Meth is a strong stimulant drug that can cause an overdose when used in high doses. Symptoms of a methamphetamine overdose are a rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, and high body temperature (over 104 degrees Fahrenheit). These symptoms can lead to serious medical emergencies such as a heart attack, stroke, or seizure. If you suspect someone is experiencing an overdose caused by taking meth, call 911 immediately. Emergency medical attention is required to prevent long-term health damage and death.
Table of Contents
Key Points
- Methamphetamine is a highly addictive stimulant drug that, when used at too high a dose or frequency, can result in an overdose.
- A meth overdose can be fatal and can cause heart attacks, strokes, or seizures.
- Good Samaritan Laws have been passed in most states to reduce drug overdose deaths. These laws protect the person who calls for medical help and the person who is overdosing.
- A meth overdose requires immediate medical attention and gives the person the greatest chance at recovery.
- Long-term effects from a meth overdose can include paranoia and psychosis that can last for up to a year. Some effects may be permanent, such as sleeping problems, skin damage, tooth loss, and memory loss
What is Meth?
The full drug name for meth is methamphetamine; it is more commonly known by its street names which include meth, crystal meth, crank, speed, glass, tweak, chalk, Tina, and ice. [1] It is a powerful and highly addictive stimulant drug.[2] It is a white crystal powder that has no smell but is bitter-tasting. It can be taken orally by being dissolved in liquids or taken as a pill, and it can be smoked, snorted, or injected.
Meth affects the central nervous system (CNS) by increasing the release of neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. [3] Because meth is highly lipid-soluble, it crosses the blood-brain barrier quickly and can have an immediate effect on the CNS.
What Effects Does Meth Have?
People take meth for different reasons, but some of the pleasurable side effects people experience or outcomes they have that keep them using meth include: [4]
- Euphoria or a pleasurable sense of well-being
- Increased activity
- Increased talkativeness
- Increased attention
- Decreased appetite
- Decreased fatigue
Meth also has other less pleasurable, common side effects that include:[5]
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Fast heart rate
- Insomnia
- Upset stomach, diarrhea, constipation
- Loss of appetite and weight loss
- Tremors
Serious and potentially life-threatening side effects of meth include:[6]
- Agitation
- Chest pain
- Heart attack
- Irregular or stopped heartbeat
- Difficulty breathing
- Very high body temperature
- Kidney damage and possibly kidney failure
- Paranoia
- Seizures
- Severe stomach pain
- Stroke
- Coma
What are the Signs of a Methamphetamine Overdose?
A meth overdose requires immediate medical attention. Meth overdose symptoms include[7]
- Cardiovascular problems: chest pain, fast heart rate, irregular heartbeat, increased blood pressure, difficulties breathing, numbness, cold extremities, skin color changes in extremities (blue fingers or toes), heart attack or stroke
- Psychosis: hallucinations, behavior changes, aggression, paranoia
- Seizure
- Hyperthermia: high body temperature
- Muscle twitches
- Vision changes, including enlarged pupils
What Increases the Risk of a Meth Overdose?
Overdoses can happen to anyone who is misusing methamphetamines. However, there are situations or patterns of use that increase one’s risk of overdoses from meth, including: [8]
- Using too much meth
- Staying high for too long
- Using meth with opioids, benzodiazepines, or alcohol
- Using meth or drugs alone as no one is there to intervene if you experience an overdose
What To Do If Someone is Experiencing a Meth Overdose
If you believe someone has overdosed on meth, call 911 immediately. A meth overdose can be fatal, and receiving medical attention rapidly is necessary to save the person’s life.
Things you can do while waiting for emergency medical help to arrive include:[9]
- If the person is having a seizure, you can gently hold their head to keep them from injuring themselves. If you can, lay them on their side, as people often vomit during a seizure. Do not hold the person down or try to keep them shaking. Do not put anything in their mouth.
- If the person is overheating, you can help them cool down by wiping them down with a cold, wet towel, giving them an ice pack, giving them a cold glass of water or ice to suck on, and having them sit in front of a fan. Signs a person may be overheating include sweating, having hot, red, dry skin, pale, cold, clammy skin, feeling nauseous, having a headache, or being confused.
- If the person is unconscious, try waking them up by gently calling their name and shaking them. If this doesn’t work, vigorously rub your knuckles on their sternum or upper lip. If they still do not wake up, you can give them a dose of naloxone (Narcan). While Narcan does not treat a meth overdose, many overdoses happen because people have used multiple substances. For example, half of all meth overdoses also include an opioid.[10]
- If the person is paranoid or is having delusions or hallucinations, be extra careful around them. What they experience is very real to them, and they may not behave in ways that they normally would.
- If the person stops breathing, you can provide rescue breathing. If the person’s heart stops beating, you can provide CPR.
Read our Editorial Policy
To guarantee that all of our information is accurate, we ensure that all our sources are reputable. That means every source is authenticated and verified to be backed only by medical science.
