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Old 05-07-2012, 05:25 AM
  # 13 (permalink)  
gordano
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Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 164
Hi Hardy,

From what I know about meth (never tried it before), it can take a long time for your brain to recover...

Crystal meth withdrawal - Not like heroin, but don't expect it to be easy | Psychology Today

Withdrawing from crystal meth use is nothing like opiate withdrawal and there's no reason why it would be. Opiates play a significant role in pain modulation and opioid receptors are present in peripheral systems in the body, which is the reason for the stomach aches, nausea, and diarrhea. Dopamine receptors just don't play those roles in the body and brain, so withdrawal shouldn't be expected to have the same effect.

But dopamine is still a very important neurotransmitter and quitting a drug that has driven up dopamine release for a long time should be expected to leave behind some pain, and it does.

One of the important functions of dopamine is in signaling reward activity. When a dopamine spike happens in a specific area of the brain (called the NAc), it signifies that whatever is happening at that moment is "surprisingly" good. The parentheses are there to remind you that the brain doesn't really get surprised, but the dopamine spike is like a reward signal detector, when it goes up, good things are happening.

Well guess what? When a crystal-meth addict stops taking meth, the levels of dopamine in the brain go down. To make matters worse, the long-term meth use has caused a decrease in the number of dopamine receptors available which means there's not only less dopamine, but fewer receptors to activate. It's not a surprise than that people who quit meth find themselves in a state of anhedonia, or an inability to feel pleasure. Once again, unlike the heroin withdrawal symptoms, anhedonia doesn't make you throw up and sweat, but it's a pretty horrible state to be in. Things that bring a smile to a normal person's face just don't work on most crystal-meth addicts who are new to recovery. As if that wasn't bad enough, it can take as long as two years of staying clean for the dopamine function of an ex meth-addict to look anything like a normal person's.

...Please go see a doctor. Unfortunately it looks like a long road ahead, but you will be able to beat this!
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