Are the affect from meth on the brain irreversible?

[sublimegirl209]

I've been reading on the internet that meth causes psychological changes in the brain that are irreversible. I know it causes changes in the brain but having it be irreversible? Is this true, or is it just propaganda from our government.

 

[Sturnam]

You could gain back function, but its a case by case basis.

Easiest solution: don't smoke meth.

Don't double post. Not ADD material.

 

[severely etarded]

to a certain extent it is mostly reversible, but certainly not 100%. i abused prescription adderall for 6 years substituting meth when I could not get a hold of it and now my brain feels somewhat slower than it used to without it. The first few days after a meth binge make you feel really slow and dumb, and this effect wears off over the next few days. However, I do not believe it is permanently harmless as I have been clean for about 6 months now and I still don't feel as intelligent or quick-witted as I used to be prior to using. Hope this helps.

 

[Sturnam]

Wow, you must be severely etarded if you posted an answer in both of the OP's threads.

 

[ebola?]

The affect of meth is most certainly mania, followed by depression, paranoia, and anxiety.
...
The short answer is "yes": some of the harms of methamphetamine abuse will be reversible, while others will not be.

What is the line between the two? It is difficult to determine, particularly on a per-individual basis, when we're inferring from aggregated experimental animals.

However, there is some level of methamphetamine exposure (in terms of absolute dosage and frequency (coupled with associated insults, like poor diet and prolonged activity in warm environments)) that causes irreversible, undesirable changes in the brain (aka damage). This would take the shape of cellular death of neurons involved thoroughly in serotonergic and dopaminergic transmission. What is more, this damage appears to become behaviorally relevant for some human addicts.

ebola

 

[nuke]

Methamphetamine is a well known neurotoxin that induces permanent changes into the serotonergic and dopaminergic system, notably axonal pruning or cell death. There has been a fair amount of evidence via PET scans and cognitive assessments to demonstrate this in humans.

 

[vinylmesh]

I've been reading on the internet that meth causes psychological changes in the brain that are irreversible. I know it causes changes in the brain but having it be irreversible? Is this true, or is it just propaganda from our government.

tbh, i don't know. But every little bit of damage you do will have an effect. Your life will be affected long before you're even close to suffering parkinson-like symptoms.

Your ability to motivate yourself to do things, or to maintain motivated about them, or as etarded said think quickly will be affected, maybe to a hardly-noticeable degree, maybe to a highly noticeable degree, it depends how much you use.

tbh, i don't really know how much damage meth really causes as meth is practically non-existant where i'm from.

Either way i'd strongly advise against it.

If you've already done meth, perhaps nicotine gum may help. It says here that nicotine increases the sensitivity of your reward system for weeks after taking it. I'm assuming by "reward system" they're including dopamine, perhaps not.

 

[etcetera]

Taking bupropion - a long acting dopamine and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor - will both decrease cravings and possibly compensate for some of the ill effects of your brain's adjustment to insanely-high-levels-of-neurotransmitters.

As for brain _damage_... modern theories of neuroplasticity suggest that the human brain can adapt to any sort of damage, meth-induced damage included. Some things help this process... like exercise, good nutrition, etc.

 

[f1ct]

Threadjack - Is straight up d-amphetamine anywhere near as neurotoxic as meth? I had a nasty speed habit for a couple years, been off it for three or four years now. I still feel a bit slower than I remember, but after two years of near-constant tweaking, it's hard to say what my baseline state was like, anyhow.

Figure 50-100 mg pure d-amp daily for, oh, 700 days.

Incidentally, my creative and nonlinear thinking abilities increased dramatically in the years after I kicked it, and instead of obsessing over boring shit, I obsess over things I actually care about. There's a lesson in there somewhere, I guess.

 

[nuke]

It's not nearly as neurotoxicity as methamphetamine, but there have been concerns it could cause neurotoxicity in doses that are normally used to treat ADHD.

 

[f1ct]

Good to hear. It's been on my mind a bit. I'm wondering if what I perceive to be slowness is just the result of a lack of stimulation from being a Practical Man of The World With Jobs and Responsibilities rather than, yanno, "college student."

