Methamphetamine is a stimulant drug that has limited medicinal use because of its high addiction quality. It can be smoked, swallowed, snorted, or injected, and it is infamous for its energetic and intense high. Because of the quickness at which this high dissipates, users will often find themselves binging in order to fight the tolerance they have developed. Not only can meth cause severe damage to a person’s physical health, but their mental health can also take a hit. Banyan Treatment Centers Massachusetts is looking at the relationship between meth & weight loss.
Does Meth Cause Weight Loss?
While everyone is different, meth and weight loss are often connected. In some cases, methamphetamine may be used purposely to lose weight, and other times, it is simply a side effect of continued abuse.
Along with the treatment of ADHD, occasionally doctors will give obese patients prescription methamphetamine for weight loss, but this is rare. Because of methamphetamine’s addictive nature, there is a high risk of abuse. If doctors do prescribe it, it is usually only for a short period of time.
More often than not, methamphetamine is abused illegally and without the monitoring of a medical professional. Most users struggle to stop regardless of the negative consequences. Unhealthy and drastic weight loss is one common side effect of this abuse. Some people may even take crystal meth specifically for weight loss before becoming addicted to the drug, leaving them without much choice regarding their drug use. Others take this drug intending to get high, and consequently, repeated use of methamphetamine causes weight loss.
How Do Meth & Weight Correlate?
The relationship between meth and weight is believed to be attributed to a few different reasons.
Methamphetamine is a stimulant that increases energy levels. When people binge use this drug to avoid the unwanted side effect of crashing, it may lead to days without quality sleep. Alongside this constant activity, methamphetamine is also believed to suppress appetite. Regular users may go days with a full meal.
There is also evidence to suggest that long-term drug abuse can impact the body’s metabolism and ability to store fat, but this discovery still needs further review.1 Over time, all of these factors can lead to drastic weight loss as well as malnutrition from a poor diet when users do eat. Drug rehab centers should do a full clinical assessment of patients before treatment begins to address secondary issues like malnutrition in recovery.
Other Side Effects of Meth Use
Long-term abuse of methamphetamine can lead to several unsightly changes in physical appearance, such as meth sores, false aging (a sense of lost time), meth mouth, and, as discussed before, dramatic weight loss.
Additional meth side effects can include:
- High body temperature
- Quickened breathing
- High blood pressure
- Sped-up heart rate
- Inability to sleep
- Anxiety and paranoia
- Heart attack
- Risk of strokes
- Uncontrollable tremors
- Heightened libido
- Rapid speech patterns
- Chest pains
- Pupil dilation
- Seizures
- Death
If someone is exhibiting severe side effects of symptoms of an overdose, call 9-1-1 immediately. That call could literally make the difference between life and death.
As the affected individual begins to heal their body from the negative effects of their addiction, our Massachusetts addiction treatment center can help them unpack their substance use disorder.
Lean On Our Wilmington Rehab Center
At Banyan’s rehab in Massachusetts, we believe that successful long-term recovery should be a lifestyle change that starts in early treatment. We offer options for meth addiction treatment that will not only help the user quit abusing this drug but also look at the side effects of its use, such as unhealthy weight loss. Those who are underweight or malnourished from long-term abuse will focus on changing their diet to give their body the nutrients it’s been lacking, as well as getting back to a healthy weight.
They will also have the opportunity to attend life-changing therapy sessions that will help them gain a better understanding of why the addiction occurred, process unresolved trauma, and learn coping tools for triggering situations.
If you or someone you love struggle with substance abuse of any kind, we are here. Reach out to Banyan Massachusetts now at 888-280-4763 to learn how we may be able to help.
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