Methamphetamine Abuse: Spotting the Signs, Understanding Symptoms, and Exploring Treatment for Snorting Meth

Methamphetamine abuse, or meth as most commonly call it, is perhaps one of the most addictive and debilitating stimulant drugs out there. What might start out as an occasional experiment or way of just scraping by on exhaustion can quickly turn into a habit-altering addiction, destroying everything in its path.

Snorting meth—also known as insufflation—is also how other abusers use it, and it’s especially dangerous. Others say it’s not as horrible as shooting up or smoking, but that’s a fatal mistake. Snorting meth still carries its own risks, repercussions, and horrible long-term destruction of your body.

This blog explains the reasons why people snort meth, its physical and medical impacts, symptoms to watch out for, and how to get help when help is needed.

Methamphetamine is a highly powerful drug that affects your central nervous system. It comes in white powder, blue crystal (most commonly referred to as “crystal meth“) or even in capsule form. There are many ways people use it, and each one impacts differently:

• Snorting requires snorting the powdered version up into your nose.
• Smoking is a rapid, temporary, but potent high if you vaporize it and inhale its vapors.
• Injecting mixes the drug with water and injects it into your veins to take effect immediately.

They’re all dangerous, but snorting meth is something that can make you think it’s not bad. The reality is that the harm accumulates silently in the long run.

It’s like the “easiest” high to some users. Less intimidating than putting a needle into your arm, and no pipe or lighter like with smoke. 

Others snort meth because:

• They crave a quick, strong high with none of the inconvenience of shooting up.
• They think snorting’s safer or won’t make them as hooked as other methods.
• They also don’t want to avoid easily detectable clues, such as injection marks.

But this notion of snorting being safer? That’s a trap. Sure, the high may be a bit slower in coming on than if you smoked it, but still strong and as likely to pull you under in addiction.

When you have snorting meth, it goes into tissue in your nose and your bloodstream straight away. You’ll get a burst of energy in just a few minutes and a type of high that’s difficult to describe.

Users report it makes them feel like:

• You’re on top of the world, or very confident
• You’re talking really fast with thoughts coming a mile a minute
• Not even hungry at all
• Wide awake and wired with too much energy
• Believing they’re bulletproof

The more you use it, the more the body gets used to it, and you require bigger doses or need to snort over and over again just to get the same. Some even go so far as to inject or smoke meth simply to keep on experimenting for that very first high.

It’s a thrill at first, but snorting meth catches up with you. The more you do it, the more your body and brain are destroyed.

Short-Term Effects:

• Nosebleeds and sore nostrils
• Stuffy, runny, or even infected sinuses
• Racing pulse and pumping blood pressure
• Feeling way too hot (like, your body overheats)
• Anxious, paranoid, or jittery

Long-Term Effects:

• Extreme destruction of the nose, even eroding the septum
• Sinus economics and losing your sense of smell
• Rotting teeth and sores on the face (“meth mouth” as other people call it)
• Hearing or seeing something that does not exist, or one being totally paranoid
• Forgetting things, concentration difficulties, and being in a state of emotional tension

Use it long enough, and snorting meth will kill you. People who use it in the long term find themselves isolated, burned out, and insane. They lose their job, their friends, even their home, but are unable to quit because addiction has such a strong grip.

A lot of people think snorting meth is the “safer” choice compared to injecting or smoking. That’s a myth. Every way of using meth snorting has its own dangers:

It is early meth use detection that can be the difference of getting the individual the help they deserve. If the person you love is snorting meth, you can notice:

Physical Signs:

• Nosebleeds on a regular basis
• Runny or stuffy nose when healthy
• Weight loss and negligence in taking care of themselves
• Enlarged pupils and restless eyes

Behavioral Signs:

• Completely hyper or weird
• Slept out of whack or slept none at all
• Paranoid, hallucinating, or combative
• Straying from friends and family

You may also observe things like mirrors, rolled-up dollar bills, razor blades, or penless pens—things that individuals use to snort crystal meth.

Since you are observing a lot of these signs, try to approach them tactfully, not blaming them. Addiction is an illness, not something the individual is doing intentionally to do something wrong.

Even the worst meth addiction doesn’t necessarily need to be the final chapter. Professional help can turn lives around and help individuals overcome, rebuild, and regain control once more.

Here’s how:

Medical Detox

It can be terrible, physically and emotionally, to stop using meth. Medical detox allows you to be safe while you go through withdrawal symptoms like crying, feeling tired, or needing the drug.

Inpatient or Outpatient Rehab

These programs give you self-control using therapy and self-reconstruction methods. Inpatient care is ideal for worst-case situations, but outpatient care is just what you can utilize if you have a good support system at home.

Behavioral Therapy

Even something so fundamental as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Contingency Management makes you change your mind about bad behavior, heal from past pain, and acquire new coping skills for stress.

Aftercare and Support

Long-term cleanliness involves the presence of support groups, possibly living in a sober house, and being able to avoid relapse.

Snorting meth is less intense but leads to atrocious physical and emotional harm. Addiction has destroyed too many lives, but it can be brought under control again through rehab. Gorehabs‘ help and therapy will allow you or your loved one to regain life. Do not wait any longer, heal today.