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BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic
Stigma/Myths surrounding Methamphetamine - '...meth does not cause brain damage'
- Thread starter Lightning-Nl
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Meth is way more addictive than coke (imo)
PsychedelicWizard
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I will debunk the major ones now.
It causes acne or seeps through your skin as crystals!
This is the common myth, as you frequently see methamphetamine straw-men users with lots of acne on their faces. The truth is that it does make you perspire more, as well as be able to sit longer without moving or cleaning, but it at the same time makes you far more concerned with cleanliness, especially with sleep deprivation, as your senses are much heightened on it. Anyway, these problems have nothing to do with methamphetamine, anymore then playing football, having excess fat cells, being in a hot climate, or skating causes acne (or anything that makes you sweat more). Still, this problem is easily solved with a proper cleanser + toner + moisturizer regiment.
As for it seeping out of your pores as crystals, this is equally ridiculous. When you smoke it, the smoke CANNOT re-crystallize, period! Only the liquid can, perhaps where this myth came from, as one might have observed the bubbling liquid re-crystallize and thought their lunges as that. But once it gets to your lunges it is then processed like oxygen or nicotine smoke, and quickly enters the blood, it never enters the sweat glands.
It causes your teeth to fall out!
Meth mouth as it is called does not exist. You can brush your teeth after smoking to rid yourself of any chemical residue, but there really is none. Unlike say tobacco or cannabis, when you light it, it does burn and therefore smoke, it liquifies into vapour smoke, which is why it does not leave an odor, like an e-cig, so this would therefore have no real chemical trace on your teeth. Likely, if meth users are missing teeth, it is from lack of hygiene and a poor diet, which people have regardless of drug use.
It causes heart attack, strokes, or some other major health problem!
There is no evidence of this. All evidence is causal and there has never been any extensive testing to verify these claims. Methamphetamine users have the same life expectancy as anyone else, same rates of heart disease, strokes, etc, and also the concept of taking meth and then dying of a heart attack is completely ridiculous. These sensations are actually called panic attacks, which it can trigger if the user is not in a good mental state, but it has nothing to do with the drug. You cannot even get poisoned from it easily, not without taking an absurd amount. People with tolerance can take an insane amount of methamphetamine and live, those who die of heart attacks, strokes, etc, had some health problem and it just pushed them over the edge, or they went crazy with the excess energy it seems to provide (but it does not really, hence the crash, just delays the pain till later) and died from exhaustion.
It is super addicting!
It causes no physical withdrawals at ever, regardless of how long it was used. The only addiction is psychological, and no different to a gambling addiction. HOWEVER, heavy user of this in the long-term does lead to the damaging of dopamine and serotonin receptors, which take months to fully heal, even up to a year or multiple years if someone had done it for decades, perhaps. So the addiction is more there is no pleasure in life, cannot focus, do not think correctly, etc, hence relapse, but if the user can switch to other drugs, they can restore their neurochemistry with time, but waiting long enough for it to happen is rare, I agree, hence the addiction.
It is usually cut with all kinds of dangerous chemicals!
Meth is actually so cheap to create, that to cut it with even things like caffeine or anti-depressants would make it more expensive to produce, plus, as most users do tend to smoke it, if it is cut with anything it will not liquify correctly and leave dirty residue in the pipe, hence you cannot subtetly cut it and have people not notice. It is feasible to do it when it is just powder, but again, like the rule of street drugs in general, people who rip people off eventually get karma returned to them, the dealers who make actually serious profit, seriously do sell just a pure product, as they do not want to harm their customers and want them to return, plus, if they do cut it with anything, it is to enhance it, not to harm the end user, these are just old wives tales.
It makes you crazy and violent!
Too much of any stimulant and sleep deprivation will make anyone hallucinate or go delusional, but it never makes you permanently crazy, all you need to do is get some sleep and rest it off, plus there are anti-psychotics if it gets too hard to deal with. As for violence, there is no evidence to prove this, however, someone who is already violent may actually commit acts of violence, because methamphetamine gives the user tremendous confidence and physical re-distrubution of energy + prowess.
Only such-and-such demographic uses meth!
It is often thought of as a, excuse the slur, redneck, drug, and less commonly as the gay or transgender drug of choice. The truth is every cross-section of society uses it. Male or female, straight or gay, White or Black, poor or rich, educated or illiterate, there is no demographic that only uses it.
It causes acne or seeps through your skin as crystals!
