Amphetamine addiction: Causes, signs, diagnosis, and treatment

Amphetamines are usually taken by mouth but can be snorted, smoked, or injected. At this time, there is no medicine that can help reduce the use of amphetamines by blocking their effects. You usually do not get addicted to prescription amphetamines when you take them at the right dosage to treat your health condition. You should take FDA-approved amphetamines orally (by mouth) as directed by your healthcare provider.

Gillin 1994 published data only

It’s a chronic brain disorder involving compulsive drug seeking and use despite negative consequences. Amphetamine is contraindicated in patients with hypersensitivity to any component of the drug formulation. Amphetamine is a central nervous (CNS) system stimulant that functions by increasing the amounts of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin (to a lesser extent) in the synaptic cleft through a variety of mechanisms.

Amphetamine Addiction Treatment Levels of Care

Withdrawal symptoms typically present within 24 hours of the last use of amphetamine, with a withdrawal syndrome involving two general phases that can last 3 weeks or more. The first phase of this syndrome is the initial “crash” that resolves within about a week (Gossop 1982; McGregor 2005). A subacute, protracted set of withdrawal symptoms that generally resolve in 3 weeks and that are not as well defined, include continued sleep disturbances (mild hypersomnia or insomnia and continued increased appetite (McGregor 2005;Gossop 1982). Although the most severe symptoms occurring during amphetamine withdrawal resolve in a week or less, some symptoms may continue for weeks or months (Watson 1972; Hofmann 1983). The review also indicated that BCBT alone or in combination with pharmacological treatments was efficacious in either abstinence from amphetamines or reduced amphetamines abuse with medium or large effect sizes 20–23. The percentage of abstinence from amphetamines had a range from 40.8% 21 to 58.3% 20 among treated participants at six-month follow-up.

What are amphetamines?

Misusing or taking amphetamines that your provider did not prescribe to you can cause dangerous side effects and could lead to addiction or death. To avoid withdrawal symptoms, take your medication exactly as your provider prescribed it to you. Schedule a time to take it every day and stick to that same schedule for the duration that you’re taking the drug. If you’re dependent on amphetamines and are taking more than the required daily amount prescribed by your healthcare provider, you shouldn’t breastfeed (chestfeed). Talk to your healthcare provider about the medicines and supplements that you’re currently taking before starting amphetamines.

• Lisdexamfetamine, a long-acting amphetamine medication, is FDA-approved for the treatment of a binge-eating disorder.
• A person may seek to repeat the good feeling and come to rely on the substance or activity.
• In men who have sex with men, the antidepressant mirtazapine reduced MA use and high-risk sexual behaviours, despite low medication adherence rates 30.
• Psychotic reactions include hearing and seeing things that are not there (auditory and visual hallucinations) and false beliefs (delusions), such as a feeling of having unlimited power (omnipotence) or of being persecuted (paranoia).

Qualitative data synthesis

One study (2%) examined sertraline (50 mg po BD), along with CM for the treatment of MA dependence over 14 weeks 61. The four study arms were sertraline only, sertraline and CM, placebo only, placebo and CM. There was no statistically significant main or interaction effect of either sertraline or CM for measures of MA use.

• Misuse of prescription drugs, including amphetamines, can lead to addiction.
• None of the six studies achieved a statistically significant difference in abstinence or reduction in use between the bupropion and placebo arm in planned primary outcome analyses.
• Lisdexamfetamine has no affinity for a wide panel of transporters including DAT and NET (Vyvanse®, US Product Label) or receptors, ion channels, allosteric binding sites and enzymes (Table 3).

General Health

Amphetamines are metabolized via the cytochrome CYP2D6 pathway and renally and hepatically excreted. People who habitually use amphetamines rapidly develop tolerance as part of dependence. The amount ultimately used may be more than several times the original dose. Most people using very high doses over several days or weeks become confused and psychotic because amphetamines can cause severe anxiety, paranoia, and a distorted sense of reality. Examples include methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also called MDMA, ecstasy or molly, and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, known as GHB.

• Other risky behaviors that can be linked to drug use, such as having unsafe sex, can also increase the chance of becoming infected with one of these diseases.
• Risk of bias in individual study methods and reporting are included in Supplementary Table 1 and Supplementary Data (see ESM) as considerations across a number of domains.
• Naturalistic studies of amphetamine withdrawal symptoms and course are also crucial for the development of study designs appropriate for further treatment studies of amphetamine withdrawal.
• Synthetic cannabinoids, also called K2 or Spice, are sprayed on dried herbs and then smoked, but can be prepared as an herbal tea.
• Mirtazapine, a noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressant, was also hypothesized to help reduce methamphetamine withdrawal severity by blocking the presynaptic alpha‐2 adrenergic receptors that inhibit the release of norepinephrine and serotonin.
• Although three studies reported data on withdrawal symptoms, only two studies involving 74 participants were included in the analysis (Srisurapanont 1999b; Cruickshank 2008).

All searches included non‐English language literature and studies with English abstracts were assessed for inclusion. Although there are a variety of amphetamines and amphetamine derivatives, the word “amphetamines” in this review stands for amphetamine, dextroamphetamine, and methamphetamine. Amphetamines include the Amphetamine Addiction drug amphetamine and its many variants such as methamphetamine (speed or crystal meth) and methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy, or Adam).