amphetamines - addictive or not?

[COLONELWAYNE]

They're alot of doctors who will disagree with you p.k. on the amphetamine not being physically as well as psychologically addictive.Although it was alot easier habit to kick than these damn oc's, I still remember feeling alot of anxious, gooseflesh,sweating, couldn't sit still side effects when I stopped taking them. They lasted off and on for about 2 weeks before I stopped thinking about them all the time and I do remember some aches and pains as well. Maybe I'm just wired different from others.Actually,I feel like I'm back on amphetimines everytime I go on the wagon from opiates.(after 3 or 4 days of bone aching hell) for a couple of weeks. It's really wierd because my skin will flush and heartrate will jump to 100 - 114 beats a minute without cause. Maybe some underlying factor? Who knows? I used to use dxm to potentiate the oc's when my tolorence level reached 160 mg a day.(couldn't afford the maintenence) I haven't used anything in 7 days except ambien to sleep at night. Longest I've done without in over a year. Really hope it lasts this time.

[Paregoric Kid]

They're alot of doctors who will disagree with you p.k. on the amphetamine not being physically as well as psychologically addictive.
and there are a lot of doctors who are total quacks. there isn't one shred of scientific evidence to suggest amphetamines are physically addictive. that is not to say you can't do damage to your body with them or that they aren't pyschologically addictive. I was on dextroamphetamine everyday for 15 years of my life, I think I would know if they were physically addictive.

[COLONELWAYNE]

The Merck Manual of Medical Information Home Edition http://www.SimonSays.com and the "Pill Book 10th edition" consultants "Drug Information Service" "Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital" and "Rutgers College of Pharmacy" will beg to differ with you on that one. Lighten up dude,maybe your chemistry is a little different or you substituted something in the place of it that made the withdrawals go unnoticed. I just don't believe you can classify "amphetamines" as a non addictive drug.I know of several people who are addicted to them and personally know for a fact that " I " felt physical as well as phsycological discomfort from them when I stopped using.I just don't believe we should send the message to those who may not have tried them yet that " This is a safe drug to expierment with because it's non-addictive" Thats all. Peace Out. C.W.

[Paregoric Kid]

pyschological problems can seem like physical problems, anxiety is really good at doing that. anxiety can really fuck you up, especially if you don't realize it's anxiety. you can also fuck your body up from amphetamines, it can put a strain on your body and raises your blood pressure among other things. but from my experience, friends' experiences, and from reliable scientific information I've read, I have no reason to believe amphetamines cause anything close to the physical addiction of opioids or benzos. but I could be wrong, though I don't think I am; amphetamines have been around for over 100 years, if it caused physical addiction it would be well documented. but if you find some studies or anything I'd love to read them, I'm not saying I'm always 100% right lol. actually I'm going to check out the merck manual right now.

[paesan]

I was on Adderall (amphetamine/dextroamphetamine)for A for about 4 years straight. I was up to 80mg a day when I began having anxiety attacks. I was convinced that I was having heart problems as it felt VERY physical. I was even taken to the hospital by ambulance at one point because I thought I was dying, but I wasn't, it was just panic. Even though at the hospital they told me it was just panic I was convinced it wasn't so I went to a cardiologist to have the stress and other heart tests done. I was fine. I couldn't believe it. The psychosis caused by amphetamines causes the imagined to feel very very real, but it doesn't mean it is. When I finally stopped I had some definite WD's but I don't think they were physical. The felt physical i.e. the stress, anxiety, insomnia, irritability, depression, complete and utter exhaustion, however these can all be mental, and have no physical cause whatsoever. The only physical problem I had from amphetamine use was seizures (3 total) and I think that was caused by taking way too much (200-300mgs in a day) and being up for days on end. I think at some points my body just couldn't handle any more.

[COLONELWAYNE]

You hit it on the mark with the anxiety attacks paesan.I started having them after I withdrew from oc's.Thought I was a goner a few times. I've never had a heart attack that I know of, but I would think that would be as closer feeling to the real thing as one could imagine.Funny thing is it's NOT all in your head and the physical pains of an attack are very real. I know my blood pressure went like 165 over a 100 but my heart rate stayed at 93. The next episode my bp went to like 143 over 88 but my heartrate hit 122 beats a minute. I was losing my vision and trying to passs out.SOME SCARY SHIT!!! Felt like I was on speed again. And don't even think about taking deep breaths or you will pass out from the panic of not being able to take one.I hope when I finally make it through all the damn side effects of withdrawal I come to realize it was worth it. Got my doubts now though! Peace out dudes and dudettes HA!HA! C.W.

