Natural Healing from Drug Abuse: Meth Amphetamines

Natural Healing from Drug Abuse: Meth

Amphetamines
June 18, 2008 by Dr. Nicole Sundene
Filed under Detox, Drug Abuse, Reader Questions
Q. How can I use natural medicine to heal my body from drug addiction? I am a

recovering meth addict. I have been off meth for five years now, but continue to gain weight. It
seems like meth abuse destroyed my metabolism. What can I do to lose the weight, and not feel
so tired all the time?
A. First and foremost, congratulations for staying off meth. You should be extremely proud
of yourself for overcoming such a powerful addiction that tends to be running rampant in our
community these days. Recovering from drug addiction truly requires the mind/body/spirit
model of medicine that naturopathic philosophy embraces. The mechanical process of
withdrawing from heavy drugs can be difficult enough, however to ensure true success and
restore your mental and physical health to their optimal conditions; natural medicines such as
healing foods, herbs, and supplements can play an important role.
Although quitting meth is the first step, in order to ensure long term success with abstinence,
one must address the reason why drugs were turned to in the first place. Counseling and a
supportive treatment program such as Narcotics Anonymous or AA are important for preventing
relapse. A counselor will help you better understand your addictive tendencies, and a supportive
group such as AA will remind you to always abstain from meth.
For those recovering from addictions, I highly recommend the book by compulsive behavior
specialist, Mary Omalley, The Gift of Our Compulsions. Anyone that has quit drugs to switch
to chain smoking, or quit alcohol to turn to compulsive shopping has not addressed the root
cause of their compulsive behavior. Marys book will teach you to learn from your addiction
and use your compulsive tendencies as a tool and not a weapon.
Anxiety is often the root cause of addiction. Letting go of worry by placing your life in Gods
hands can alleviate much of the anxiety and stress that we tend to place upon ourselves.
Establishing a strong spiritual connection, and finding a church or source of spiritual inspiration
that works for you is extremely important for the long term big picture of healing from drug
abuse.
Naturopathic medicine can be very helpful for restoring the system to a healthier place after
the ravages of meth addiction. If I were to see a patient recovering from meth addiction that was
consistently putting on weight, I would order some basic blood work to screen for thyroid issues,

and other biochemical causes of metabolic imbalance. Liver function tests to rule out damage to
the liver are usually included in a standard comprehensive metabolic panel. Although the body is
typically pretty resilient, knowing if damage has occurred to the bodys detoxification center is
prudent to your long term health. Addressing hormonal imbalances such as hypothyroidism that
may have resulted from chronic meth abuse should help with the weight gain issues, especially
for those that are exercising and eating healthy, but still putting on weight.
Meth abuse may have caused your thyroid to burn out, as meth primarily abuses the adrenal
glands, and the adrenal glands support the functioning of our thyroid. The thyroid sets our
metabolism.
To understand how meth abuse may have affected your hormonal system, think of the adrenal
glands like a factory. The factory can only produce so many products at once. Eventually the
factory cannot keep up with the demands placed on the system, and the glands can no longer
keep up with making all the chemicals that the body depends on for normal functioning.
Some basic adrenal support may be helpful to support the glands while they re-establish the
normal production of adrenaline and catecholamines that meth abuse depleted. Some patients
may also need to be put on thyroid medication if their TSH is showing hypothyroidism. Fatigue
and weight gain are both signs of hypothyroidism.
Adrenal Support Herbs for Meth Recovery
Licorice (glycyrrhiza glabra), Siberian ginseng (eleutherococcus), ashwaganda (withania
somnifera)and schisandra tend to be great herbs for those recovering from drug addiction. I
would avoid herbs that are over stimulating. The body has been stimulated for too long already,
and needs to be nourished and calmed down for the most part.
Although the thyroid is the primary set point for metabolism, the liver is the fat burner of the
body. Toxic chemicals like crystal meth, cocaine, and other designer drugs are especially hard on
the liver. Weight that gathers around the mid section is a classic sign for liver stagnation issues.
For those that have had a short stint with drug abuse I would be less concerned. For those that
have abused drugs for more than a year, I would do a very slow detox program over an entire
year or so. Meth is full of toxic solvents so I would avoid any rapid detox programs and opt for a
more gentle nourishing cleanse over a prolonged period. Your body has already been through
enough. It does not need to deal with a harsh extreme sudden detox as well.
You can read about foods, herbs, and lifestyle suggestions to support the liver and the natural
detoxification of the system in our articles under the detox category to understand the gist of
detoxification.
Liver Support Herbs for Meth Recovery
Milk thistle (pictured above), schisandra, turmeric, artichoke, dandelion root, and N-acetyl
cysteine (not an herb but an important detoxifier of the system use 600mg twice daily to support

