How Long Does Meth Stay in Your System? 

Resilient Recovery is a premier addiction recovery center in Lancaster, California. We offer treatment for people who suffer from substance addiction and the disorders that can occur with them. In this article, we will provide answers to how long does meth stay in your system, the effects, and what to do about treatment options.

If you’re looking for a treatment program to help you detox from your addiction, then come seek us out.

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What is Methamphetamine?

Methamphetamine is a potent stimulant. It generally comes in bluish-white crystals that resemble shards of glass. That’s where the term crystal meth comes from. Crystal meth can be absorbed in a variety of ways, from ingesting to smoking to injecting. 

Meth increases the release of dopamine in the brain. This creates feelings of euphoria, increases energy, and makes a user more alert.

Meth’s Effects on the Body

Meth usage has a number of effects on the human body. The most prominent of these is the high, intense, instantaneous feeling of euphoria. But it has several negative side effects as well. These can include:

Meth Mouth

Meth mouth is used to describe a series of oral problems that occur with prolonged meth usage. Using meth may lead to a decrease in saliva production, which can result in tooth decay as saliva helps to neutralize acid and protect teeth. Meth use can also contribute to gum disease. 

Also, many meth users end up neglecting their normal oral hygiene habits, such as toothbrushing and using mouthwash.

Heart Problems

Meth is a stimulant, which means it stimulates the body. This can lead to increased heart rate, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeats, and increase the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases.

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Malnutrition

Using methamphetamine can suppress a person’s appetite, causing them to neglect eating and leading to malnutrition. Rapid weight loss is often a sign of addiction to an illicit substance.

Dermal Issues

Prolonged abuse of methamphetamine can have detrimental effects on your skin health. The drug can lead to the appearance of unsightly acne and painful sores, which can easily become infected. These skin infections can cause further damage to your skin and even spread to other parts of your body, potentially leading to more severe health complications. 

Infectious Disease

Injecting meth is a common way through which many addicts get their fix. This can cause the spread of diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis as many meth users share needles.

Chronic Problems

Long-time meth users can experience cognitive degeneration and begin having problems with their memory, attention span, and decision-making.

Mental Health Disorders

Prolonged usage of meth can cause a person to develop mental health disorders. Users can become anxious, paranoid, delusional, and even violent.

How Long Does Meth Stay in Your System?

So, how long does meth stay in the body? Meth has a half-life of around 12 hours. This means half of it is gone from the body after around 12 hours, and it’s entirely gone from the bloodstream 72 hours after the last use. But, even if it is gone from the bloodstream, testing for meth can still detect it even after the initial 72 hours, depending on the testing method.

Urine is a common way to test for drugs, and a urine test can detect meth up to 4 days after the last use. In saliva, meth is detectable for up to 2 days. Testing hair follicles has the largest detection window, as meth can be detected in hair follicles up to 90 days after the last hit.

However, the above figures are estimates. There are a number of other factors that can determine how long meth stays in the system:

Chronic Use

Meth can linger in the body longer in chronic users. Meth can also remain detectable depending on a person’s metabolic rate. A high metabolism will make for a shorter detection window, and a slower one will make for a longer detection window.

Health

Another factor that can affect how long meth stays in the body is overall health. A person who is in good health will eliminate the drug relatively quickly. Someone with liver and kidney issues, however, may need more time to eliminate the drug from their body. 

Dosage

Using a higher dosage of meth will cause it to remain in the urine, blood, and saliva for longer periods of time than the estimates outlined above.

Purity

Related to the dosage is the purity of the meth. Purer meth will have a higher dosage by weight and will generally linger for longer in the body.

Methamphetamine Detox and Withdrawal

One of the first parts of treatment for meth addiction is to detox from meth. Detoxing is the process by which the body purges itself of foreign chemicals. This is usually done through urinating and excreting fecal matter.

But in the world of substance addiction, detoxing means going through medically supervised withdrawal. 

Detox is one of the more uncomfortable parts of addiction treatment. While going through detox, an addict can go through a lot of physical and psychological pain. Their cravings will be intense, and they’ll have no way to meet those cravings. 

Cravings aren’t the only symptom.  Other effects of meth withdrawal can include:

Depression and Anxiety

Many meth users can also experience depressive episodes during their withdrawal, as feelings of sadness and hopelessness are common during withdrawal. Some become so depressed that they begin having suicidal thoughts. Withdrawal can also cause addicts to get anxious and agitated.

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Other Symptoms

• Slowness: Withdrawal can make a person feel duller and slow down their movement.
• Sleep Changes: Withdrawal can either cause insomnia or make a person sleep more.
• Fatigue: It’s not uncommon for meth addicts to become lethargic during the detox process.
• Paranoia: Some addicts can become paranoid during withdrawal.

Medical Supervision

It’s important that the detox process only be done under strict medical supervision. At Resilient Recovery, the patients who undergo detox are monitored 24/7 to make sure that they are safe and cared for. During this time, the staff uses evidence-based treatment methods including medication to make their symptoms manageable. 

Why It’s Important

As uncomfortable as it is, detox is a vital component of addiction treatment. An addict needs a clear mind and body to begin their treatment, and detox is the only way to achieve that.

Inpatient Treatment for Meth Addiction

A common way in which addicts get the treatment they need is by going to rehab. Now, many people can find the prospect of inpatient care daunting. Being away from family and friends for a prolonged period of time, not to mention not having any access to methamphetamine, can be hard. But there are many benefits to inpatient care at Resilient Recovery. These benefits include:

Supportive Environment

Inpatient care allows addicts to be in a safe and supportive environment where they can focus on their recovery without being distracted by the outside world. This includes 24/7 care from the medical staff, who can provide patients with care at all hours of the day.

Comprehensive Assessment

Our clinicians conduct thorough assessments of all patients to craft personalized treatment plans for them. This is so they can get the kind of help they need in the way they’ll best respond to.

Therapies

Resilient Recovery employs a number of evidence-based therapies to help addicts beat their addictions. These include individual therapy sessions, group therapy, and family programs. These serve to address underlying issues that may have caused the addiction in the first place, let addicts know they are not alone in their struggles, and repair the damage done throughout the course of the addiction.

Get Help Now

Some people think that addicts choose to be addicts. To a certain extent, that is true, but that’s not the whole story. Many addicts have an underlying issue that caused their addiction in the first place. Many of them are genetically predisposed to addiction.

So, while they may have made a choice, they didn’t have much of one to begin with.

But whether or not it was a choice, it doesn’t have to define an addict’s life. There is treatment available for people who want to get better. Addiction is one chapter in a person’s life, but it doesn’t have to be the whole story. If you’re an addict and you want to get better, then contact Resilient Recovery now. We’ll help you rewrite your story.