This is the common myth, as you frequently see methamphetamine straw-men users with lots of acne on their faces. The truth is that it does make you perspire more, as well as be able to sit longer without moving or cleaning, but it at the same time makes you far more concerned with cleanliness, especially with sleep deprivation, as your senses are much heightened on it. Anyway, these problems have nothing to do with methamphetamine, anymore then playing football, having excess fat cells, being in a hot climate, or skating causes acne (or anything that makes you sweat more). Still, this problem is easily solved with a proper cleanser + toner + moisturizer regiment.
As for it seeping out of your pores as crystals, this is equally ridiculous. When you smoke it, the smoke CANNOT re-crystallize, period! Only the liquid can, perhaps where this myth came from, as one might have observed the bubbling liquid re-crystallize and thought their lunges as that. But once it gets to your lunges it is then processed like oxygen or nicotine smoke, and quickly enters the blood, it never enters the sweat glands.
It causes your teeth to fall out!
Meth mouth as it is called does not exist. You can brush your teeth after smoking to rid yourself of any chemical residue, but there really is none. Unlike say tobacco or cannabis, when you light it, it does burn and therefore smoke, it liquifies into vapour smoke, which is why it does not leave an odor, like an e-cig, so this would therefore have no real chemical trace on your teeth. Likely, if meth users are missing teeth, it is from lack of hygiene and a poor diet, which people have regardless of drug use.
It causes heart attack, strokes, or some other major health problem!
There is no evidence of this. All evidence is causal and there has never been any extensive testing to verify these claims. Methamphetamine users have the same life expectancy as anyone else, same rates of heart disease, strokes, etc, and also the concept of taking meth and then dying of a heart attack is completely ridiculous. These sensations are actually called panic attacks, which it can trigger if the user is not in a good mental state, but it has nothing to do with the drug. You cannot even get poisoned from it easily, not without taking an absurd amount. People with tolerance can take an insane amount of methamphetamine and live, those who die of heart attacks, strokes, etc, had some health problem and it just pushed them over the edge, or they went crazy with the excess energy it seems to provide (but it does not really, hence the crash, just delays the pain till later) and died from exhaustion.
It is super addicting!
It causes no physical withdrawals at ever, regardless of how long it was used. The only addiction is psychological, and no different to a gambling addiction. HOWEVER, heavy user of this in the long-term does lead to the damaging of dopamine and serotonin receptors, which take months to fully heal, even up to a year or multiple years if someone had done it for decades, perhaps. So the addiction is more there is no pleasure in life, cannot focus, do not think correctly, etc, hence relapse, but if the user can switch to other drugs, they can restore their neurochemistry with time, but waiting long enough for it to happen is rare, I agree, hence the addiction.
It is usually cut with all kinds of dangerous chemicals!
Meth is actually so cheap to create, that to cut it with even things like caffeine or anti-depressants would make it more expensive to produce, plus, as most users do tend to smoke it, if it is cut with anything it will not liquify correctly and leave dirty residue in the pipe, hence you cannot subtetly cut it and have people not notice. It is feasible to do it when it is just powder, but again, like the rule of street drugs in general, people who rip people off eventually get karma returned to them, the dealers who make actually serious profit, seriously do sell just a pure product, as they do not want to harm their customers and want them to return, plus, if they do cut it with anything, it is to enhance it, not to harm the end user, these are just old wives tales.
It makes you crazy and violent!
Too much of any stimulant and sleep deprivation will make anyone hallucinate or go delusional, but it never makes you permanently crazy, all you need to do is get some sleep and rest it off, plus there are anti-psychotics if it gets too hard to deal with. As for violence, there is no evidence to prove this, however, someone who is already violent may actually commit acts of violence, because methamphetamine gives the user tremendous confidence and physical re-distrubution of energy + prowess.
Only such-and-such demographic uses meth!
It is often thought of as a, excuse the slur, redneck, drug, and less commonly as the gay or transgender drug of choice. The truth is every cross-section of society uses it. Male or female, straight or gay, White or Black, poor or rich, educated or illiterate, there is no demographic that only uses it.