 

[Rio Fantastic]

tbh, i don't know. But every little bit of damage you do will have an effect. Your life will be affected long before you're even close to suffering parkinson-like symptoms.

Your ability to motivate yourself to do things, or to maintain motivated about them, or as etarded said think quickly will be affected, maybe to a hardly-noticeable degree, maybe to a highly noticeable degree, it depends how much you use.

tbh, i don't really know how much damage meth really causes as meth is practically non-existant where i'm from.

Either way i'd strongly advise against it.

If you've already done meth, perhaps nicotine gum may help. It says here that nicotine increases the sensitivity of your reward system for weeks after taking it. I'm assuming by "reward system" they're including dopamine, perhaps not.

Yeah, that's why cigarettes + cocaine go together so well, nicotine has the opposite effect then meth does on the reward pathways in your brain.

 

[Lupus]

It's not nearly as neurotoxicity as methamphetamine, but there have been concerns it could cause neurotoxicity in doses that are normally used to treat ADHD.

Its effects on tyrosine hydroxylase is the big problem (which can last months after chronis usage) but it seems that its also what makes oral D-AMP self limiting from a serious abuse perspective. This will cause a short term down regulation of dopamine though after cessation.

DAT receptor damage seems to be much less of an issue compared to meth.

 

[pofacedhoe]

Threadjack - Is straight up d-amphetamine anywhere near as neurotoxic as meth? I had a nasty speed habit for a couple years, been off it for three or four years now. I still feel a bit slower than I remember, but after two years of near-constant tweaking, it's hard to say what my baseline state was like, anyhow.

Figure 50-100 mg pure d-amp daily for, oh, 700 days.

Incidentally, my creative and nonlinear thinking abilities increased dramatically in the years after I kicked it, and instead of obsessing over boring shit, I obsess over things I actually care about. There's a lesson in there somewhere, I guess.

speed most definitely created in me what i would term simple black and white logic. it decreased the openness of my mind, with everything becoming presumption after presumtion going on and on leading me to innaccurate conclusions regularly. my vocabulary seemed to shrink as i would only use very simple direct phrases. basically mega fackkking boring

 

[Mitchy=)]

There's always going to be a certain amount of damage that can't be repaired. But the brain is quiet good at repairing itself, and the only way you can tell is time. I would like to think that if you never abused it too hard then all the damage done can be repaired over time.

 

[Ne0]

I remember that few years back there was studies that brains can recover even from a long term meth-abuse. But I think it takes as much time as you abused it, so If you banged this shit for 10 years, it takes 10 years to fully recover. Also good nutrition and exercising (both physical and psychical) will help your brains to recover more faster and also will lower the neurotoxicity of drugs. I think bad nutrition and lack of sleep plays big role of meths neurotoxicity. As it is proven that chronic and constant lack of sleep may damage you brains and also lack of different vitamins will hurt your brain. Even without stimulants your brains get damage when you are awake for four days straight and don't eat anything.

 

[clonicjerk]

to a certain extent it is mostly reversible, but certainly not 100%. i abused prescription adderall for 6 years substituting meth when I could not get a hold of it and now my brain feels somewhat slower than it used to without it. The first few days after a meth binge make you feel really slow and dumb, and this effect wears off over the next few days. However, I do not believe it is permanently harmless as I have been clean for about 6 months now and I still don't feel as intelligent or quick-witted as I used to be prior to using. Hope this helps.

At least you can still spell.

 

[queenscarlet88]

speed most definitely created in me what i would term simple black and white logic. it decreased the openness of my mind, with everything becoming presumption after presumtion going on and on leading me to innaccurate conclusions regularly. my vocabulary seemed to shrink as i would only use very simple direct phrases. basically mega fackkking boring

You have just done a beautiful job of summarizing why stimulants and I don't get along anymore. Because it was boring! And my heart kept feeling as though it might explode! And the anxiety, my GOD, it was a physical sensation of devouring uncertainty and loathing.