The treatment methods listed above are all available to combat the dangerous effects of amphetamine addiction. Amphetamines are a class of drugs that are prescribed to treat conditions such as ADHD, narcolepsy, and obesity. These drugs are popularly https://ecosoberhouse.com/ abused due to their ability to increase energy and focus, as well as their ability to induce euphoria. Unfortunately, amphetamines can also cause a number of serious side effects, including difficulty breathing, anxiety, confusion, and seizures.

In addition, amphetamines abuse remains a health concern in Iran and has impacted some Iranian populations [3]. Terms such as “alcoholic,” “substance abuse,” and “brain damage” are generally terms we avoid using in the articles we publish at American Addiction Centers (AAC). Words and phrases like these are stigmatizing statements, which can create a negative bias, perpetuate the view that addiction is a moral failing—and not a treatable medical disease that individuals can and do recover from—and adversely impact treatment retention. Chronic or repeat use of amphetamines can lead to extreme, and sometimes unwanted, weight loss. The long term effects of amphetamines, including weight loss, often dissipate when the user quits taking the drugs but not always.

Brain Damage from Alcohol and Drugs: Are the Effects Reversible?

In September of 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New England office seized a record 660,000 Adderall pills, which were laced with methamphetamine. The brain is a complex organ that can adapt to many stressors and circumstances, a concept known as neuroplasticity. People are resilient creatures, and the body and brain were designed to be able to heal themselves. Certain forms of treatment can augment this process and enhance neurological recovery. Sustained misuse of certain substances can cause potential long-term neurological effects or changes to brain function. According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, amphetamine abuse is a growing problem in the United States.

The physiological consequences of MDMA-induced metabolic compromise are unclear. However, damage to the mitochondrial electron transport chain was recently proposed as an important factor in the pathogenesis of several neuropsychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder, depression and schizophrenia (Rezin et al., 2009). There are several anecdotal reports of depressive symptoms, anxiety and psychiatric episodes following MDMA abuse (Schifano, 2000). In addition, long-lasting increases in anxiety-like behaviours have been documented in rats (Morton, 2005).

What are the side effects of amphetamines?

This frequency of amphetamine use parallels regional differences in the prevalence estimates of ADHD 33. In 2004, 70% of the stimulant prescriptions for children in Western Australia were for d- amphetamine. However, as methylphenidate was approved for government subsidies in late 2005, its use has probably since increased 33. Although the therapeutic mode of action is not fully known, amphetamine is highly efficacious for the reduction of core ADHD symptoms in children, adolescents, and adults. In controlled clinical trials, between 55−70% of ADHD subjects manifest “clinically significant” improvement lasting up to 4−6 weeks.

• Although never marketed, MDMA is reported to have been used by US psychotherapists, prior to its classification as a schedule 1 drug in 1985 (Capela et al., 2009).
• This change contributed to the surge in illicit use of pharmaceutical amphetamine, and the illegal manufacture and use of methamphetamine and methylenedioxymethamphetamine that continued to accelerate through the 1990s.
• Furthermore, combining the outcomes from the individual trials through meta-analysis and using a random-effects model were not feasible because a certain degree of heterogeneity was expected among trials.

Here, we attempt to review amphetamine toxicity and in particular MDMA toxicity in the pathogenesis of exemplary human pathologies, independently of confounding environmental factors such as poly-drug use and drug purity. Amphetamines produce powerful stimulant effects which can be helpful for some patients who are prescribed the drugs but can be potentially deadly for those who abuse these drugs recreationally. The long term effects of amphetamines are often significant as the user develops more prominent symptoms of the drug use with each time an amphetamine is taken.

What Are Amphetamines?

Prescription drug monitoring programs track the prescribing and dispensing of controlled medications to people. However, these programs have been more successful in some states than others. If a person suspects that they may have a drug misuse problem, then they should consult a medical professional.

• With the right support, many people who have experienced SUD go on to live happy lives with strong relationships and positive health outcomes.
• Such actions lead to a significant increase in the levels of extracellular serotonin (5-HT), NA and dopamine (DA) and are thought to account for the majority of acute amphetamine-induced behavioural and psychological effects (Green et al., 2003).
• Likewise, lower doses of d-AMPH produce more consistent rates of drug induced self-administration than MDMA in rats and monkeys (Beardsley et al., 1986; Shin et al., 2008).