Well said Wizard, and thanks for that. I have to say that after 20+ years of very heavy amphetamine use, my teeth (the few that are left, hem hem!) are in a very poor state, but I don't think that is the result of amphetamines. It is because of my own carelessness, that's all - having a 'dry mouth' is something I long ago got used to, and actually saw and felt was a 'good sign'. To alleviate it, I took to swigging cider, just the odd mouthful, but a habit I enjoyed all day, and still do. Not for the effect, but I like the taste, and the slight euphoric effect of the alcohol, plus the most enjoyable, 'taking the edge off' feel, is rather pleasant - the ideal complement. Unfortunately, the rather acidic content soon stripped the enamel from my (previously excellent) teeth, and no matter how often I brushed, proved fatally destructive. Had I chosen to drink Coca Cola, lemonade or any carbonated drink, the results would have been the same. And had I not, just having a dry mouth and putting up with it, would probably have had the same effect.... decay.
I now have no upper 'top set', which is rather embarrassing when beginning a new 'relationship', but I have developed a battery of fibs to get over that, varying from terrible accidents... "that's why I have this moustache, to hide the scars" to "it happened in a fight - you should have seen the other guy!", to just plain honesty, depending on the likely sympathies of the unfortunate lady in question. I do have a set of false teeth, but they meke me feel queasy, and there is the constant terror of them falling out at some critical moment... or glueing them in, which is ghastly (never again - almost needed a hammer and chisel to get them back out, yuk!)
I've got so used to this now, I no longer care - and the saacrifice, if it was, was well worth it. Not smiling comes naturally, and I am one of those lucky people who never showed their teeth (or lack of them) anyway... besides, a wry smirk seems more attractive ?
I now have no upper 'top set', which is rather embarrassing when beginning a new 'relationship', but I have developed a battery of fibs to get over that, varying from terrible accidents... "that's why I have this moustache, to hide the scars" to "it happened in a fight - you should have seen the other guy!", to just plain honesty, depending on the likely sympathies of the unfortunate lady in question. I do have a set of false teeth, but they meke me feel queasy, and there is the constant terror of them falling out at some critical moment... or glueing them in, which is ghastly (never again - almost needed a hammer and chisel to get them back out, yuk!)
I've got so used to this now, I no longer care - and the saacrifice, if it was, was well worth it. Not smiling comes naturally, and I am one of those lucky people who never showed their teeth (or lack of them) anyway... besides, a wry smirk seems more attractive ?
PsychedelicWizard
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You could consider getting like crystal teeth or gold teeth. Still, I find it pretty cool to have missing teeth, to me it is like having a scar or tattoo, it tells about your life. Mot people might not understand it, but anyone who judges you for it surely has their own flaws, who are they to judge?
Anyway I always found it weird the concept of meth mouth. Smoking crystal meth is like an e-cig vapour, and how would or injecting it even affect the teeth at all? My theory is that the real culprit is the sugary junk food binges, coupled with neglecting hygiene from how meth users tend to be up for days doing some repetitive task, along with the lack of proper nutrition (no calcium = weak bones) and exercise (same reason as no calcium), leads to these things. In reality though, even smoking and drinking coffee cause more damage to the teeth, but even these things are just superficial stains.
As long as you clean your teeth and gums at reasonable intervals, and possibly go to a dentist for cleaning and fillings regularly, you would be fine, but a lot of people even maintaining perfect oral hygiene lose their teeth, the same reason that people drop dead at 40 who are uber-health concious marathon runners; much of what we are is not environment like drugs or culture, but simply our genetics.
Your teeth might have been bad because of a genetic expiry date, and even if you obsessed about it, still may have had the same thing happen.
I mean for proof of this, just look at these heavy smokers, drinkers, bad diet, high stress, etc, all the "early killers" who make it to their late 80s or even 90s, whereas you'll find healthy-eating, fit, environmentalist types who just die at 70 or earlier of cancer. So my theory then is that while good health plays some role in the quality of your life, it does not change the quantity of your life.
Lightning-Nl
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Would just like to point out that since this post. We have come to the conclusion that meth is directly neurotoxic to serotonergic and dopaminergic cells. It's neurotoxic by producing free-radicals that bind to 5-HT and D2 receptors if not also direct neurotoxicity to these brain regions.
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Juniper Bruhmomentius
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Even high doses of amphetamine destroys the neural pathways. You can see it when an old user shoots amph and their face twists.
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I don't know man. I'm not going to deny that I have a bias regarding Amphetamine use as opposed to my milieu of Opioid dependence tempered with periods of Alcohol and Sedative use. I also grew up in and around Boston and in New England at-large, Methamphetamine was really a non-problem until maybe, 5 years ago when it started to make serious in-roads in the community. Prior to this, stimulant users were either exclusively using Cocaine and/or prescription stimulants like Adderall. This is opposed to how Methamphetamine addiction has been a major feature of regions like the South, Midwest and California.
