Article: Meth imposes serious health risks (long)

[aunty establishment]

eKLAB, a number of people I know have said they can feel/smell meth on their skin after a heavy/prolonged session. Obviously anything in your system is going to be secreted out one way or another but I think you'd have to be talking about huge doses for it to cause sores.

A more likely explanation is that meth suppresses your immune system so you're more susceptible to illness and wounds take longer to heal. People also tend to accidentally hurt themselves more when high and if you're not eating, your body's less able to repair itself.

 

[rm1x]

My mother and my girlfriend said they could always tell if I had been using as my sheets would get a really 'chemical' smell to them from my sweat.

 

[BigTrancer]

From The Vaults of Erowid --> Plants & Drugs --> Meth --> Methamphetamine FAQ

Myths and Rumors

"Smelling meth on a person"
Fatigue causes secretion of different chemicals, including ammonia, from the body. Thus you are smelling fatigue, not meth.

BigTrancer

 

[killarava2day]

aunty establishment- I thought the same as you straight off, I've experiened drug induced anxiety and seen it in numerous friends, but the one thing that concerned me about shal's post was the reerence to pains in the left arm. I have been told by people who have lived with panic-anxiety for 10 years that pain in the left arm is a something to watch for because it is a symptom of a serious problem and isn't something that manifests during an anxiety attack. I think shal should be taking such symptoms very seriously, he/she did the right thing going to emergency. If I had been their friend i probably would have just shrugged it off and given them some benzo's, which would not have been a good idea imo.

 

[superbabydoc]

shal: "Weak heart" is a vague term, that doesn't really mean a lot when you try to break it down. What I imagine the Dr meant, was that your heart is more sensitive to the stimulatory effects of than some other people (I'm sure you've seen some people take as much if not more than you and not complain of problems yeah?) To use the term "weak heart" is probably the Dr's attempt to use layman's terms to explain what had happened. From what you describe it sounds like you didn't suffer any serious consequences, other than discomfort. Am I right in reading that your tests all came back negative and they gave you no medication (other than fluids IV)? If that is correct, I wonder how honest the Dr was when he said you were close to having a heart attack?

I'm not a Dr, and I don't want to give you a false sense of security re: using amphetamines, I'm just a little sceptical of what you report being told.

Having said that, it is absolutely true that methamphetamine can cause various cardiac problems, both acutely and over the long term with chronic use. When you binge, you are far more likely to have problems like you decribed. I have noticed more reports in Health Q & A in the last 12 months or so from people with uncomfortable chest pains and rapid heart rate secondary to meth, which I assume is related to the availability in many areas of higher potency methamphetamine plus the increased popularity of same.

For more on the effect of recreational drugs on the heart: Recreational drug misuse: issues for the cardiologist (click on the full text link)

 

[DeSpise]

thought it was a pain in your right arm not left that was indicative of heart attack or heart problems???

 

[shal]

superbabydoc,

Thanks so much for the information. I'm assuming the doctor might have only been scaring me. Blood results, ECG, X-rays all appeared to be fine as they didn't mention any of these to me in anyway that was concerning, he simply said my heart was weak, but if that had been more serious then surely he would have done something more or at least prescribed something to me.

On that note, I guess I will try meth again very soon but at a much smaller dose and see how I end up feeling. I think your right! The doctor was just trying to scaring me into believing that I could have something more serious wrong, but then again, isn't it his duty to take proper measurements to see exactly "how bad" it is, which he never did!

Thanks for the advice! I think Im a little less worried about trying it again now.

shal :D

 

[aunty establishment]

Make sure you're in a good frame of mind before you try meth again or you might find the anxiety re-occurs, especially if you're worried about what might happen Good luck.

 

[superbabydoc]

I just want to clarify - I did not mean to imply the Dr was trying to scare you. What I said was that they would have used layman's terms to try to explain things.

You may have had an episode of angina, or coronary vasospasm - either of these would explain the pain and the lack of abnormal test results. If so, you could very well have such symptoms again, or you may not. Bingeing on meth is certainly likely to increase the risk, so if you choose to use again, be cautious about the amount you use. If you do get uncomfortable chest pain again, you may still need medical attention as it may be due to a different and more serious problem.

And it is left sided pain they worry about - this is easy to remember as long as you know which side your heart is on!