Stimulants An Overview And Guide to Crystal Meth Overdose / Overamping - Symptoms, Treatment, How Doctors may Treat Methamphetamine OD

[Joey]

200 MILLIGRAMS OR TWO POINTS OF PURE METHAMPHETAMINE IS ENOUGH TO FATALLY OVERDOSE A NONTOLERANT GROWN MAN!!

Methamphetamine overdose and fatality : 2 cases report - PubMed

Methamphetamine abuse is an important problem in Thailand. The number of addicts and abusers is increasing. Abusers usually use speed pills by oral ingestion or inhalation. The dose used is about 5-60 mg of methamphetamine while the lethal dose reported is 200 mg. Death due to methamphetamine...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Any time I've overdosed on on meth these are the symptoms I've had..

• Nausea. Vomiting.
• Tired, passing out.
• Skin gone pale
• Extremely high heart rate
• Heart palpitations / Irregular heart beat

Those we're the sure shots. I've also experienced..

• Extremely sweaty and feel hot
• Paranoia
• Hallucinations audio and visual
• Psychosis
• Delusions

This is very much like schizophrenia, and the meth damages the brain looks very much like schizophrenia under MRI scans.

SOURCE: Frontiers | Cognition and Related Neural Findings on Methamphetamine Use Disorder: Insights and Treatment Implications From Schizophrenia Research | Psychiatry (frontiersin.org)

While meth use disorder and schizophrenia are two distinct disorders, they are highly co-morbid and share impairments in similar cognitive domains and altered brain structure/function.

There is more that can happen though. Here is a list from WebMD:

• Trouble breathing
• Signs of a heart attack or stroke, such as chest pain or confusion
• Seizures
• High or low blood pressure
• A high body temperature
• Kidney failure, which might cause symptoms such as peeing less or very dark urine
• Intense stomach pain
• Changes in personality or alertness
• Loss of consciousness
• Intensely hyper or aggressive behavior
• Paranoia

Check out this link for more information:

Substance Abuse and Addiction

WebMD Substance Abuse and Addiction Health Center: Find in-depth information about causes, symptoms, risks, prevention, and treatment for drug and alcohol abuse.

www.webmd.com

And another description from Wikipedia:

A methamphetamine overdose may result in a wide range of symptoms.[4][22] A moderate overdose of methamphetamine may induce symptoms such as: abnormal heart rhythm, confusion, difficult and/or painful urination, high or low blood pressure, high body temperature, over-active and/or over-responsive reflexes, muscle aches, severe agitation, rapid breathing, tremor, urinary hesitancy, and an inability to pass urine.[4][29] An extremely large overdose may produce symptoms such as adrenergic storm, methamphetamine psychosis, substantially reduced or no urine output, cardiogenic shock, bleeding in the brain, circulatory collapse, hyperpyrexia (i.e., dangerously high body temperature), pulmonary hypertension, kidney failure, rapid muscle breakdown, serotonin syndrome, and a form of stereotypy("tweaking").[sources 1] A methamphetamine overdose will likely also result in mild brain damagedue to dopaminergic and serotonergicneurotoxicity.[94][21] Death from methamphetamine poisoning is typically preceded by convulsions and coma.[22]

Methamphetamine - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Joey]

Treatment:

This is what a doctor may use to treat a meth overdose in hospital. There are 3 main classes of drugs used.. I've usually just been given the first, or the first and the third myself. SEE POST #4! DO NOT TAKE ALL 3 OR EVEN 2! ONE IS ENOUGH, I WAS GIVEN BOTH VALIUM AND HALDOL ONCE BUT THAT WAS AN EXTREME CASE AND I HAVE PREEXISTING HR AND BP ISSUES!

Benzodiazepines: Prescribed as anti-anxiety drugs and used as sedatives, these will help slow you down and ease the symptoms associated with meth use.

Examples of this are valium (diazepam) and Xanax (alprazolam). There are many, many different benzodiazepines out in the world, here is a link a list of common ones.

