So don't take it personally if she gets defensive just realize she will get help when she feels like it. It doesn't sound good that she uses it to wake up that's the start to a really bad cycle and it brings full on addiction using it that way instead of using it just for fun after work or while partying

 

[The Doc.]

it sounds like your sister is primed to slip up. if she is binging for days then it's definitely abuse.
^^pretty much nailed it

not really much more you can do, besides extinguish the worlds supply of meth.

Lol yea that's right and that's impossible there will always be drugs around as long as the demand is there

 

[Captain.Heroin]

If you do it on a regular basis like once a week once a month or whatever then yea she is definitely abusing meth. Most Meth addicts can binge then stop for awhile that's how its usually done if a person did it everyday they go nuts pretty quick cause of its long half life and stimulating effects Jeeping the user awakr

I disagree entirely. I have seen people go long durations on it and retain their sanity.

I am not a fan of meth anymore. It's an insidious drug.

 

[The Doc.]

Yep I have too captain I get what you mean if they have Some self control they can go a long time using everyday .I didnt say it doesn't happen ever that would be overgeneralising things. I just stated why many Meth users usually feel they need a break here and there if they feel they are losing their insanity from no sleep and all the tweaking behaviour that comes from Meth. I too know people who take it everyday and function so functioning addicts as you would call them. I was one for while but I used heroin to go to sleep every night and eventually got hooked on heroin really bad and that became the only drug I wanted. Heroin has such a pull it wake you up in the morning and puts you to sleep not many drugs do that. I never felt a need to continue doing Meth everyday though really stimulants arnt my thing. I agree though Meth is insidious same with heroin.

 

[SweetCaroline]

I'm hoping everything will be okay. Got my fingers crossed hun.

 

[Halif]

Gah, that's a tough one... for sure...

But I see A LOT OF POSITIVES in what you've written, hh95. Your sister isn't completely out of control. I mean, if you're asking if she's abusing meth then there's at least some doubt in your mind which suggests she puts up a good front. I'm not downplaying the potential severity of the situation - I myself was very good at hiding multiple addictions from friends, family members, and co-workers (eventually it all came out, however).

She still has her partner and assets and children... even if things are rocky.. so there's time to turn it around and you are right in saying someone needs to intervene. I think you'd be the perfect person to do that as you genuinely respect her and it seems you also have some issues with substances, right?

You don't need to "talk down to her" at all. Quite the opposite, tell her exactly what's on your mind. Tell her your respect her, and it's really hard to be saying what you're saying, but you're doing it out of love and respect and care for her. It's highly possible that she will not take it well AT THE TIME... but in my experience it's an enormously powerful thing to have a loved one, someone who's really close, come and express their fears. Not judging or advising, just saying exactly what's bothering you.

Even if she pushes you away in the short term, the seed will have been planted and I think you'd regret NOT saying anything much more than saying something and having a short-term fall out. You can't 'save her', but you can support her and be around telling her that she's worth your time.

Good luck, man.

 

[LSDiesel]

Now, I have very very limited meth experience.

I did it on purpose once in college, snorted a big rail with about 4 or 5 other friends. We felt great and chatty and talkative. Very much like E, minus the lovey dovey (empathy) and touchy feely (soft feathers etc) stuff. Also rave music sounded great on meth, but still not as good as quality MDMA. So, this one time I did it, it was about 10 years ago, and I did the only rail at 4pm, and was awake all evening into the next day waiting for a crash that never came. I realized very quickly that this was probably the only time I would feel such positive effects from it, and I knew that something that made me feel that wired and awake for 24 hours without feeling a crash afterwards couldn't be good for my body. I knew my body had been taxed but it didn't feel like it. I think I had exceptionally good meth, supposedly it came from california. And I did it at uni in upstate NY, but the girl who provided it was from california with connections to Hawaii and Taiwan. I knew that meth was something that I really could get used to, but I told myself that that first experience had almost no chance of being repeated, and that if I tried to do another rail the next weekend, it wouldn't be as good, and I would be wearing away my body with meth abuse and no sleep. So I kept it to that one time.