To date, there are no systematic reviews that specifically show the effectiveness of pharmacological treatments alone or in combination with BCBT in treating Iranian amphetamine abusers. To date, there is no systematic review to specifically show the efficacy of BCBT for treating amphetamines abusers in the world. In other words, it is not documented how BCBT is efficacious for treating amphetamine abuse/use disorder alone or in combination with pharmacological treatments in other countries. The current systematic review aims to address these two gaps in the research literature. Amphetamine prescription labels state that psychotic episodes are rare at recommended doses, but that behavioral disturbance and thought disorder may be exacerbated in presence of pre-existing psychoses.

Risk Factors Of Prescription Amphetamine Abuse

In sum, clinicians should carefully monitor patients receiving long-term therapeutic administration of stimulant medications for signs of adverse effects on development, substance abuse, central toxicity or psychological problems. Research agencies should study effects of protracted exposure in nonhuman primates, and sponsor longitudinal studies of indices of healthy aging in adults exposed to protracted courses of medical amphetamines. Concerns have been voiced that, in addition to neurobiological adaptations, prolonged exposure to amphetamine could damage components of the central nervous system. These concerns arise, in part, from evidence that exposure of experimental animals to acute, high doses of amphetamine or methamphetamine produces damage, generally referred to as “neurotoxicity”, to dopaminergic neurons innervating the dorsal striatum (caudate-putamen). The evidence for neurotoxicity in rodents derives almost exclusively from studies utilizing very high parenterally administered doses of the drugs, typically administered in a “binge” pattern; i.e., four successive injections at 2-hr intervals 41, 42. High doses of amphetamines have produced enlarged chromatolytic medulla neurons in cats 43, and parenteral dosing in rodents can also produce swollen or reduced dopaminergic axons, and serotonin deficits.

A case-control family study found that adolescents and young adults (ages 15 − 25) with ADHD reported more cigarette, alcohol, and illicit stimulant use than age-matched without ADHD 93. It is notable that the motivation for ingesting these substances was reported as “getting high” in only 22% of ADHD patients, but more often reported as self-medication for tiredness resulting from disturbed sleep (38% of ADHD patients) or self-medication of impaired mood (most ADHD patients). Amphetamine stimulants have been used medically since early in the twentieth century, but they have a high abuse potential and can be neurotoxic. Although they have long been used effectively to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents, amphetamines are now being prescribed increasingly as maintenance therapy for ADHD and narcolepsy in adults, considerably extending the period of potential exposure. Effects of prolonged stimulant treatment have not been fully explored, and understanding such effects is a research priority 1. Because the pharmacokinetics of amphetamines differ between children and adults, reevaluation of the potential for adverse effects of chronic treatment of adults is essential.

One of the prime findings in amphetamine abuse is the induction of psychotic episodes that are almost indistinguishable from the positive symptoms seen in schizophrenic patients (Ujike and Sato, 2004; Hermens et al., 2009). This supports the Amphetamine Addiction conjecture that there might be a link between amphetamine abuse and the psychopathic traits observed in schizophrenia. There are reports that DAT levels are not reduced in the striata of schizophrenic patients (Seeman and Niznik, 1990).

• Growth deficits in predicted height and weight were noted in continuously, but not inconsistently medicated patients.
• Persistent use of amphetamines can make it very difficult for the user to fall asleep.
• The most effective treatments for amphetamine addiction are cognitive-behavioral intervention and contingency-management models.
• Further long-term studies are required to confirm the manifestation of MDMA dependence and recovery in humans in the absence of poly-drug use or environmental restrictions.
• Some studies have suggested about 30% of patients with amphetamine-induced psychosis end up with a primary psychosis over time.

Much like cocaine, amphetamines can cause heightened senses, increased alertness and raised blood-pressure; repeat us is often responsible for an array of long term side effects. Some alternative drugs have been marketed as having lower abuse potential than amphetamine. For example, in a direct comparison, methylphenidate scored below amphetamine in ratings of “Willing to Take Again”, perhaps the closest subject-rated approximation of the reinforcing effects of a drug 86.