List of Common Benzodiazepines + Uses & Side Effects - Drugs.com

Benzodiazepines work in the central nervous system and make the nerves in the brain less sensitive to stimulation, which has a calming effect.

www.drugs.com

Beta or Alpha blockers: These are drugs which are used to control heart rate and blood pressure.

Alpha blockers relax the muscles and relax the muscles, relaxing the veins to promote blood flow. Meth is a vasoconstrictor, Alpha blockers are the opposite.

Beta blockers slow the heart down and thus reduce blood pressure.

Alpha Blocker Examples:

alfuzosin
dihydroergotamine mesylate
doxazosin
ergotaminephentolamine mesylate
phenoxybenzamine
prazosin
tamsulosin
terazosin
tolazoline

Source: https://drugs.nmihi.com/alpha-blockers.htm

Beta Blockers:

From Webmd..

"Beta-blockers are drugs that block the effects of adrenaline, the hormone that triggers your body's fight-or-flight response when you're stressed. This slows your heart rate and eases up on the force your heart squeezes with. Your blood pressure goes down because your heart isn't working so hard. These medicines can also relax blood vessels so the blood flows better.""

Beta-Blockers for High Blood Pressure

Beta-blockers slow down your heart and ease its pumping strength. What should you know about taking them? What side effects could you have?

www.webmd.com

Anti-psychotics: Drugs which are prescribed if you experience psychotic symptoms or hallucinations. These are prescribed for things like schizophrenia, psychosis associated with other mental illnesses such as major depression, bipolar, and in our case of crystal meth use and overdose (stimulant psychosis). They can also be presribed offlabel in a low dose for sleep.

Examples are Seroquel, Abilify, Olanzepine, Risperdol, Haldol.

List of antipsychotics - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Using this information, you now have a foundation to help yourself through an overdose, or someone else. However, the best thing to do is to get a doctor. Go to the hospital! Call 911!

 

[Joey]

https://1f79feed-35c3-4e11-be4f-b08e8bd6b24c.filesusr.com/ugd/1d8327_0acdcff9158046dca056289a7172a5c0.pdf

This is a good pdf on overamping by the Coalition of Peers Dismantling the Drug War. Here's an excerpt..

Overamping (OA) is used instead of overdose (OD) because OD means taking too much of something & thats not always the case with stimulants.
OA can happen due to variety of reasons, being up for days, dehydration and others. With stimulants, It's much more unpredictable then say down or heroin. OA can happen regardless of how much or little you use
Some things that may lead to overamping include:
-You've been up for too long (sleep deprivation).
-Your body is worn down from not eating or drinking enough water. -You're in a weird or uncomfortable environment or with people that are sketching you out.
-You did "that one hit too many."
-You mixed some other drugs with your
speed that have sent you into a bad place.
No matter what the reason, it can be dangerous and scary to feel overamped.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Just for the sake of accuracy: doctors in the ER would generally choose to treat a methamphetamine overdose with ONE of the abovementioned drug classes.

Different drugs in these three categories have a COMPOUNDING effect on each other and in conjunction can lower blood pressure to the point of hypotensive crisis.

Adverse effects of interactions between antipsychotics and medications used in the treatment of cardiovascular disorders - Pharmacological Reports

Background High level of comorbidity between bipolar disorder or schizophrenia and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in clinical practice may contribute to drug–drug interactions between medications used in these conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate harmful interactions between...

link.springer.com

A dangerous interaction between these drugs is made worse by methamphetamine because the drop in heart-rate and blood pressure is from a highly and abnormally elevated level.

Although you may be prescribed AP’s and beta-blockers and handle then together normally does not mean they won’t put you into hypotensive crisis if you are in a meth overdose situation.

This happened to be when I combined meth, with my usual prescribed clonidine, and seroquel. The resulting crisis was one of the most terrifying nights of my life.

If you or someone else has overdosed on meth, or are just close to peaking on meth, do not combine these types of drugs to comedown.

Also, the drop in blood pressure when these drugs kick in can render you unconscious or cause you to faint. In my experience I took them standing and woke up lying on the floor with a bruised head. STAY SEATED or lie down after you take them.