phase II detoxification pathways of the liver) are all great for restoring healthy liver function and
moving toxins out of the body.
Sweating for Meth Detoxification
Saunas and sweating through exercise are amongst the best ways to remove the body of toxic
solvents such as incurred from meth abuse. Saunas should not be used by those with heart
conditions, high blood pressure, diabetes, intolerance to heat, pregnancy, or any other health
conditions. For healthy individuals a twenty minute sweat followed by a rinse with cold water
can be done daily to promote the detoxification of the harsh solvents used in the production of
methamphetamines and street drugs.
Please note the following protocol is simply for example only. This is not individualized
naturopathic care. Please work with a physician before implementing any new treatments.
Natural medicines, just like prescription medicines come with lists of contraindications, safety
concerns, and drug interactions. Please work with a naturopathic physician for a personalized
plan.
Sample Naturopathic Protocol for Recovering from Meth Addiction:

Work with a counselor or therapist to resolve past issues.

Put your life in Gods hands and find a spiritual connection: church and AA work well for
most.

Read Mary OMalleys book The Gift of Our Compulsions.

Deep breathing to manage stress: Five minutes to zen.

Adopt an organic Whole Foods Diet to cleanse the system, aid detox, and reduce the total
load of toxins burdening the system.

Adrenal support: Licorice root tincture (do not use if you have high blood pressure)
Typical dose is about 2 dropperfuls (should be about 60 drops) in a little bit of water, both
morning and afternoon. Do not use adrenal support late in the evening. The adrenal
glands are active in the morning and the goal is to re-implement a healthy circadian
rhythm.

Liver Support Foods

High Fiber Diet for weight loss, and to pull toxins from the system while ensuring proper
elimination of toxins from the bowel.

N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) 600mg capsule taken twice daily to support the liver.

Milk Thistle- 3 capsules twice daily, tincture equivalent, or other liver supportive herbs
discussed above.

Schisandra chinensis capsules two twice daily to support the adrenal glands, cleanse the
liver, and reduce anxiety.

Sweating. Sauna for twenty minutes daily to sweat out toxins. End with a cold shower.

Drink 60-80 ounces of water daily to stay hydrated and ensure adequate elimination.

Keep in mind that detoxing may cause headaches, fatigue, and other symptoms initially.
Sleep as needed, and be gentle with yourself. Increase the dose of the liver support
supplements slowly over time to reduce the likelihood of side effects.

Thank you for stopping by my kitchen table to ask the question. You should be immensely proud
of yourself for overcoming the extreme challenges of addiction to meth! Feel free to ask any
additional questions in the comments section. I hope my response will inspire you to seek
holistic care from a naturopath as well as grant your body the healing time that it needs to restore
your health to optimal functioning.
~Dr. Nicole Sundene
Naturopathic Physician

Threads that may be useful in recovering from (meth)amphetamine addiction:

Renegades Chemical Cocktail Cure for methamphetamine addicts
Amino acids and recovery from methamphetamine abuse
Research Chemical (2c's) could potentially help with amphetamine/stimulant addiction

Activities that may aid recovery from (meth)amphetamine addiction

Counselling
Rehab
NA (Narcotics Anonymous)
Saunas
Meditation
Exercise
Sunlight
Force yourself to do normal every day things:

*Get up, out of bed and dressed every morning.

*Do not sleep during the day
*Do dishes every day
*Do laundry as soon as there is enough for a load
*Take care of yourself
*Cook healthy meals
*Drink lots of water

Excerts from threads in this forum that contain information that may aid
recovery from (meth)amphetamine addiction
Micklemouse
Eat well, sleep lots, get a good strong B vitamin complex and a calcium/magnesium
supplement on top of any multivits you get. Selenium and 5htp won't hurt either for keeping
your mood on a level through what could be a dark period ahead.
co-incidence
Cortiscosteroids might alleviate the feeling, of having no energy, feeling like rusted (lack of the
activity of the adrenal glands after supreessing it with amphetamiens), as well as the to this
image related depression might be resolved.. beware of taking more than th 7.5mg prednisone
equivalent (cushingoid threshold)!
Synacthen or Tetracosactide will stimulate your adrenal gland that might have suffered
dystrophy to grow and produce its hormones again, other peptide drugs like growth hormone
and IGF and analogues will help to prevent kidney dystrophy, but they wont help with any
hypothalmic/pituitary lasting suppression (swim hasnt done any research on the suppressive
action of amphetamines on the HPA axis, but he assumes thats not that bad as a supression due
to prolongued very high dosed corticosteroids or steroid use, per se)
BrugmansiaBrujo
5-HTP
Rhodiola Rosea
Ginko Biloba
Ginseng
Also if you are experiencing a bit of depression, but don't like the idea of turning to yet another
drug to deal with that, take a look at using the herb sceletium torturosum. Sceletium powder
taken in gelcaps orally makes a good all day mood brightener. Sceletium is also available in
pharmaceutical form, in 50mg tablets.
If you are not yet into eating lots of foods with chilli peppers in them, that might be also

