Methamphetamine Detoxification Center in Ohio
Methamphetamine is a highly addictive stimulant, making it a substance that can be extremely difficult to overcome if you have a substance use disorder. If you need help for a meth addiction or if you have a loved one with an addiction, we are here for you at White Light Behavioral Health. We will guide you toward the long-term recovery that you need.
What Is Methamphetamine?
Methamphetamine is a substance that manufacturers create in the lab. The Drug Enforcement Administration classified it as a Schedule II substance on the Schedules of Controlled Substances, so it is highly addictive. The euphoric effects it produces can last as long as 24 hours. Methamphetamine is easy for manufacturers to make, which makes it inexpensive. This is the reason that the price of this substance is just right for teenagers and young adults.
Due to its low price, methamphetamine used to be a favorite for those living under lower economic circumstances. Now, that use has become more widespread, including to younger users. According to the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future Survey, approximately 2% of high school seniors admitted to using methamphetamine the month before.
Short-Term Methamphetamine Use
As you consume meth, the brain releases large amounts of dopamine in the reward circuit. This is how the brain learns to repeat the action of consuming meth so that the body can experience these pleasurable feelings again. This produces several short-term effects, including:
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
- Fatigue
- Psychosis
- Intense cravings
- Appetite changes
- Muscle pain and spasms
- Headaches
- Dehydration
Long-Term Meth Use
Long-term use of meth increases the negative consequences. This may mean that long-term use can lead to a substance use disorder. A substance use disorder is a chronic, relapsing condition that causes you to compulsively seek your drug of choice.
Methamphetamine produces pleasurable effects in the beginning, but as you continue to consume the substance, the effects begin to wear off. This means that you have developed a tolerance for the drug. Rather than allow you to use less of the substance, tolerance causes you to use higher and higher doses so that you can experience the euphoria that you were familiar with in the beginning.
If you want to stop using methamphetamine, it’s important to get professional help. Coming off of meth can create dangerous withdrawal symptoms. Because you have a substance use disorder, you shouldn’t stop taking meth on your own. You may be addicted to the substance, so ceasing use would cause you to experience withdrawal symptoms, such as:
- Cognitive issues
- Anxiety
- Cravings
- Irregular sleep
- Depression
A detox program will help you endure the withdrawal symptoms. At White Light Behavioral Health, our staff of physicians and nurses will monitor your progress during your stay at the detoxification center. While you are being monitored, the staff will be able to address any problems that you have so that you will be as comfortable as possible throughout the entire process.
Changes in the Brain Due to Methamphetamine Use
Methamphetamine changes the brain in significant ways, and these changes can last for years after you stop using meth. Many chronic meth users experience cognitive and emotional problems after years of using meth. Scientists discovered that the brains of meth users contain structural changes in the areas associated with memory and emotion. They also learned that chronic meth users experienced impaired verbal learning and reduced motor speed in the dopamine system.
These brain changes may be reversible after you cease methamphetamine use, so beginning treatment for your methamphetamine use disorder as soon as possible is the best thing for you. The withdrawal symptoms are the reason that many people fail to complete the detoxification process. However, being in a detoxification center will give you or your loved one a better chance of becoming drug-free over the long term.
Guide to Withdrawal
Methamphetamine withdrawal symptoms include:
- Unpleasant or vivid dreams
- Changes in sleep habits
- Changes in appetite
- Agitation
- Fatigue
- Anxiety
- Depression
When you consume methamphetamine, your brain releases dopamine and serotonin, which are neurotransmitters. This is what makes it possible for you to experience the euphoria of using meth. If you were to stop consuming meth, your brain would not have enough dopamine and serotonin. When this occurs, the withdrawal symptoms begin. When your brain begins to refill its supply of dopamine and serotonin, the withdrawal symptoms start to subside.
How Long Do Meth Withdrawal Symptoms Last?
Meth withdrawal symptoms reach their peak one or two days after you stop using the substance. These symptoms go away within about a week. If you are older or have been using meth for a long time, your withdrawal symptoms may persist for a longer period of time. Sometimes, sleep changes persist after they improve during the first week.