There Is A Better Way To Live. It's Time To Get The Help You Deserve.
What Happens at the Hospital for a Meth Overdose?
Once the person arrives at a hospital emergency department, their heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, and temperature will be monitored, and their symptoms will be treated. Common treatments for a meth overdose include:[11]
- Activated charcoal and laxatives: If the methamphetamine was taken orally
- Blood and urine tests
- Breathing support: This may involve providing oxygen or a breathing machine if the person cannot breathe independently.
- Chest x-ray: if the person has abnormal breathing or has vomited
- CT Scan: especially if a head injury is suspected
- Electrocardiogram: if the person is having heart issues
- IV fluids: these are often used to treat pain, nausea, anxiety, agitation, seizures, and high blood pressure.
- Drug screening: people do not always report or know that they have been exposed to multiple substances. A screening gives healthcare providers an accurate understanding of what is happening with the person and what needs to be treated.
- Other medications are needed to treat muscle, heart, brain, or kidney complications from the overdose.
What Happens After a Meth Overdose?
A person’s ability to recover from a meth overdose depends on the amount of meth they used and how quickly they were able to receive medical attention. The quicker a person overdosing can get medical care, the greater their chances of recovery from the overdose are.
Even with receiving rapid medical attention, some people experience psychosis and paranoia for up to a year after overdosing or using methamphetamines.[12] For some people, the effects can be permanent, including sleeping problems, skin damage, tooth loss, and memory loss. If the person has a heart attack or stroke, they may experience long-term disability as a result. Meth can also severely damage kidneys that, results in kidney failure and the need for dialysis.
Avoiding A Meth Overdose
The only way to avoid a meth overdose is not to use meth. Keep an eye out for the signs of meth use and if you believe you or a loved one is struggling with a meth addiction, there are treatment options. Meth addiction is hard to stop; finding the best support and treatment will help your success in recovery. Treatment programs provide support to get you through meth withdrawal symptoms and give you tools to help you maintain sobriety. Meth use disorder treatment can include detox, inpatient, and outpatient programs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people use meth?
About 2.5 million people over the age of twelve have used methamphetamine in the past year, per the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. [13] 1.6 million of those users have met the criteria of having a methamphetamine use disorder in the past year.
How many people die from meth overdoses?
In 2021, 32,537 people died from an overdose that involved methamphetamine.[14]
Will I get in legal trouble for calling 911 for a meth overdose?
Almost every state in the United States has Good Samaritan Laws that protect the person calling 911 to save someone’s life who is overdosing from criminal penalties.[15] The Good Samaritan Law is there to protect the person who called for medical help and to protect the person who is overdosing. The goal is to get the person the help they need and prevent an overdose death.
How long does meth stay in your system?
Meth can be detected in your system for one to three days after your last use.[16] This depends on the amount and frequency of meth use, the method it was ingested, and how your body metabolizes methamphetamine. Hair follicle tests can detect meth for up to three months after the last use.
Sources
[1,6,11,12] Mount Sinai (n.d.). Methamphetamine overdose. Retrieved from https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/poison/methamphetamine-overdose on 2024, August 12.
[2,4] NIDA.gov (2019). Methamphetamine Research Report. Retrieved from https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/methamphetamine/overview on 2024, August 12.
[3] Yasaei R, Saadabadi A. Methamphetamine. (2023 May 1). In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK535356/ on 2024, August 12.
[5,7] Drugs.com (n.d.). Methamphetamines. Retrieved from https://www.drugs.com/methamphetamine.html on 2024, August 12.
[8] Stopoverdose.org (2022). Methamphetamine Overdose/Overamping. Retrieved from https://stopoverdose.org/basics/methamphetamine-overdose-overamping/ on 2024, August 12.
[9] SAMHSA (2018). Opioid Overdose Prevention TOOLKIT: Five Essential Steps for First Responders. Retrieved from https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/five-essential-steps-for-first-responders.pdf on 2024, August 12.
[10] NIDA.gov (2023). Drug Overdose Death Rates. Retrieved from https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates on 2024, August 12.
[13] Substance Abuse Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (2023, January 4). Key Substance Use and Mental Health Indicators in the United States: Results from the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2021-nsduh-annual-national-report on 2024, August 12.
[14] NIDA. 2023, December 14. What is the scope of methamphetamine use in the United States?. Retrieved from https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/methamphetamine/what-scope-methamphetamine-misuse-in-united-states on 2024, August 12.
[15] GAO (2021). Drug Misuse: Most States Have Good Samaritan Laws and Research Indicates They May Have Positive Effects. U.S. Government Accountability Office. Retrieved from https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-248 on 2024, August 12.
[16] Cruickshank, C. C., & Dyer, K. R. (2009). A review of the clinical pharmacology of methamphetamine. Addiction, 104(7), 1085-1099. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2009.02564.x on 2024, August 12.