something to try. The capsacin in chillies causes your brain to release endorphins, natural opiatelike chemical your body can make; endorphins make you feel good. Excercise also
releases endorphins.
rocksmokinmachine
Number 1: Try to work out why SWIY uses
Number 2: Cut off all SWIY's conections (This is probably the hardest one)
Number 3: Indentify triggers in your life, this could be anything personal to you. It could be
something as silly as a phonebox SWIY uses to ring his dealer that gives you the urge to use.
Write these down and avoid.
Number 4: Identify high risk situations in which you would normally use. Write these down.
Avoid them. These could be places your friends/aquaintances houses/flats for example.
Ohboy
Eat lots of whole foods...meat, eggs, dairy, even bananas. These have tyrosine, which the body
converts to dopamine.
Exercise - Dopamine is used in movement.
cosmicruler
taking L-Tyrosine and 5-HTP a couple hours before swiy wants to sleep...try eating healthy and
exercising and drinking alot of water....
sqyttles
Getting some l-deprenyl from a doctor or an India pharm to take for the couple days after using
meth. It normalizes dopamine and noradrenaline production. Plus, it is a neuroprotectant; some
people take it before Ecstasy to reduce neurotoxicity.
~lostgurl~
Melatonin to normalize sleep patterns: Melatonin, it is a natural sleep aid that helps adjust your
circadian rhythm so that you sleep at night and wake during the day. Often with heavy
methamphetmine use a person will stay up all night long which disturbs the circadian rhythm in a
way that is similar to both jet lag and changing time zones. It does not make you feel drugged
like prescription sleeping pill but eases you back into a normal sleep pattern. It is also nonaddictive so is a great alternative for a recovering addict.
Vitamins recommended by health shop:

Extra B + C
Take 1 pill 1 hour before breakfast
A high potency balanced B-Complex with 500mg Non-Acid Vitamin C
Contains:
B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12
Calcium, Biotin, Choline Bitartrate, Folic acid, Inositol
Vitamin C
Ultra C 1000
Take 1 pill 1 hour before breakfast & 1 pill with dinner
Advanced Poly-ascorate Vitamin C Complex with Bioflavonoids
Contains:
Vitamin C
Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium
Bioflavonoids, Rosehip, Zinc
B6
Take 1 pill 1 hour before breakfast
Contains:
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride 240 mg
DL-Phenylalanine 500mg
Take 1 pill 1 hour before breakfast
Contains:
D-Phenylalanine 250mg
L-Phenylalanine 250mg
Womens or Mens Multivitamin & Mineral
Take 1 pill with lunch
Multi Mineral
Take 1 pill with dinner
Taurine500mg
Take 1 pill 1 hour after dinner or in the evening
Protein Shake Powder
Can substitute or be used in combination with breakfast or dinner
The biggest issue for my girl has been switching her mind set from instant gratification to long
term satisfaction. It's so hard to do things because they will make your life better in the long term
when you are used to doing things that make you feel great instantly. Having people in your life
that really care and are really proud of the changes you have made really helps.
What is also important is not beating yourself up if you slip and use again. It is a lapse not a
relapse. So many people slip up and use then because of the guilt they think they are a fuck up so

they keep using. Just because you lapse doesn't mean you have to relapse. Refocus and get back
on track. Lapses could happen for the rest of your life but as long as you see them for what they
are, a normal part of addiction and a normal part of recovery, then you can stay on track and not
let it affect your long term goals.
Read more: http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61164#ixzz2H6hfnoeX

Reaching Out to Meth Users: A Friend and Family Members Guide to Helping Addicts
onto the Path of Recovery
By Mark Houston | Published 03/2/2007 | Health , Men |
A Friend and Family Members Guide to Helping Addicts onto the Path of Recovery
The ingredient list for meth is so absurd that it almost seems far fetched: drain
cleaner, gasoline, Freon, acetone, battery acid, ammonia, and paint thinner cover
just part of the list. After all, who in their right mind would ever have thought to
create a cocktail of such undesirable substances and put it into their body? The
answer is someone who is not in his or her right mind. Methamphetamines actually
eat away at the brain tissue, resulting in behavior very similar to those suffering
from schizophrenia and literally leaving gaping holes that are visible in a brain scan.

