Tools for recovering from (meth)amphetamine addiction

[~lostgurl~]

Threads that may be useful in recovering from (meth)amphetamine addiction:

Renegades Chemical Cocktail Cure for methamphetamine addicts (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27370)

Amino acids and recovery from methamphetamine abuse (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21644)

Research Chemical (2c's) could potentially help with amphetamine/stimulant addiction (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2411)


Activities that may aid recovery from (meth)amphetamine addiction

Counselling
Rehab
NA (Narcotics Anonymous)

Saunas
Meditation
Exercise
Sunlight

Force yourself to do normal every day things:

*Get up, out of bed and dressed every morning.
*Do not sleep during the day
*Do dishes every day
*Do laundry as soon as there is enough for a load
*Take care of yourself
*Cook healthy meals
*Drink lots of water


Excerts from threads in this forum that contain information that may aid recovery from (meth)amphetamine addiction

Micklemouse (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/member.php?u=560)

Eat well, sleep lots, get a good strong B vitamin complex and a calcium/magnesium supplement on top of any multivits you get. Selenium and 5htp won't hurt either for keeping your mood on a level through what could be a dark period ahead.

co-incidence (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/member.php?u=10490)

Cortiscosteroids might alleviate the feeling, of having no energy, feeling like rusted (lack of the activity of the adrenal glands after supreessing it with amphetamiens), as well as the to this image related depression might be resolved.. beware of taking more than th 7.5mg prednisone equivalent (cushingoid threshold)!

Synacthen or Tetracosactide will stimulate your adrenal gland that might have suffered dystrophy to grow and produce its hormones again, other peptide drugs like growth hormone and IGF and analogues will help to prevent kidney dystrophy, but they won´t help with any hypothalmic/pituitary lasting suppression (swim hasn´t done any research on the suppressive action of amphetamines on the HPA axis, but he assumes that´s not that bad as a supression due to prolongued very high dosed corticosteroids or steroid use, per se)

BrugmansiaBrujo (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/member.php?u=3314)

5-HTP
Rhodiola Rosea
Ginko Biloba
Ginseng

Also if you are experiencing a bit of depression, but don't like the idea of turning to yet another drug to deal with that, take a look at using the herb sceletium torturosum. Sceletium powder taken in gelcaps orally makes a good all day mood brightener. Sceletium is also available in pharmaceutical form, in 50mg tablets.

If you are not yet into eating lots of foods with chilli peppers in them, that might be also something to try. The capsacin in chillies causes your brain to release endorphins, natural opiate-like chemical your body can make; endorphins make you feel good. Excercise also
releases endorphins.

rocksmokinmachine (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/member.php?u=17405)

Number 1: Try to work out why SWIY uses

Number 2: Cut off all SWIY's conections (This is probably the hardest one)

Number 3: Indentify triggers in your life, this could be anything personal to you. It could be something as silly as a phonebox SWIY uses to ring his dealer that gives you the urge to use. Write these down and avoid.

Number 4: Identify high risk situations in which you would normally use. Write these down. Avoid them. These could be places your friends/aquaintances houses/flats for example.

Ohboy (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/member.php?u=41849)

Eat lots of whole foods...meat, eggs, dairy, even bananas. These have tyrosine, which the body converts to dopamine.

Exercise - Dopamine is used in movement.

cosmicruler (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/member.php?u=36272)

taking L-Tyrosine and 5-HTP a couple hours before swiy wants to sleep...try eating healthy and exercising and drinking alot of water....

sqyttles (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/member.php?u=16191)

Getting some l-deprenyl from a doctor or an India pharm to take for the couple days after using meth. It normalizes dopamine and noradrenaline production. Plus, it is a neuroprotectant; some people take it before Ecstasy to reduce neurotoxicity.

~lostgurl~ (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/member.php?u=2066)

Melatonin to normalize sleep patterns: Melatonin, it is a natural sleep aid that helps adjust your circadian rhythm so that you sleep at night and wake during the day. Often with heavy methamphetmine use a person will stay up all night long which disturbs the circadian rhythm in a way that is similar to both jet lag and changing time zones. It does not make you feel drugged like prescription sleeping pill but eases you back into a normal sleep pattern. It is also non-addictive so is a great alternative for a recovering addict.

Vitamins recommended by health shop:

Extra B + C
Take 1 pill 1 hour before breakfast
A high potency balanced B-Complex with 500mg Non-Acid Vitamin C
Contains:
B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12
Calcium, Biotin, Choline Bitartrate, Folic acid, Inositol
Vitamin C

Ultra C 1000
Take 1 pill 1 hour before breakfast & 1 pill with dinner
Advanced Poly-ascorate Vitamin C Complex with Bioflavonoids
Contains:
Vitamin C
Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium
Bioflavonoids, Rosehip, Zinc

B6
Take 1 pill 1 hour before breakfast
Contains:
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride 240 mg

DL-Phenylalanine 500mg
Take 1 pill 1 hour before breakfast
Contains:
D-Phenylalanine 250mg
L-Phenylalanine 250mg

Women’s or Men’s Multivitamin & Mineral
Take 1 pill with lunch

Multi Mineral
Take 1 pill with dinner

Taurine500mg
Take 1 pill 1 hour after dinner or in the evening

Protein Shake Powder
Can substitute or be used in combination with breakfast or dinner

The biggest issue for my girl has been switching her mind set from instant gratification to long term satisfaction. It's so hard to do things because they will make your life better in the long term when you are used to doing things that make you feel great instantly. Having people in your life that really care and are really proud of the changes you have made really helps.