Of course, I'm 100% certain that I have ingested methamphetamine many many more times in adulterated cocaine and ecstasy pills. I also collected adderal, dexedrine and vyvanse whenever I could. Actually i had a script for vyvanse for 6 months once, and I recall I was prescribed to take it daily.

I know were talking about meth with your sister, and not prescription amphetamines (which are far less potent), but are you certain that these "benders" are with rediculous dosages? Is she obviously out of her gourd? Is she doing things like taking stuff apart and putting it back together? Is she behaving like a tweeker?

I know meth is alot more toxic to you than amps, but I do know of a few people who take meth almost medicinally like for an ADD situation, where they can make like a half gram last 6 months or something because while they dose several times a week, it's very very small and its not so much to "get tweeked and fucked up" as it is to help concentration, focus and drive, more in the background, and less "in your face".

Have you ever discussed with your sister if maybe getting some stimulants through prescription? It could provide the pharmacological effect she desires and without that nasty breaking the law part! harm reduction!

 

[TheGrasshopper]

I'm not really sure meth can be classified as a drug that has "recreational" users.
Ever see that flick "A Scanner Darkly"?
Some highs are just that way, too strong for most of humanity to control.
Im truly sorry for your situation, a family member had an addiction to amphetamine...
she had to be ... er.. secured to a bed forced to withdraw before regaining any sence of self or reason...

 

[hh95]

Well I used to be addicted to meth, I would smoke flat out every single day. Even shooted it a few times. I know how hard it is too give up completely and I was probably only addicted to it for about 10-11 months before I quit, but it was enough to damage my life majorly. But the thing is Meth is SUPER expensive here and I might be breaking the rules here not sure but it costs well over no prices for 0.5g of gear. But they have plenty of money and she middle mans and taxes out of what she moves she is very open with it in conversation with me but trys to keep it visually away from me because she knows I still crave every now and then. I personally still do meth, but I now snort it and only ever do it once, come down. That way I generally don't think about it for weeks, months even. And once I come down im fine, its that not wanting to come down feeling I guess (chasing). But I was 17 at the time earning an absolute killing living on my own I had that much money I didn't know what to do with it and no responsibilities. Where as my sister has responsibilitys, children being the main one. And there is no doubt in my mind that she is an excellent mother that provides an excellent home for her daughters. They never see it or hear about it at all. But the thing is she is getting sloppy and more reckless. It stresses me out that everytime I visit her she is getting worse and worse to the point where her partner will leave her (that's already on the rocks) and take the kids with him. But he really does love her so that would be his absolute last hurrah at getting her better. I will talk to her about it when I see her next week and just sortve spell it out for her.
Thanks for all the advice and wishes guys I appreciate it!

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

There's not really much you can do personally besides be there for her, make your opinion known that the meth is a bad thing and with kids now, she needs to be responsible and not a meth addict.. whether she's controlling it now or not, she has way too much to lose, if she slips and becomes a full blown addict.

But other than that, it's up to her. People can't get clean unless they want it deep down for themselves. You can't want it for her.

 

[tricomb]

Well, my older Sister has been struggling ever since she had her second child with Meth, I was living with her at the time when she was pregnant and she was completely sober whilst she was pregnant, not even a single beer. But when my 2nd niece was born, and after the birth, she sortve started doing it twice a month. Then 2 months later is was once a week, and this went slowly but surely over a 2 year period, until now where she does it every single weekend atleast and the bender will generally last well into the week. She does it sometimes in small amounts during the weekdays. She cant get things done in the morning and without it. However she can go extended periods without it like 8 - 9 Days without even thinking about it. Soo obvisously this is not healthy but what should I do? It is getting hard to watch my sister slowly tare her excellent and successful life apart.

This may be hard to hear but I'm just going to be honest. You need to get those kids out of that house, before either someone gets hurt, abused, neglected, etc.

IF YOU DO NOT GET THOSE KIDS OUT OF THE HOUSE TEMPORARILY TO GIVE YOUR SISTER A REALITY CHECK, YOU COULD ALSO BE PROSECUTED FOR KNOWINGLY WITHHOLDING INFORMATION REGARDING CHILD ENDANGERMENT/NEGLECT.

Your sister needs a reality check, this type of thing NEVER gets better and usually there are casualties.

