If you think you have an addiction, speak to your local doctor or phone DirectLine. The size of a standard drink can vary according to the type of alcohol. Prolonged misuse of steroids can cause liver damage and severe mood swings. Benzodiazepines tranquillisers are highly addictive and should only be used for certain conditions in a short-term or emergency situation.
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The State of Victoria and the Department of Health shall not bear any liability for reliance by any user on the materials contained on this website. Skip to main content. Home Drugs. Actions for this page Listen Print. Summary Read the full fact sheet. On this page. Amphetamine use in Australia What are amphetamines? In , 1. What are amphetamines?
Types of amphetamines The most common amphetamine in Australia is methamphetamine, which comes in three forms: ice crystal methamphetamine — is a crystal or crystalline powder, and is a stronger form of methamphetamine. Synthetic amphetamines In recent years, a range of synthetic products, claiming to have similar effects to amphetamines, have also been available in Australia.
How amphetamines work Amphetamines prompt the brain to release hormones and other chemicals. These changes include: release of adrenalin and dopamine increased heart rate and blood pressure increased blood flow to the peripheral muscles such as in the arms and legs feeling alert, decreases fatigue — this effect is often short lived.
How amphetamines affect the body There is no safe level of drug use. The effects of amphetamines, and how long the effects last, depend on various factors such as: Amount and strength of the dose. The blend of chemicals. Whether other drugs are used at the same time this includes prescription and over-the-counter medicines. Response to the drug for example, someone who uses amphetamines for the first time may have a different experience to someone who has used before.
Depending on how you use amphetamines, effects can be felt: immediately injecting or smoking up to 30 minutes snorting or swallowed. Short-term effects of amphetamines Some of the immediate effects of amphetamines include: a burst of energy — making the user talkative, restless and excited accelerated heart rate and breathing high-blood pressure hypertension dry mouth and jaw clenching sweating dilated large pupils loss of appetite increased sex drive libido nosebleeds and damage to the nasal passage from snorting.
How long do amphetamine effects last? What is binge crashing? You may experience: sleep difficulties, extreme exhaustion headaches , muscle twitching and aches irritability, mood swings and depression paranoia , hallucinations, confusion change in body temperature.
These are called withdrawal symptoms, and may include:. Treatment begins with recognizing there is a problem. Once you decide you want to do something about your drug use, the next step is to get help and support.
Treatment programs use behavior change techniques through counseling talk therapy. The goal is to help you understand your behaviors and why you use amphetamines. Involving family and friends during counseling can help support you and keep you from going back to using relapsing. If you have severe withdrawal symptoms, you may need to stay at a live-in treatment program. There, your health and safety can be monitored as you recover.
At this time, there is no medicine that can help reduce the use of amphetamines by blocking their effects. But, scientists are researching such medicines. Call for an appointment with your health care provider if you or someone you know is addicted to amphetamines and needs help to stop using. Also call if you are having withdrawal symptoms that concern you. Kowalchuk A, Reed BC. Substance use disorders. Textbook of Family Medicine.
Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap National Institute on Drug Abuse website. Updated October Accessed June 26, Weiss RD. Drugs of abuse. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. Updated by: Fred K. Substance use - amphetamines. Types of Illegal Amphetamines. There are different kinds of street amphetamines. Common ones and some of their slang terms are: Amphetamine: goey, louee, speed, uppers, whiz Dextroamphetamine ADHD medicine used illegally : dexies, kiddie-speed, pep pills, uppers; black beauty when combined with amphetamine Methamphetamine crystal solid form : base, crystal, d-meth, fast, glass, ice, meth, speed, whiz, pure, wax Methamphetamine liquid form : leopard's blood, liquid red, ox blood, red speed Illegal amphetamines come in different forms: Pills and capsules Powder and paste Crystal Liquid They can be used in different ways: Swallowed Dabbed onto the gums Inhaled through the nose snorted Injected into a vein shooting up Smoked.
Addiction is a complex issue and is very often psychological. Amphetamine is potentially an addictive drug and there are many problems associated with its use. However, not everyone who takes amphetamine will become addicted to it. This comes back to the psychological nature of addiction. Like other drugs associated with addiction or dependency problems alcohol, heroin, cannabis etc , amphetamines act in the brain to initially produce pleasurable feelings.
Vulnerable individuals will be prone to repeatedly use the drug to experience these feelings. With repeated use the negative and damaging behavioural and psychological features of dependency start to develop. Once a dependency has developed, drug use is no longer enjoyable but becomes necessary to prevent the development of withdrawal symptoms — thus people become trapped and are unable to stop using the drug despite in many instances no longer wanting to.
Unlike regular and dependent users of other drugs such as alcohol and heroin, some regular users of amphetamines do not use every day. Rather, they are more likely to use continuously over several days to a week sometimes called a binge.
The effects of the drug may include feelings of euphoria, reduced appetite and inability to sleep. Of course, no-one can do without sleep indefinitely so this combined with inadequate nutrition results in exhaustion, paranoia, anxiety and depression. This is sometimes called a crash. To respond to the crash, the person might then start using again, and this can be commencement of the binge-crash cycle.
As with many drugs, the come down depends on how long, how frequently and how much of the drug has been used. If someone has had a one-off binge, they may have severe fatigue, anxiety and depression for a few days until they catch up on rest and food. If a person has been using regularly, heavily and for a long time, withdrawal symptoms can last for up to 3 weeks.
It is important to remember that even once the physical addiction and withdrawal has ended, people coming off long-term stimulant use may also face a long period of dealing with altered mood, including anxiety and depression for some time after this.
They may also experience cravings for methamphetamine and other psychological and emotional symptoms associated with not using anymore.
Amphetamines affect everyone differently. It can also affect the individual depending on their tolerance, age and gender, overall health, metabolism, mood and environment they are in. It is important to note that the detection of drugs and their metabolites in any biological sample blood, urine and saliva can change depending on the individual person and their biological factors and most suggested time frames are based on scientific studies but individual results may vary.
There is research to suggest that amphetamine use can result in fertility issues for both men and women. There are also risks associated with amphetamine use during pregnancy. It has been linked with bleeding, early labour and miscarriage and can affect the baby's development before birth. Amphetamines also cause the heart rate of mother and baby to increase. If amphetamines are used close to birth, the baby may be born directly affected, and may be over-active and agitated.
Babies of mothers who regularly use amphetamines may also experience withdrawal symptoms in the first few weeks after birth.
It is not yet known whether children of mothers who used amphetamines during their pregnancy experience long-term problems in mental or physical growth, but initial studies give some cause for concern. In Western Australia, it is against the law for anyone to drive with the presence of an illicit drug prescribed within the Road Traffic Act , or impaired by a drug. Penalties apply for those convicted. There is no safe level of amphetamine use. A person convicted of a drug offence will receive a criminal record and this can lead to difficulties in getting a job, credit or visas for overseas travel.
Using amphetamines can also impact on your life in many ways. For example, the cost of purchasing amphetamines can lead to financial problems and drug use can lead to social and emotional problems that affect relationships with family and friends. We would recommend that you contact WA Police for any other questions on amphetamines and the law www. What is Hyoscine? What are the short and long-term effect of drugs on the body and mind?
What does methamphetamine look like?
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