 

[Joey]

Just for the sake of accuracy: doctors in the ER would generally choose to treat a methamphetamine overdose with ONE of the abovementioned drug classes.

Different drugs in these three categories have a COMPOUNDING effect on each other and in conjunction can lower blood pressure to the point of hypotensive crisis.

Adverse effects of interactions between antipsychotics and medications used in the treatment of cardiovascular disorders - Pharmacological Reports

Background High level of comorbidity between bipolar disorder or schizophrenia and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in clinical practice may contribute to drug–drug interactions between medications used in these conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate harmful interactions between...

link.springer.com

A dangerous interaction between these drugs is made worse by methamphetamine because the drop in heart-rate and blood pressure is from a highly and abnormally elevated level.

Although you may be prescribed AP’s and beta-blockers and handle then together normally does not mean they won’t put you into hypotensive crisis if you are in a meth overdose situation.

This happened to be when I combined meth, with my usual prescribed clonidine, and seroquel. The resulting crisis was one of the most terrifying nights of my life.

If you or someone else has overdosed on meth, or are just close to peaking on meth, do not combine these types of drugs to comedown.

Also, the drop in blood pressure when these drugs kick in can render you unconscious or cause you to faint. In my experience I took them standing and woke up lying on the floor with a bruised head. STAY SEATED or lie down after you take them.

I did include in the post that I've usually only been given one or two of these at a time, but I'll make an edit to highlight this. I didn't realize how much that trio would interact. Could have been some really shitty advice, thank you.

 

[KaliSMeth&stuff]

https://1f79feed-35c3-4e11-be4f-b08e8bd6b24c.filesusr.com/ugd/1d8327_0acdcff9158046dca056289a7172a5c0.pdf

This is a good pdf on overamping by the Coalition of Peers Dismantling the Drug War. Here's an excerpt..

I helped create this so thank you so much for sharing It come from personal experiences with meth od/overamp
Can I also mention the most dangerous thing about an overamp/OD is meth toxicity which what often results in death cause they are similar symptoms of Overamp The major difference to watch out for is bulging veins, eyes etc.
This is great thread not many people talk about meth OD/overamp

 

[Ethers2]

But do you have to be experiencing most of these things at a time for it to be an overdose? I have a high heart rate and it hurts my chest a bit, more just uncomfortable, yet I have no other symptoms
Also, what heart beats per minute is considered dangerous

 

[Jabberwocky]

But do you have to be experiencing most of these things at a time for it to be an overdose? I have a high heart rate and it hurts my chest a bit, more just uncomfortable, yet I have no other symptoms
Also, what heart beats per minute is considered dangerous

Tachycardia is defined as resting heart rate over 100 bpm. But factors like age and general fitness/health can influence what is normal for any individual. A fast heart rate alone is not a sign of an overdose but anything approaching 180-200 bpm is cause for concern. However, a rapid heart rate combined with any of the following is a sign you might be in trouble:

• Very fast (rapid) heartbeat
• A fluttering or pounding in your chest (palpitations)
• A pounding sensation in the neck
• Weakness or feeling very tired (fatigue)
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Lightheadedness or dizziness
• Sweating
• Fainting (syncope) or near fainting

 

[Ethers2]

Tachycardia is defined as resting heart rate over 100 bpm. But factors like age and general fitness/health can influence what is normal for any individual. A fast heart rate alone is not a sign of an overdose but anything approaching 180-200 bpm is cause for concern. However, a rapid heart rate combined with any of the following is a sign you might be in trouble:

• Very fast (rapid) heartbeat
• A fluttering or pounding in your chest (palpitations)
• A pounding sensation in the neck
• Weakness or feeling very tired (fatigue)
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Lightheadedness or dizziness
• Sweating
• Fainting (syncope) or near fainting

I'm in relief I haven't had those ones

 

[tweakerguy]

Tachycardia is defined as resting heart rate over 100 bpm. But factors like age and general fitness/health can influence what is normal for any individual. A fast heart rate alone is not a sign of an overdose but anything approaching 180-200 bpm is cause for concern. However, a rapid heart rate combined with any of the following is a sign you might be in trouble:

• Very fast (rapid) heartbeat
• A fluttering or pounding in your chest (palpitations)
• A pounding sensation in the neck
• Weakness or feeling very tired (fatigue)
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Lightheadedness or dizziness
• Sweating
• Fainting (syncope) or near fainting

Shit man, that's just Monday to me.

