Stimulants Do you ever recover from heavy methamp use?

[LOGan1314]

I feel like I permanently damaged myself last time I used (almost two months ago). Granted, I took WAY too big a dose (1.5 grams in two days).

I am pretty sure I will never recover from my heavy MDMA use years and years ago, because to this day my mood/mental characteristics are still extremely negatively altered.

What about methamp though? Research I have done says that eventually you do, but i don't know, it doesn't seem like it this time.

 

[Scrofula]

Depends what you mean by "recover". I mean, you might not recover all your teeth, or fill in all the tunnels you made under the house, but if you didn't hurt yourself, you'll be fine.

Consider how many millions of people are prescribed the stuff for years. And with the tens of millions of people using antidepressants, there's no way to say if past drug use is the source of your down mood.

The famous mathematician Paul Erdos was a lifelong amph addict, and it certainly didn't impair his abilities. Course, he was a nutter to begin with.

 

[Tubbs]

Right. Most of the crazy shit comes from people who already had a few screws loose

 

[LOGan1314]

Thanks guys! That brings some hope lol.

However, I'm still wondering if the extremely large dose in a short period of time might have done irreversible damage. Also, I'm pretty sure methamp is more neurotoxic than regular amph, correct?

 

[Scrofula]

Methamphetamine might be more toxic. Even the extremely large dose you took doesn't compare to the beyond-lethal amounts they put in test tubes to look at this stuff. By now billions of dollars have gone into researching the effects of meth and amphetamine on human health, and yet there's still no clear proof of harm to the brain.

The biggest source of damage is secondary to use: large doses of methamphetamine, amphetamine, MDA, MDMA, and similar stimulants, all cause your body temperature to rise. You're walking around with a chronic fever, and that can damage brain cells and even other organ systems. Heavy MDMA use has been linked to liver damage from high temperature, not any kind of chemical metabolism.

So ask yourself, have you ever had a high fever, maybe as a kid, or during the flu? If you have, then you've already experienced more damage to your brain than a night of heavy meth use.

 

[LOGan1314]

Thank you man. I honestly would have never found the information you gave through research...very interesting stuff.

LAST question I promise.....are you saying that heavy MDMA abuse does not cause PERMANENT depression/other mental disorders?

 

[CFC]

I feel like I permanently damaged myself last time I used (almost two months ago). Granted, I took WAY too big a dose (1.5 grams in two days).

I am pretty sure I will never recover from my heavy MDMA use years and years ago, because to this day my mood/mental characteristics are still extremely negatively altered.

What about methamp though? Research I have done says that eventually you do, but i don't know, it doesn't seem like it this time.

I've noticed quite a few people evaluate themselves after negative drug experiences in comparison to an assumed 'pristine' condition in the past, before the drugs, when their brain was sharp and they remembered things, words came more easily etc.

That doesn't mean it's necessarily 'real' or true though. We all decline somewhat with age, and perceptions are easily skewed if we believe we have a reason to think our brains ought to be wrecked. We tend to pin any and every problem on that experience, and assume we'll never recover to the earlier 'pristine' state that might - in itself - actually be little more than a highly subjective recollection of our halcyon youth and brain condition.

Btw I'm not saying your brain hasn't suffered, just that it's extremely difficult to be completely objective about it. Scrofula made an astute analogy some months back (iirc?) about revisiting places he used to visit and feeling that actually nothing much had changed, despite subjectively believing beforehand that a ton of meth was probably responsible for present mental conditions.

 

[Scrofula]

Yeah, I don't want to suggest that what you, OP, or anyone else is experiencing isn't "real" or valid, but there's just nothing in biology to suggest these drugs have done any kind of special physical damage to your brains. You can't "blow out" your serotonin like some people imagine.

That said, we have minds that are greater than the sum of our receptors, and our minds will of course be altered by drug use. We also all have very bad days, and sometimes weeks and months, and there's a danger in focusing on past drug use as the cause (at the expense of something in the present). If anything, my drug use, like CFC mentioned, has only proven that I naturally spiral down into emo angst and despair, no matter what I'm on or what's going on in my life. I'm just as socially awkward now as I was as a teenager, but at 41yo, I just don't give nearly as a big a fuck anymore.

Stimulants also have a nasty habit of creating brief obsessions--I suppose a person can "mentally" pick at themselves as well as physically (I mean that in a nice way). If you're having a rough time, I wouldn't resign yourself to accepting it's permanent MDMA damage, look into some therapy. It can't hurt.


ETA: what I mean, is that even if your mind and moods were changed by drug use, that's not permanent.

 

[LOGan1314]

Makes sense. Thanks again...this was actually therapeutic in itself! I am focusing on eating healthy, exercising, sleeping well, and trying to stay positive. Thanks again everybody.