Meth Withdrawal: What You Can Expect and How to Power Through

If you’re struggling with a meth addiction, the thought of meth withdrawal is scary if you don’t know what to expect. This guide can help.

You can’t deny it any longer: meth has total control over your life.

You feel like you’re in a place where you want to ask for help. But you’re nervous about what to expect from the meth withdrawal process.

You want to know what it will be like, and how you can handle it.

In this post, we’ll tell you exactly what you can expect out of meth withdrawal.

We’ll remind you of why it’s so worth it to keep going, and also tell you where you can go to get the help you deserve.

Read on to learn more about your journey towards recovery.

Don’t Face Meth Withdrawal on Your Own

We know that you’ve likely thought about getting help before.

You know that the lifestyle you’re living now isn’t sustainable. It’s not just hurting you physically and wrecking your financial and professional life.

It’s also destroying your relationships, your future, and your emotional well-being.

If you’re honest with yourself, the fear of methamphetamine withdrawal is one of the biggest reasons why you might continue to use. Perhaps you’ve dealt with a bit of withdrawal in the past, and it’s not something you’re eager to experience again.

We certainly understand.

Meth withdrawal is scary. It’s also incredibly dangerous. This is why it’s so important to avoid detoxing and dealing with the symptoms of meth withdrawal on your own.

First of all, without the proper medication and medical attention (and emotional support) you’re likely to start using again. But even more importantly, you are putting your health in grave danger.

Especially if you’ve been a long-time meth user, or if you use a high volume of the drug?

You could even die attempting to go “cold turkey” or detoxing on your own.

Don’t do it. Get help from a professional detox and recovery center. They’ll see you through every step of the detox and meth withdrawal process.

Now, let’s talk a bit more about the symptoms and the timeline you’ll need to be ready to face.

The Most Common Meth Withdrawal Symptoms

It’s, of course, important to remember that everyone’s journey with addiction recovery and detox will be different.

That said, there are a few common experiences that it’s good to be informed about upfront. The symptoms that you’ll confront throughout the meth detox process is something you need to be educated about.

First of all, you should expect feelings of serious, difficult withdrawal to begin about 24 hours after you’ve stopped using.

Let’s talk now about what you may experience.

Anxiety and the Withdrawal Process

You’ll likely deal with fairly intense feelings of anxiety.

This isn’t just because you’re physically reacting to not having the drug. It’s because you’ve likely been using meth as a means of coping with your own anxiety.

In fact, there’s a strong link between people with anxiety disorders and meth abuse.

In addition to anxiety, you’ll likely also deal with feelings of depression. This is why it’s so important to transition to a rehabilitation and treatment center once the first phase of the detox process is over.

You’re dealing with the consequences of your actions and overwhelmed by what your future will look like. Plus, you’re in physical pain.

We promise that it gets better. In many cases, the more severe feelings of depression will fade by the second week that you enter into withdrawal.

Exhaustion and Hypersomnia

You’ll also deal with intense feelings of exhaustion — way beyond just normal fatigue — during the withdrawal process.

This will likely be a bit of a shock to your system. After all, we’re willing to bet that sleep wasn’t exactly a priority when you were using.

You also might not have felt like you needed much sleep in the throes of your addiction.

By day five of your withdrawal process, you may deal with what’s called hypersomnia. This is an intense need to sleep for long periods of time.

Cravings and Withdrawal

Once you’ve gone through the first week of withdrawal, you’ll likely have to deal with one of the most unpleasant effects of detox: withdrawal for meth.

The good news is that both the intensity and the frequency of these cravings will slowly decrease over time.

In addition to, of course, craving meth, you’ll also likely experience a craving for sugary and carb-rich foods.

Even if you were never into them before, these cravings can be overwhelming.

This isn’t just because your body makes a connection between the “rewards” feelings of sugary and high-carb foods and the same high you got when you were using.

It’s also because you likely weren’t as hungry — much less eating healthy foods — when you were using. In a way, it’s your body asking you for what it wants and needs.

Perhaps you just haven’t stopped to (or been able to) listen to those needs in a while. Don’t worry. As you continue to progress in your recovery, you’ll learn how to eat healthy again and take better care of your body.

Physical Symptoms

There are a few physical symptoms of withdrawal that you should also prepare yourself for.

The good news is that your treatment team will likely be able to give you some form of medication to help you cope with these symptoms. (In some cases, you may also be able to receive medication designed to help you manage the psychological side effects of addiction withdrawal.)

You may feel nauseous, and experience frequent bouts of vomiting. You may also deal with diarrhea, dry mouth, and even the shakes.

Some people going through meth withdrawal also deal with the chills and fever.

You might also experience intense pain in the jaw. This is because, especially if you’ve been using for a while, you may have clenched it and ground your teeth.

A Word About Psychosis

For many people, one of the scariest things about methamphetamine withdrawal is potentially entering into a stage of psychosis.

In more common terms, you may have heard this referred to as “tweaking.” It can also happen after you haven’t slept for several days on end because you’ve been on a long bender of using.

You may find that you deal with auditory or visual hallucinations. Your dreams may feel much more vivid than they usually do. In some cases, you may even experience paranoid delusions.

You might also feel like you have high levels of excessive, boundless energy.

The truth is that this is also why it’s so important to get help in a professional setting. These feelings can be incredibly overwhelming.

Though they certainly don’t happen to everyone, you want to make sure you’re in a good place to get help if they happen to you.

Acute Withdrawal Syndrome

When people hear the word “detox,” they often think of it as something that only lasts for a maximum of three to four weeks.

It is true that the majority of your withdrawal symptoms will be gone after this time? It doesn’t mean that you’re in the clear forever.

You may experience what’s known as acute withdrawal syndrome a few months after you’ve stopped using. This means that you may deal with some of the symptoms discussed here throughout your longer treatment process.

Again, this is just one more reason to stay in a facility that can give you the care and attention you need and deserve.

Why Get Treatment?

We understand that, after reading this, you may be conflicted about treatment.

No, withdrawal won’t be easy. But the truth is that it will certainly be no more difficult than your life if you continue to use.

Think about your “why” for stopping using.

Maybe you have a family you want to repair relationships with. Maybe you have big plans for the rest of your life. Maybe you know that, with the right support network, you can get through detox.

Perhaps you even want to help others who are struggling with addiction in the future.

Remember, you can do this. What you can’t continue to do is gamble with your life.

Getting Professional Help with Meth Withdrawal

Now that you know more about what to expect out of meth withdrawal, it’s time to talk to you about next steps.

If you feel like the time to get help for yourself or someone else is now, remember that you can’t go through this alone.

We want to help you to get your life back and stop letting meth control everything you do.

We offer effective and supportive detox and treatment programs for meth users and others struggling with addiction.

Reach out to us today to start getting your life back.