What is also important is not beating yourself up if you slip and use again. It is a lapse not a relapse. So many people slip up and use then because of the guilt they think they are a fuck up so they keep using. Just because you lapse doesn't mean you have to relapse. Refocus and get back on track. Lapses could happen for the rest of your life but as long as you see them for what they are, a normal part of addiction and a normal part of recovery, then you can stay on track and not let it affect your long term goals.


Archive Articles relating to the recovery from methamphetamine addiction

Suppression of methamphetamine-seeking behavior by nicotinic agonists (2006) (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60277)

Women with methamphetamine dependence: research on etiology and treatment (2007) (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51826)

A nine session manual of motivational enhancement therapy for methamphetamine dependence: adherence and efficacy (2007) (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51823)

Bupropion for the Treatment of Methamphetamine Dependence (2007) (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47033)

Treatment for amphetamine dependence and abuse (2001) (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46962)

Bupropion Reduces Methamphetamine-Induced Subjective Effects and Cue-Induced Craving (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35309)

Cognitive Behavioural Intervention for Amphetamine Users (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34803)

Reboxetine May Be Helpful in the Treatment of Amphetamine Withdrawal (Bowers and McBride, 2004) (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33095)

[cosmicruler]

This is very,very good and valuable information.
Thanks for posting SWIlostgurl

[lowster11]

Lot's of good rules to live by!

[cyndi]

Swim also likes this thread. Yes she agrees breaking with old using buddies can be tough and making sober buddies. Swim is working on that one as she has to find things she has in common with them since she was used to friendships based on drug use.

Another issue is finding fun things to do that do not involve drugs. She has found that even going out dancing, alcohol is usually served and that leads to cravings in her case for the old doc.

Counseling is a good one, usually there are underlying reasons that addicts have to deal with to be whole again and not go back to negative patterns.

Swim agrees relapses are to be learned from and just don't stay in the relapse. They are very common with meth addicts she knows. One just has to readjust and discover what was the trigger that caused the relapse so they can avoid it.

[Felix Guattari]

Anyone who is trying to stabilize a significant biochemical disruption (such as, say, amps addiction) would be well advised to supplement with some (or a lot of) neurotransmitter precursors. Someone mentioned L-Dopa, but I'd advise against it, as there is a very long list of possible side-effects due to its decarboxylation in peripheral tissues. When it is used clinically, it is co-administered with an enzyme inhibitor to prevent this, which is also unfortunately rather unselective.. too complicated to be worth it, methinks.

I'd add 5-HTP, l-tyrosine (precursor to dopamine and other catecholamines) and l-phenylethylamine (the brain's 'endogenous amphetamine) to this combo, as well as COQ10, which both combats oxidative stress and indirectly raises dopamine levels. Vitamin B6 wouldn't be a bad idea as well, as it is a cofactor in the biosynthesis of dopamine from endogenous l-dopa (which is made from l-tyrosine, which you've also increased... get the picture?).

I'm not sure it would be compatible with this 'recipe' (in fact, I'm pretty sure it would very ill-advised), but an approach to treatment using primarily precursors and an MAOI inhibitor (full inhibition might be preferable, but one could also look into an MAO-B inhibitor such as l-deprenyl) is an interesting possibility as well and might involve fewer side-effects than that mega-stack. Modafinil might combine safely with this combo as well.

A good nootropics regimen would likely be a good idea as well.

It makes good political sense as to why the problem of treating methamphetamine addiction hasn't gotten a greater response from the medical community. Meth addiction is fairly new (at present scale) and primarily afflicts the often already poor of rural areas, whose access to medical care may already be spotty...

It's all about money.

[Cakes]

Are any of the suggestions in this thread contraindicated during pregnancy?

[Felix Guattari]

l-deprenyl hasn't been studied in pregnant women. My bet would be that most of the amino acids and vitamins would be safe, but I would have to do research on them separately to have any sort of certainty. My suspicion is that most doctors wouldn't be able to say off of the top of their head either, though it wouldn't hurt to ask your MD.

B6 supplementation is often recommended to pregnant women, so that wouldn't likely be a problem. C,D,E and K are often recommended as well.

Unfortunately, AFAIK anyway, there's not much info out there on the safety of venlafaxine or bupropion, both of which seem to show some promise for the treatment of meth. addiction. SSRIs are the only class which seems to be OK across the board, and they've been used as well.

[~lostgurl~]

AFAIK Vitamin A is the only vitamin that can be considered unsafe at normal to high doses during pregnancy. Sauna's are out as they can induce fever temperatures in the baby. Not enough research has been done on melatonin and even though it is a natural hormone, taking it as a supplement is giving the body much more than it would create on its own so it is recommended to avoid during pregnancy. Steroids would be unsafe, 2C's should be avoided as research is not available to show the effects of 2Cs. If one is taking anti-depressants at the time of conception then speak to your Dr who will be able to risk assess the benefits and dangers for you personally, but starting anti-depressants after getting pregnant is not recommended as there is a small chance it could hurt the baby.