Trying to reason with a heavy meth user and convince them to come clean can
seem impossible and leave you feeling like youd rather tell them to go to hell rather
than attempt to help them. Heavy users can seem so far gone that friends and
family members who once cared are prepared to wash their hands of the person for
good. Theyre right to want to get far way from the addicts irrational behavior,
inability to reason, and the general insanity that permeates the space around a
meth user. Their behavior is toxic and something that no one in their right mind
would want to subject themselves to.

But beneath the crazed surface, trapped somewhere inside beyond the meth
induced dementia, is the person you once knew. A person who, if they could see
themselves the way you do right now, would be horrified by what they have
become. The problem is trying to reach beyond the meth, beyond the excuses and
the delusional justifications for continuing a behavior that causes their bodies and
minds to literally deteriorate at a horrifyingly rapid pace.

Understanding reality from the meth users point of view

A meth addicts perception of reality is much different from that of a healthy mind.
No matter how absurd it may seem, this is their reality and in order to reach them
its important to try to somewhat comprehend (but not try to understand) this reality.
Your friend or family member didnt intend to turn out like this. In the beginning, the
enjoyed the feeling of meth because of the intense happiness it filled him or her
with. At first, they were seeking a joy and confidence that they werent able to
generate from within.

Thought it may seem difficult to believe, this drug which eventually robs people of
their ability to feel happiness, at first produces feelings of euphoria that make the
world seem colorful, opportunities seem boundless, people seem wonderful, and
users feel invincible. But eventually, there are no more real feelings of joy or
pleasure with meth. At first, people continue to use because the depression felt
during the crash is so devastating that the alternative, more meth, seems the only
way to avoid the terrifying darkness. Eventually, the user loses touch with reality
and forms their own psychotic reality and justification for why they need meth in
their life.

Reaching the person beyond the insanity

A meth users perception of themself is often completely different from everyone

elses. They dont see what the bid deal is. Theyre fine. If they saw you reading this
right now, they would probably be furious about your insistence to overreact. This
is the meth talking. Somewhere inside, they know that youre right, but you wont
reach that place until the meth is essentially exorcised from the body. The most
important thing to do is to get that person into a place where they have no access
to this mind altering poison.

This may mean that they need to go to jail or ordered into a mental facility in order
to achieve that distance. Heavy users who are free to do as they wish, rarely ever
stop using long enough to get a sense of sanity back. Its going to be difficult to
watch this person morph back from a state of insanity. The depression and the
realization of what they have become will hit hard and be difficult to experience.
Putting a distance between the addict and meth is the first step to recovery, but it is
not the last.

Life beyond meth: Filling the void of addiction with the tools for permanent sobriety

Eliminating meth from the body alone isnt often enough to prevent relapse.
Removing meth only reveals to the addict the shambles their life has become, a
realization often so devastating that going back to meth seems a more attractive
alternative. It is critical that the meth addict not only detox, but also find reasons to
stay sober and then incorporate practices into their daily lives that will give them
the strength to pick up the pieces of their broken lives.

During this time period, the user should be in a healthy, positive environment, with
no access to drugs or people that might trigger memories of using. Learning about
and practicing skills like goal setting and financial planning give recovering addicts
a feeling of control over their lives and help them to see that there is a way to put
their lives back together, no matter how long and twisted the path. Eating
nutritious foods and getting daily exercise are also essential for addicts who must
learn to generate energy from the inside out, rather than attempting to bring it into
their bodies from an external poison. A healthy physical routine can do a great deal
for recovering addicts as they learn once again to feel the natural pleasure of true
physical vitality.

Remember, the meth addict began his or her journey because of an intense desire
to feel alive with energy, passion, love, and confidence. Your friend or family
member still deeply desires these emotions but has lost touch with how to achieve
them naturally. If anything, they probably feel less deserving of a life of joy after
coming down than ever before. The journey to sobriety for a meth addict is a long
and arduous road, but one that can be navigated. If the person in your life can only
remain free of meth for long enough and learn to fill the void left behind with
techniques of empowerment, he or she will eventually find the beautiful person that
lives inside who deserves a life of joy and happiness.