is Crystal Meth more addictive than other drugs?

Question

My daughter had been taking meth for 6 months and has been clean for 9 months. She is going to NA now 1-2 times a week..Compared to other drugs what are her chances of staying clean? Will she have the significant cravings and how powerful do they get as compared to opiates or cocaine?

Answer 1

Meth is sometimes referred to as the 'bathtub' drug. It is made out of household cleaning supplies, etc..., rat poisen, battery acid, WD40. The list goes on and on.
Meth is highly addictive! Not like other drugs, Meth eats away brain cells, and they don't come back. Your daughter is fortunate she only used for 6 months.

Her chances of staying clean depend on her. From now on, she has to life life one day at a time..literally. For us drug addicts in the world, "one is to much and 1000 is never enough. The stronger she becomes in NA, the more her mind will be on staying clean rather than relapsing.

If she is doing the 5 things suggested by other recovering addicts that worked for them, she will be better equiped to say no. She needs the fellowship with other recovering addicts. If I may...1-2 times a week is not enough.

I am a recovering addict with 7 years clean. I also used Meth. I was also a substance abuse counselor in a treatment facility, before my health got me down. You may e-mail me if you have further questions.

Your daughter should be encouraged. This is a brave step in her life and a very important one. Good for Her!!!

Answer 2

Just to clarify, methamphetamines are not the most addictive drugs out there. If you define addictiveness as the likelihood that you'll become addicted when using a substance, than crack cocaine and nicotine are much more addictive than meth.

There are two stages of getting clean from an addiction; the first stage is the physical withdrawal from the drug. This stage varies depending on the drug. Some drugs like benzodiazepenes and barbiturates can take weeks to withdraw from; opiates and alcohol generally take a few days. Meth actually doesn't have a markedly pronounced physical withdrawal; however if you've been using it a lot you'll have a 'crash' that will feel like the same thing.

The next stage after the physical part is done is no longer physical, but entirely mental/behavioral. Once you have detoxed from the drug, there is literally no difference b/w recovering from one drug over the other. It depends on how long you have been using, and why you have been using, not the specific drug itself. For instance, if you had been using for 10 years to help cope with a mental illness or some kind of post traumatic stress, you are going to have a lot more difficulty recovering than someone who only used for 2 years, and just used because it was fun and all his/her friends did.

The cravings your daughter can expect will relate to the reasons she was using, and how long she had been using, as they will result from the neural network of behavioral patterns she formed during her use, not from some vestigial remnant of the drug exerting control over her.

You can see that the second phase of recovery from addiction is clearly a complex issue, but the point is that it is independent of the drug itself. The only differences between drugs occur in that initial physical stage.

There's a lot more to say on the subject, but I hope I answered your question! Don't be discouraged by the 'odds'. It is true that the odds of recovering without relapse are low; most people will have one or more relapses. But usually people make positive progress b/w relapses and eventually are able to escape those neural networks, forming healthier ones unrelated to drug use. So the odds are actually quite good if you consider her chances of eventually getting into permenant recovery!

The kinds of things that will improve her odds are having a solid support network to help her. It's great that she's going to NA meetings; support from her family is huge as well, and she may consider additional help in the form of a counselor/therapist during the more difficult first 1-2 years.

Answer 3

my daughter has been fighting it for 4 years now. She has gone back and forth being clean, and this month will be 6 months. She is 17 now, and it took breaking off with everyone she knew at all. She cant so much as talk on the phone to her old friends, cant go to football games, or school concerts from her old high school. She is in a school / class for kids that are trying to stay clean, and she goes to AA every night of the week. NA, we found, has to many addicts that the court sent there. Many of them were just taking up space and not clean. Meth is the most devastating drug that has ever come around.

Answer 4

My heart goes out to you and to your daughter. My daughter's dad died of a heroin overdose. He had been sober from alcohol for 9 years. He had also gone through a bout with crack cocaine and tried crystal meth. I think it depends on the individual to some point. His heroin addiction was worse than the alcoholism and that was awful. For some reason the meth never gripped him the way the heroin did. Your daughter may have some cravings to some extent for a very long time, but you get to be able to ignore them and they eventually come less and less often and are less and less intense over time. I wish you all the best. What a brave and strong daughter you have.

Answer 5

1) No,crystal meth is meth in a crystal form,much like crack is cocaine in a crystal form.(2)It is smoked,snorted,and injected.If it is snorted it can be painful because it resembles shards of glass.Some people call it "glass".(3)I do not know,I never tried it but it is billed as the "poor mans cocaine" and that is a high I know alot about.It is a euphoria like you feel on top of the world.You spend all night chasing that first high.You never get back there though.(by the way I have been clean for 11 years now.) 4)Typically about 20 minutes or so.(5)Highly addictive!!! (6)Typically 20 to 40 years old.(7)Skinny as a rail,rotten teeth,rotten skin complexion. DO NOT EVER TRY IT OR COCAINE!!!!

Answer 6

I used meth for 9 yrs strong................my heart goes out to you, your daughter. Everyday you must make a promise to yourself to stay clean and stick to it. Be aware of any signs of her relapsing. I have done just about everything out there at one time or another when i was using. Meth consumed my life and it had an enormous hold on me. I wanted to quit and checked myself into rehab 3yrs ago. The cravings come and go and sometimes I don't even know what triggered them. It is a powerful and very destructive drug. Only your daughter can make that choice to stay clean and keep working a program 1 day at a time.Make sure she has a sponser too, really important. Do you know about codependency and enabling too????????

Answer 7

someone I love dearly had addiction problems for years.....meth was the worst of the worst drug he every took!!!! Once someone has at least a year of sobriety, don't be afraid if they ever relapse....once a person is clean and knows what he or she has.....rarely do they get down too far without coming back hard to stay clean. The AA or NA programs are just the same.. my loved one only goes to AA meetings and was a drug addict...clean for 5 years now (but did have several short lived relapses and the secret was going back to treatment quickly....he always checked himself back in) God bless you and turn her over to God....took me many years to really do that....

Answer 8

when it come to cocaine it is a mild form of crystal meth. my husband was strong out on crystal meth for 5 yrs. it is hard to break the habit because the want is always there. because of the high it gives you. it speed you up to where you think you can do anything and everything. but he has been clean since i have been with him. it is going on 5 yrs. he still has the wants every now and again. it all about the will if you really want to quit and the love and support of your family.

Answer 9

Meth is supposed to be the most addictive drug around and is hard to kick.

Good luck with your daughter.

Answer 10

I think opiates are harder to stop, but meth is just hard as well. Good luck with her. I have a loved one who struggles with that and tries to get off but always seems to go back. Its sad, very hard to see someone you love go down like that