[Blake]

Cocaine withdrawals are nowhere near as bad physically as opiate, benzo, or alcohol withdrawals, but I'd still consider cocaine physically addictive. I'd say speed and coke are more metally addictive than opiates, but a crack head is just as much an addict as a junky is. My thought is that any drug you build a physical tolerance to is physically addictive, and anything that alters your mood is mentally addictive.

But that is just the philosophy o' Blake.

[COLONELWAYNE]

Thats A good way of putting it Blake. I never really thought of it that way but I guess anything with a potential for tolerance also has a potential for dependence. It's just funny how everybody reacts so differently to everything thats out there. I've tried just about everything you could and cocaine and meth were the two easiest things for me to overcome.The oc's won't give up though,it's a constant struggle everyday to stay clean. The thought of using meth or coke now turns my stomach.I wish the oc's would show me the same courtesy.

[shinobi]

well i used dextroamphetamins for ages due to ADhD and in modoration (as scripted) there were no issues, it was when i crushed them up, disolved them in water and IV'd them (and any other phet bassed drug i could get hold of) that the problems arose. I would say their physicaly addictive, i got OCD from using too much amphetamin bassed shit as well, which sux. I think BLAKE put it in good perspective.

[Paregoric Kid]

I think people that are "addicted" to amphetamines have so much anxiety that not only do they start thinking they have physical withdrawal symptoms, they start to make posts saying cocaine causes physical addiction.
LOL

[peacefulwarrior]

Wow...I learned that cocaine and amphetamines stimulate the nucleus accumbens and Medial Forbrain Bundle even MORE directly than opiates (which stimulate less directly and further down the line.) The NA and MFB is the pleasure and reward pathway associated with addiction so at least around here its accepted that its addicting and even maybe more so than opiates (from a neuro perspective).

[shinobi]

yeah, anxiaty sux major. Think about it, a panic attack is bought on by mental stuff but becomes physical. Im not sure if it fully matters, i mean it is addictive, even if only mentaly and in most cases causes a physical withdrawrl, granted the WD aint as bad as opiats but is that such a bad thing and the mental torture in some ways is worse, fear is a powerfull weapon to use against yourself.

[Blake]

Anxiety is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. Your brain not producing the correct proportion of neurotransmitters is a physical result of amphetamine abuse and drug abuse in general. SO anxiety problems, although mental, stem from a physical abnormality caused by the drug usage. Just b/c you don't vomit and cramp from ceaseing heavy amphetamine use doesn't mean they are not addictive.

[shinobi]

yeah, i know that its all a chemical game, i have SAD which is slowly developing into GAD, im also dyslexic which means i dont alway manage to write what i mean. Anxiaty doesnt need to be drug induced though.

What i was trying to say is basicaly it doesnt matter if the addiction is mostly a person thinking they need a drug to survive or a persons body adjusting to requier a drug to survive (as such) because if you become so scared that your too scared you wont function without said substance your not going to concider volenterily coming off the substance anyway without a very f*coing good reason. am i making sense, i dont usualy.

[kramorph]

Amphetamines are addictive, but there is no real w/d syndrome(except of cause the dpression,hunger and tiredness) unless you have fucked ya brain so much that ya body now needs it coz youve screwed ya serotonin system as well as adrenaline,nor adrenaline etc etc.I used speed for years(until my dealer sold out and only had smack left for sale,say no more).I do know that psychologically it is almost as bad as crack(esp when shooting grams a time).The only thing that got me off it was heroin.But i never experienced real physical w/ds like opiates, but who really knows, we all are very different.

[HeidiW]

I used amphetamines/methamphetamines for about 10 years before I switched to opiates. They weren't addictive if I took them as prescribed. However, when I started buying street meth and smoked it, progressing to IV use only, it got very addictive. Shooting amphetamine/meth. pills was real addictive for me.