Psychiatric Symptoms During Methamphetamine Withdrawal
Long-term methamphetamine use can also lead to psychiatric symptoms, including suicidal thoughts, depression, changes in your speech, anxiety, trouble concentrating, feelings of paranoia, and visual and auditory hallucinations. These symptoms may be present for months or even several years after you decide that you are going to stop using meth. They may also recur during stressful times. The brain changes described above are not necessarily permanent. After ceasing to ingest meth, the brain changes can be reversible.
The Detoxification Process
Treatment is a long process that begins with detoxification. During the detoxification process, we remove all traces of methamphetamine from your body. It is a better alternative than stopping the substance use on your own. Stopping “cold turkey” can be highly uncomfortable and dangerous. While you are in the detox center, the doctors and nurses at White Light Behavioral Health will monitor you. If any problems arise, they will be on hand to address the issue right away.
After the detoxification process is complete, this is not the end of treatment for your substance use disorder. A substance use disorder is a chronic disease because the changes in the brain cause you to compulsively seek your substance of choice even though you are not actively choosing to do so. It is also a disease that is prone to relapse, so there is a strong chance that you would return to your substance use if you fail to continue your treatment after the detoxification process ends.
What Are the Types of Treatment Available in Ohio?
Substance use disorder can be treated, but the treatment must continue throughout your lifetime. The point is to stop using methamphetamine immediately. However, you also need to avoid the drug for the rest of your life.
Medication
Medication helps you tolerate the withdrawal symptoms so that the detoxification process can continue.
Behavior Therapies
Contingency Management
Contingency management is a therapy that works particularly well for treating substance use disorders. With this therapy, you will receive a reward for following through with your treatment or realizing your treatment goals. The principle of this therapy is that you will repeat behaviors in the future for which you were rewarded in the past. It also shows that positive consequences work better to reduce substance use than negative consequences.
Motivational Interviewing
Motivational interviewing increases your motivation to become abstinent, and it is a treatment that is popular in drug treatment centers. Motivational interviewing focuses on the ambivalence you may have toward stopping your substance use. You may receive this therapy in individual counseling.
Relapse Prevention
Relapse prevention helps you identify the triggers that may increase the likelihood that you will use your substance of choice again. Part of this strategy is to increase your knowledge of the substance you have been using so that you can make better choices. Your therapist will also seek to change what you believe will be the positive consequences of engaging in substance use.
Couples Therapy
This therapy helps one partner understand what the other partner is going through. Because misunderstandings that occur between couples can lead to further substance use, the therapist must help the couple improve their relationship. Both the user and non-user receive education about substance use.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) teaches you to make connections between your thoughts and feelings and the actions that you take because of unhelpful thoughts and feelings. You must learn that thoughts and feelings can be irrational and may come from a past experience. You begin to understand why those thoughts and emotions lead you to seek your substance of choice. Because you understand why you want to consume your substance of choice, you will be in a better position to overcome the addiction.
Dual-Diagnosis Treatment
In the United States, 7.7 million Americans have both a substance use disorder and a mental health disorder. For this reason, you or your loved one must be evaluated for a possible mental health disorder.
Substance use disorders and mental health disorders tend to co-occur for the following three reasons:
- Sometimes, substances can cause those with a substance use disorder to start experiencing symptoms of a mental health disorder.
- Other times, the symptoms of a mental health disorder appear first, and people medicate these symptoms by consuming substances.
- Substance use disorders and mental health disorders have a lot of the same underlying causes, and these include early exposure to trauma or stress, genetic vulnerabilities, and brain changes.
Drug treatment centers must provide treatment for co-occurring disorders. When you or your loved one first enters the facility, you will be evaluated for a possible mental health disorder. Then, we can develop a plan to treat your mental health disorder. You will also receive treatment for your substance use disorder with the behavior therapies listed above.
Our detoxification center at White Light Behavioral Health is the first step in the process toward a recovery. If you or your loved one need help for a methamphetamine use disorder, contact us today.