 

[Felonious Monk]

^^
Unfortunately I believe tricomb is correct, this is a very serious situation that would have disastrous consequences for everyone involved if CPS gets a complaint.

Come at her from a place of love though, and have a plan of taking the kids for a few days when you confront her. I'm generally anti-intervention as well but it seems like it might help in this situation. A reality check is called for.

 

[hh95]

Yes I have thought of this however, that wouldn't help at all. The thing is they do have a perfectly SOBER loving Dad that lives there with all of them. The reason I made this title was IS she abusing meth, because I mean I perceive a junky and an abuser differently. A junky to me is someone who smokes or shoots it every day and needs it every single day to survive/stay nromal, where as a "Drug abuser" Is on there way to Junky... if that makes sense. Because my sister in particular her habit would be 0.5g - 1g a week, maybe more if she has big weekend. So its not a MAJOR problem at this point it time, I guess im just saying I can see the decline happening to her that happened too me, just a lot slower. The problem is she started smoking when she was fourteen, she has that little willpower she has never stopped, she started smoking pot when she was 18 she is a stoner now because she doesn't even have the willpower to stop that. I cant imagine her a full blown Meth Junky... she could never ever stop. I guess im trying to say I don't think its at the point where I should try and take her kids away,even temporarily. She is still very sane, she sleeps and eats but not like a normal person... Im just digging for a way too help her when she still has her sanity before its too late. Anyone thinking of doing meth... just don't its fun at the start but it sucks donkey balls at the end!

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Yeah once kids are involved... that changes everything. A meth head tweaker, is clearly NOT a fit parent, and she can do a lot of permanent emotional and even physical damage to those kids.

If it was just her, I'd say, whatever.. she wants to be an addict fine, she has to make the choice to get clean on her own.

But with kids in the picture? No, it's no longer her choice. Somebody needs to step in and handle this shit for the kids sake. Get them the fuck away from her, preferably before she falls off the rails completely, because it sounds like she's right on the cliff and is about to do a nose dive right off into full on meth addiction. Once she cleans her self up, she can come back.

The "loving" Dad, is okay with the mother of his children doing meth? Or does he not know? Either way, he should take care of them while she go gets help because she is a danger to those kids.

 

[tricomb]

^Yeah that loving father, if he wants to really be a loving father, will step up and get the children out of that dangerous and volatile environment, he'll be the next person the Prosecution charges with felonies given that he knows what's happening and may or may not be trying to help his mate, but Love is blinding, so blinding that he's not able to see that there are children involved here and that in no way shape or form is he doing himself, his children, or his wife, ANY favors by not IMMEDIATELY getting those innocent children away from their mother, through whatever means necessary and

I mean that. No one likes to have to call Child Protective Services but if there's one situation where I never hesitate to make the phone call, it's this EXACT scenario, and I have no faith that the parents or guardians of the children are going to do what they should be doing. Consider coordinating some personal days off with the father and take the kids on a trip under responsible supervision of a sober adult, take a small vacation or road trip or something because if at all possible, and TRUST me on this, you do not want them to be around the mother when CPS, Social Services, and/or the police show up to investigate your sister's home and whether the environment is suitable for children.

I am also not pro-intervention or anything, but as I've said, this is a serious situation where you have the moral and ethical and LEGAL obligation to provide a child safe environment or immediately attempt to reach out to the correct authorities for help explaining the gravity of the situation to your sister, hopefully before anyone, be it the city or state etc decide to press charges or take punitive measures that will affect ALL of you and by doing so, you risk having the kids being taken away from their mother and be put into the system which will change their lives FOREVER.

Your sister has a choice to make. She made the choice to abuse methamphetamine. She made the choice to have children, and try to raise them at home with the father figure, but as you know, this clearly isn't a have your cake and eat it too situation. When you have kids, the choice is simple. You choose rehabilitation/addiction therapy and get to keep your family provided you maintain sobriety and a child safe environment, OR you choose crystal methamphetamine. It is THAT simple. There are children involved, local, state, and federal laws ALL are EXTREMELY straightforward about child endangerment, contributing to the delinquency of minors, child abuse, neglect, etc.

It's meth or the kids.