Amphetamines are often prescribed to treat legitimate medical issues. However, they can be abused when you change the dosage or take them when you do not need them. Amphetamines can be dangerous when taken without appropriate medical oversight, and they are a commonly abused substance.
If you are no longer in control of your use, you do not need to wait until your life completely falls apart before asking for help. Seek help from Serenity Treatment Center of Louisiana. We have substance abuse programs that can help you overcome addiction.
What Amphetamines Do to Your Brain and Body
Amphetamines increase activity in parts of the brain connected with attention, alertness, movement, and reward. They are often prescribed for conditions like ADHD since they can help you focus.
Many people abuse them as a way of staying focused, energized, and active for long periods of time to get through stressful situations. However, they do have a profound effect on your body that can be detrimental over time, especially if you take too much.
Larger amounts can lead to shaking, agitation, panic, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, overheating, confusion, and aggression. Heavy stimulant use can also cause paranoia or hallucinations. You may become convinced that someone is watching you or hear and see things that are not there.
These reactions can happen even when the pills originally came from a pharmacy. A prescription does not protect you when the medication is taken differently from the way it was prescribed.
What Withdrawal From Amphetamines Can Feel Like
When the stimulant wears off, you may experience a crash.
After frequent or heavy use, that crash can be severe. You might sleep for long periods but still feel exhausted. Concentration becomes difficult. Your appetite may return suddenly, and ordinary tasks can feel pointless or overwhelming.
Withdrawal may also bring depression, anxiety, agitation, vivid dreams, body discomfort, and strong cravings. Some people alternate between sleeping too much and being unable to sleep at all.
The emotional effects deserve particular attention. Severe depression and suicidal thoughts can occur after prolonged or high-dose stimulant use. Psychosis, paranoia, or hallucinations related to heavy use may also continue after the last dose.
Do not make major changes to a prescribed stimulant without contacting your prescriber. If you have been taking large amounts, using the drug for a long time, or combining it with other substances, you may need medical and mental health support while you stop.
What Treatment for Amphetamine Addiction May Include
Treatment begins with an honest look at what you are using.
The assessment may cover which amphetamines you take, how much you use, how you obtain them, and whether you combine them with alcohol or other drugs. The treatment team should also ask about your heart health, sleep, nutrition, depression, anxiety, psychosis, and previous attempts to stop.
Some people need residential treatment because their physical or mental health requires close support. Others may be able to attend an intensive outpatient program while continuing to live at home. Counseling can help you look at the situations that keep leading back to stimulant use.
When to Seek Help for Amphetamine Misuse
You do not need to wait until you start to have severe medical issues before seeking help. Any time that you feel that your use is out of control, it is time to take action.
Take the problem seriously when stimulant use continues despite panic, chest pain, hallucinations, relationship problems, or trouble at work.
An overdose, arrest, or job loss should not be the event that finally gives you permission to enter treatment. The fact that you are worried about your use is already a reason to talk with a professional.
How Serenity Treatment Center of Louisiana Supports Clients and Families
Serenity Treatment Center of Louisiana provides substance use treatment in Baton Rouge. Our programs include detox, residential treatment, intensive outpatient care, individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, relapse prevention, life skills training, nutrition therapy, and continuing care.
We begin by talking with you about what you use, how often you use it, and what happens when you try to stop. Your physical health, mental health symptoms, living situation, and support system can all affect which level of care is appropriate.
Call Serenity Treatment Center of Louisiana at (225) 361-0899 if amphetamine use has become difficult to control. You do not need to arrive with every answer or know which program you need.