 

[izo]

i have this paper in my posession, its from shulgin but i dont know if it is a hoax:

2001 - Overdose of 2.3 Grams of Intravenous methamphetamine.pdf

drive.google.com

 

[Frazzled1990]

Just to add. The reason psychosis may occur is due to unnatural levels of Dopamine build up in the Striatum, where the D1 and D5 receptors are predominantly located. When these receptors become overly active, it effects the brains ability to differentiate between relevant and non-relevant information. Resulting in visual and auditory hallucinations. The same effect is witnessed in those suffering from Schizophrenia. Anti-psychotics work by effectively inhibiting the activation of these receptors.
The most effective way to avoid Amphetamine induced psychosis is of course not to use Amphetamine at all. However the 2nd best way is to not abuse it to try and cheat sleep for 5+ days. Severe sleep deprivation is heavily linked to the over activation of these receptors.

 

[izo]

also the high peak levels of amphetamines or cathinones in blood when iv'ed or smoked contribute much to psychotic behaviour. nasally or orally consumed, these compounds have a safer profile albeit plasma levels might reach similar concentrations.

 

[CFC]

Acute psychosis during stimulant use has also been linked to elevated insulin and lowered blood sugar levels. Often ensuring people eat a small meal, or meal replacement drink, despite the difficulty of doing so on stimulants, can go some way to averting some of these occurrences.

 

[CFC]

As a little addendum to the OP, if you had to pick one, generally you'd probably be better set going for a beta-blocker or alpha-blocker over a more widely dispensed drug like a benzodiazepine to treat stimulant overdoses. Sometimes benzos do not work for many of the heart-related side-effects, whereas drugs that block adrenergic effects generally do.

Here's little light reading on the subject:

Beta-Blockers for Cocaine and other Stimulant Toxicity

The toxico-mythology of 'unopposed alpha stimulation' and the contra-indication of beta-blockers in the treatment of cocaine, amphetamine and other stimulant toxicity. Down with dogma!

litfl.com

And keeping an open mind, here's somebody arguing that the ye olde dogma isn't really so awful:

Cocaine and Beta Blockers - That Dogmalysis Won't Hunt

by Jeff Lapoint Everyone wins, if winning is being angry - Alexis C. Madrigal There was a Life in the Fast Lane post in 2016 that chronicled

emcrit.org

 

[Joey]

Acute psychosis during stimulant use has also been linked to elevated insulin and lowered blood sugar levels. Often ensuring people eat a small meal, or meal replacement drink, despite the difficulty of doing so on stimulants, can go some way to averting some of these occurrences.

Quote for truth (does anyone even say that anymore?) and bumping the thread and giving some input. This is really important information for people who are using stuimulant. Eating food and drinking fluids, even substitute sugary juices in for food if you really can't hold anything down or feel like eating. It's super important to maintaining some stasis in your physical body and experience with stims like crystal meth. It makes the difference sometimes completely for things like having such an elevated anxiety level in a psychosis or paranoia (for any reason) and thus your ability to combat those feelings and experiences. Getting sleep on as regular basis as possible if you're using regularly is extremely helpful as well.

Anything to nourish your body, get rest, and even something that's more a comforting drink like milk and honey off the top of my head is something that can calm you down. It sounds silly but it's not. Even the ritual of it all, doing something good and calming for yourself that is healthy can take a lot of pressure off. I really like these ginger and honey powdered drinks. They're pretty good across the board. Things like that matter in real life and in events of high anxiety and psychotic breaks as well. Take a break from the drugs if you are able to. Cutting down or cleaning up your act a bit how you're using and conducting your day otherwise is a good ideas too. It's all helpful to keeping your head at ease.

