What is crystal meth?
Crystal meth is the common name for crystal methamphetamine, a strong and highly addictive drug that affects the central nervous system. There is no legal use for it.
Also called “ice” or “glass,” it’s a popular party drug. Usually, people who use crystal meth smoke it with a small glass pipe, but they may also swallow it, snort it, or inject it into a vein. People say they have a quick rush of euphoria shortly after using crystal meth, but it’s dangerous. It can damage your body and cause severe psychological problems.
Where Does It Come From?
Methamphetamine is a man-made stimulant that’s been around for a long time. During World War II, soldiers took meth to stay awake. People have also taken the drug to lose weight, ease depression, and manage attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Today, the only legal meth product is a prescription pill. Rarely, it’s used to treat obesity and ADHD.
Meth contains chemicals that are similar to amphetamine, a drug used to treat ADHD and narcolepsy. Find out the differences between Adderall and methamphetamines, as well as amphetamines vs. methamphetamines.
Crystal meth is often made with a common cold medicine ingredient called pseudoephedrine, which helps ease congestion. Because it’s used to make meth, the federal government closely regulates products with pseudoephedrine.
How long does meth stay in your system?
Your body doesn’t break down meth as fast as some other stimulant drugs, such as cocaine. You may feel the effects for 8-24 hours. But it may stay in your urine or blood for around 72 hours and in your hair for up to 90 days.
How long meth makes you high or stays in your system depends on several things, such as:
- How much you take
- What time of day you take it
- How you put it in your body (by mouth or through a vein in your arm)
- How healthy your kidneys and liver are
- Your metabolism
Meth Effects
Drugs affect people in different ways. The way meth makes you feel depends on several things, including:
- Your age and body size
- How much you take
- The way you get it into your body
- The people around you or the place where you take it
- If you have other physical or mental health conditions
- Whether you have alcohol, medicine, or other drugs in your body
How long does it take meth to kick in?
You’ll usually feel a “rush” pretty quickly. But how fast meth kicks in depends on the method you use:
- Injecting or smoking: Within seconds
- Snorting: 3-5 minutes
- Swallowing: 15-20 minutes
Meth dosage
Unless you use an approved methamphetamine medication under the direction of a doctor, there’s no recommended dose for meth. The least risky (and slowest) way to use meth is to swallow it. Your odds of harmful effects go up if you put meth into your vein with a needle. But you can lessen the chances of harmful effects if you use smaller amounts of meth no matter what method you choose.
Here are some typical ranges for doses:
- Light dose: 5-10 mg
- Common dose: 10-30 mg
- Strong dose: 30-40 mg
Meth short-term effects
You may feel a high similar to other stimulants, such as cocaine. Even with small amounts of meth, you may:
- Feel more alert and confident
- Have more energy
- Talk and move more
- Sleep and eat less
You may get physical symptoms. Some may be uncomfortable, such as:
- Fast breathing
- Racing heart
- Chest pain
- Dry mouth
- Muscle tension
- Increase in body temperature
How long does the high last?
In general, you may feel the effects of meth for around 2-6 hours if you smoke it or 6-8 hours if you inject it. The high may linger a little longer if you snort or swallow the drug, lasting up to 12 hours or longer. The duration may differ for you depending on how often you use meth.
Meth comedown
After the high wears off, you may start to feel bad physically and emotionally. These negative feelings may equal the intensity of your high but in the opposite way. You may seek out more meth to make these feelings go away.
The “meth comedown” may include physical symptoms such as:
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Hunger
- Muscle aches
- Shakiness
You may have psychological symptoms such as:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Paranoia
- Sadness
- Hopelessness
Some people who use meth see or hear things that aren’t there. You may experience something called psychosis. This can cause you to think scary things that aren’t true. The odds of this happening to you are higher if you go on a multiday meth binge without sleeping.
Meth long-term effects
It depends on how often you use meth and your method of choice, but you could develop physical and emotional symptoms, including addiction, that negatively impact your life in big and little ways.
Long-term effects of regular meth use may include:
- Serious weight loss because you don’t eat
- Constant drug-seeking
- Teeth problems
- Skin that itches so bad your scratching causes sores
- A feeling like you have bugs crawling under your skin
- Anxiety, depression, or other mood changes
- Confusion or trouble focusing
- Memory loss
If you use meth often, you may also:
- Use poor judgment and do risky things
- Only feel good when they take drugs
- Become aggressive and violent
- Have extreme paranoia
- See or feel things that aren’t real
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