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My Child is a Crystal Meth Addict - How do I Help?

by — Last updated: 2014-09-26 in Healthy Living

Crystal meth is a highly addictive drug that can quickly destroy a user's life. What do you do if you find out your child is taking crystal meth, and what are the tell-tale signs?

Ice, crank, glass, or just crystal meth — whatever you want to call it, this form of methamphetamine is one of the most popular and dangerous street drugs out there today. It's so addictive that many get hooked the first time they try it. 

What can you do to help if your child or someone else who is near and dear to you is a meth addict? What are the signs and symptoms you should watch out for if you suspect your child is using crystal meth?

What Is Crystal Meth?

Crystal meth is just one form of methamphetamine (meth, speed, crank, chalk), a synthetic substance that works on the central nervous system. It can be smoked, snorted, injected, and used in a wide variety of other ways including orally and as a suppository. 

Meth initially acts as a stimulant that increases the user's energy, keeps them awake for long periods of time, and suppresses feelings of hunger. A powerful aphrodisiac and euphoriant, meth is popular as a recreational drug among young people who love to party. 

The powerful high that comes with crystal meth also, unfortunately, wears off really quickly, leaving users vulnerable to feelings of severe depression that can only be relieved by another round of the drug.

The long-term effects that can come with meth are enough to make anyone with an addicted loved-one depression, as well — brain damage, psychosis, an increased risk of heart attack, loss of teeth, and in the case of overdose lung, kidney and gastrointestinal damage, coma and death. 

The routine side effects that come with meth don't sound much more pleasant: nausea and diarrhea, tremors, clenching of the jaw, loss of appetite, paranoia, agitation, violence, confusion, hypertension and increased heart rate, and constriction of the arteries.

Meth causes users to lose natural inhibitions, often leading to risky sexual behavior. Women who are using and breastfeeding will pass the drug onto babies, while babies born to women who were using during pregnancy can have acute physical and mental disabilities and suffer from lack of cognitive growth. 

Meth Ingredients And How To Spot A Meth Lab

While different forms of methamphetamine, including crystal meth, are highly addictive and popular as recreational drugs, methamphetamine is also an FDA approved drug used to treat obesity caused by factors outside a patient's control, and sometimes even ADHD. In this case, the drug appears under the name Desoxyn, and extreme caution should be applied by prescribing physicians.

Illegal meth labs where street versions of methamphetamine are created can appear anywhere, including often in family homes. Some of the things used in a meth lab are acetone, methanol, ammonia, ether, hydraulic acid, freon, muriatic acid, sodium hydroxide, sulfuric acid, and paint thinners.

Many of these products can easily be obtained by anyone. They are also highly flammable, and those who work in the labs are at great risk of causing a massive explosion from the combination of these chemicals. Locations that harbor meth labs tend to have the following tell-tale signs: 

  • Strange chemical odors
  • Covered windows to prevent people from spotting the lab
  • Unusual ventilation measures
  • Security measures
  • Excessive trash, including chemicals
  • Paranoid behavior in occupants, and frequent visitors

Is Your Child A Crystal Meth Addict? The Signs And What To Do

Meth Addiction: The Tell-Tale Signs

Signs of crystal meth addiction vary from user to user. They depend on the mode of administration (snorting, injecting, smoking, and so on) as well as on the dosages being used and the person's health and weight.

Figuring out your child is using "some kind of drugs" might be a whole lot easier than deciding your child is specifically using crystal meth — unless, of course, you have seen the drugs for yourself or your child is open about their drug use. 

While someone is under the influence of crystal meth, they will likely experience euphoria, hyperactivity, anxiety, a lack of appetite and insomnia. Larges doses may lead to violence and confusion. In the case of an overdose, a heart attack or stroke can occur. If your child is suddenly obsessive and hyperactive, and you suspect drug use, crystal meth might be a candidate. 

Physical signs of crystal meth use that might be obvious to people other than the users can include sweating, red eyes, and dilated pupils. Over a longer period of time, you mat notice rapid weight loss, a change in sleeping behavior, and dental deterioration. Scabs and skin lesions are also extremely common among crystal meth addicts. 

Any type of drug use will lead to personality and behavior changes in addicts. Ask an addict about drug use or how they spend their time and with whom, and they are likely to become defensive. Addicts need increasing amounts of money to satisfy their habit. Unless an addict is functional and can cover the costs of their addiction with their own income, parents and other loved ones may notice money missing from their purse, or things missing from their home.  

Drug paraphernalia also clearly alert parents that their child is using drugs. These include syringes, pipes, lighters, tin foil, spoons, glass tubes, and other such things.

[A quick note to overly concerned parents of teens all around the world: some of these things can simply indicate your child is working on a science experiment at school. Likewise, many teens don't like to answer overly intimate questions, especially if you are pushy.]

How Can I Help My Kid Get Off Meth?

An addiction to crystal meth is extremely hard to kick: the withdrawal process affects both mind and body in very challenging ways. In addition to paranoia, confusion, an inability to sleep, and strange sensations on the skin, people withdrawing from crystal meth will inevitably go through periods of immense cravings, where they will do almost anything to get their fix. 

Loving parents are, of course, going to want to do anything they can to help their meth-addicted child turn over a new leaf. In order to quit using permanently, however, an addict needs to be ready and willing. Even the most determined addict is unlikely to be able to go through the withdrawal process alone. During the withdrawal process, coming off the drug doesn't feel so appealing anymore. 

The help available to drug addicts, including crystal meth addicts, varies greatly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In many places, addicts need to be clean for predetermined periods of time before they are even considered for rehab centers. Parents of addicts can, in most cases, best help an addicted child who is determined to come off the drugs by either financing their stay in a specialized rehab facility, or by helping them locate a government-funded facility that will accept them.

You are looking for a facility that is intimately acquainted with methamphetamine, and offers multiple treatments — including counseling, drug testing, and post-rehab support — tailored to individual addicts. 

Read More: Parenting Advice: Talking with Kids about Drugs and Alcohol Abuse

Once a person has quit meth, or any other serious drug, staying off the drug becomes the real challenge. Drug addictions are never truly cured; the person will always remain vulnerable to the drug. A proper support network that helps the former drug user start a new life is therefore of utmost importance. Parents who can help their formerly addicted kids stay away from their old life, including friends and locations they used to frequent, are doing a great thing. Former users will need new, productive ways to spend their free time and a clean break with their past. 

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