Now, even in Vermont, Methamphetamine is very common whereas it would have been practically unheard of 5 or 10 years prior at most. I now talk to more Methamphetamine users than I do Cocaine users, which I never thought would happen. The economics of Methamphetamine are interesting to me. I've used it less than half a dozen times total in my life and was blown away by the fact that a 20 dollar dose of Meth was enough to keep me seriously high for almost 72 hours. This also kind of flies in the face of stereotypical, but accurate, patterns of Cocaine usage, in which not having enough Cocaine is a nearly definitive part of the experience. With Methamphetamine, it seems that even your average joe can afford to go for literal weeks at a time without sleep.
I had a friend who we will call Charlie. We ended up in the same rehab facility twice together and developed a pretty tight friendship. We were both exclusively Opioid users with some Alcohol etc. We were definitely worn out by the time we arrived, but the extent of permanent damage done to our bodies was minimal.
I ran into this same guy 3 years later after having not seen him. He was living at a hotel with some prostitute and when he opened the door and I saw his face, I could have cried man. He was emaciated. Had open sores on his face and he had lost multiple teeth with clearly visible black areas of his gums where other teeth were preparing for a breakout. He was previously a Biology major at UMass while I was in the History dept. He was intelligent and understood hygiene and such. He had intended to become a medical doctor prior to his addiction to Opioids derailed him.
I'm not claiming to know everything, but I believe that Methamphetamine is a more destructive force than other commonly used drugs. The speed at which I've seen people deteriorate into ghouls was not something I was previously familiar with. Perhaps it's not destructive in this way at therapeutic dosages, but even a point of Meth is exponentially higher than any medically established dosage. I don't judge people who use Meth, I'm just afraid for their long-term health, as I've seen too much evidence that Methamphetamine is brutally destructive.
Now, even in Vermont, Methamphetamine is very common whereas it would have been practically unheard of 5 or 10 years prior at most. I now talk to more Methamphetamine users than I do Cocaine users, which I never thought would happen. The economics of Methamphetamine are interesting to me. I've used it less than half a dozen times total in my life and was blown away by the fact that a 20 dollar dose of Meth was enough to keep me seriously high for almost 72 hours. This also kind of flies in the face of stereotypical, but accurate, patterns of Cocaine usage, in which not having enough Cocaine is a nearly definitive part of the experience. With Methamphetamine, it seems that even your average joe can afford to go for literal weeks at a time without sleep.
I had a friend who we will call Charlie. We ended up in the same rehab facility twice together and developed a pretty tight friendship. We were both exclusively Opioid users with some Alcohol etc. We were definitely worn out by the time we arrived, but the extent of permanent damage done to our bodies was minimal.
I ran into this same guy 3 years later after having not seen him. He was living at a hotel with some prostitute and when he opened the door and I saw his face, I could have cried man. He was emaciated. Had open sores on his face and he had lost multiple teeth with clearly visible black areas of his gums where other teeth were preparing for a breakout. He was previously a Biology major at UMass while I was in the History dept. He was intelligent and understood hygiene and such. He had intended to become a medical doctor prior to his addiction to Opioids derailed him.
I'm not claiming to know everything, but I believe that Methamphetamine is a more destructive force than other commonly used drugs. The speed at which I've seen people deteriorate into ghouls was not something I was previously familiar with. Perhaps it's not destructive in this way at therapeutic dosages, but even a point of Meth is exponentially higher than any medically established dosage. I don't judge people who use Meth, I'm just afraid for their long-term health, as I've seen too much evidence that Methamphetamine is brutally destructive.
Mr. Krinkle
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3 things you need to do daily in life - you need to sleep, eat, and drink water - and meth curbs all 3 of them
you also become highly vitamin and mineral deficient, and your body goes after your teeth to get these minerals that are lacking - so there goes your teeth
let me also say this - there's no such thing as an occasional meth user, no matter what somebody tells you - and the best thing you can do is to keep your distance if, after you already tried to help your friend/relative, by trying convince them to stop.
worst drug in the world easily
you also become highly vitamin and mineral deficient, and your body goes after your teeth to get these minerals that are lacking - so there goes your teeth
let me also say this - there's no such thing as an occasional meth user, no matter what somebody tells you - and the best thing you can do is to keep your distance if, after you already tried to help your friend/relative, by trying convince them to stop.
worst drug in the world easily