 

[SurferChic]

I’ve just skimmed read this. I’m a doctor in the uk, I’ve not practised for a long time due to fucking my life up… but my med knowledge is reasonably good.

So to the tachy question - it’s individual. You’ve got your standard ~65-80bpm …but it differs person to person. Weight/fitness/medication/illness etc all effect it. The best thing to do is know your ‘normal’. If possible take it three times during the day at different when at rest and, add the three up and then divide by three.

If you’re not with someone then make sure you’re near something that you can get help. I always make sure I’m near my Alexa * bows head in shame * .

All the treatment written up above is in the right ballpark. Different countries have different ways. Personally I’d think most ED docs would go on an individual approach. Meth OD symptoms, I’d be thinking… any other recreational drugs? medications? weight/fitness/age etc etc. fitting?

But first it is always… Heart functioning? Patent airway plus is this dude gonna aspirate? I’d go for benzos, fluids and intubate until things were stable. You start dealing with all the other crap in ICU.

I took a benzo OD along time ago. I’ve experienced the above on both sides. It was worse as the patient! I’ll never forget waking up as something was partially breathing for me and the pain of the tube coming out. We all fuck up. We’ve all got different lives.

 

[Joey]

I’m going to write this information up more properly someday like an academic writeup. Ive wound up citing it multiple times to people for various reasons. If anyone has any input to give, let me know.

 

[starlyte2]

Just to add. The reason psychosis may occur is due to unnatural levels of Dopamine build up in the Striatum, where the D1 and D5 receptors are predominantly located. When these receptors become overly active, it effects the brains ability to differentiate between relevant and non-relevant information. Resulting in visual and auditory hallucinations. The same effect is witnessed in those suffering from Schizophrenia. Anti-psychotics work by effectively inhibiting the activation of these receptors.
The most effective way to avoid Amphetamine induced psychosis is of course not to use Amphetamine at all. However the 2nd best way is to not abuse it to try and cheat sleep for 5+ days. Severe sleep deprivation is heavily linked to the over activation of these receptors.

That, not to skip more than 5 days ofsleep, is what my doctor told me. I never did, and didn't get psychotic either. It really is an important rule.

 

[Joey]

That, not to skip more than 5 days ofsleep, is what my doctor told me. I never did, and didn't get psychotic either. It really is an important rule.

I find that I can wind up with psychosis under the influence of too much stims, particularly amps - even sleeping regularly. I'll spend a lot of days not sleeping and stuff to get to that point generally. Daily heavier use than could ever be healthy. Then I get so used to the drug I can sleep nightly even with it, but if I've hit that point where I am going to become psychotic, it's time to drastically cut back or take a break. I tend to miss my other meds when I get into this mode and they include a mood stabilizer and antipsychotic. It's time to cut back and start taking those. It's time to have a change of pace only life somehow to mark that fresh start too.

There's a point where if you've started to note you have symptoms of psychosis, the cold reality is that no amount of sleep, eat healthier and drink water, or other chemical interventions will stabilize you as much as a drastic cutback on the amps and preferably a TOTAL BREAK on top of those healthy habits.

Antipsychotics can actually do a lot to reverse the negative effects of meth. I just read a study that showed haloperidol or Haldol and quetiapine or Seroquel are a combo which was well tolerated by a control group. More than the other combos.

But the real miracle cure is in that break. Give your brain some chance to achieve something like balance, before you go again at a lighter pace.

If you are paranoid and concerned for entities which were not noted as being in your life, before meth. This is the most common psychosis.. put the pipe down please. You are in danger. Not to surveillance or conspiracy against you (unless you've flipped out and attracted fearful and wary eyes) but you are in danger of self harm and possibly hurting others if you are the type to get physical when you're bent out of shape.

Even if it's real (but I guarantee you've blown something way out of proportion at best)..

Do you care for this sort of matter when you're straight? Why now? Take a break, you're not even having fun!