KCI The Anti_Meth Site

Is my daughter using meth?

detynik	Is my daughter using meth? Can anybody please help, I am so new to this but need advice urgently. My daughter does not live in the same town as me, but I have had problems with her for the past 5 years. She left my home 5 years ago when she was 14 years old to go live with a guy smoking pot. She dragged me through court and so much more. When she was 16 years old she broke up with this guy and found a nice boy and would every so often visit me on her terms. I was told yesterday that she now broke off her engagement and is back with the ex who is a crack smoker. She says that she does not use, but calls these kids her boys. Her fiancée say that when she gets back from them she smells of it, and seems to fly off the handle for no reason. I am scared as she will now be moving back to live with me on the 3rd Feb. 07, but I have 2 year old twins. They say she lies and steals and is a emotional wreck. Is she using please help what are the signs
Replies...
iw2q06	Re: Is my daughter using meth? first of all. welcome good to have u here hugs you i am iw2q an addict in recovery and second the frequent effects are irritability, aggressive behavior, anxiety, excitement, auditory hallucinations, and paranoia (delusions and psychosis). Abusers tend to be violent. Mood changes are common, and the abuser can rapidly change from friendly to hostile. The paranoia produced by methamphetamine use results in suspiciousness, hyperactive behavior, and dramatic mood swings. High doses or chronic use of methamphetamine, however, increases nervousness, irritability, and paranoia. The extreme paranoia that methamphetamine abusers can experience is often associated with a distorted tendency toward violence. Adverse consequences of methamphetamine abuse include the risk of stroke, heart failure, and prolonged psychosis. there u go.... i hope that helps and I am truly sorry to hear about your daughter.
NoMore 4Me	Re: Is my daughter using meth? Will she take a test in order to live under the same roof with your babies??
detynik	Re: Is my daughter using meth? Thank you so much for replying, never would I have thought I would be going through this But I guess that I am not the only one. I wish you all the best in your recovery, and hope you stay off this junk. Reading what I have not many people seem to get off it so you have a very strong will and if you need to speak to anybody please I am here. I do not know much about any form of drug, but I know I need to help my child. God it kills me inside knowing she might use. Can you please tell me what i have to look for when she comes to live with me, do I go though her stuff can I even trust her. I am so ashamed of asking these things, Sending You Love and Healing
detynik	Re: Is my daughter using meth? That's the thing she does not know I have been told any of this, and I need her to do a test because I can not afford having her around the babies. God please forgive me, my heart is breaking as I can not accept that I am to treat my own child as a criminal. I am sorry making you re live this hurt.
detynik	Re: Is my daughter using meth? Thank you I will go there right now, am getting confused with how this works
Loraura	Re: Is my daughter using meth? Go to your local pharmacy chain (like CVS, Walgreen's, etc.) and ask behind the pharmacy counter for an at home drug test that gives instant results. Meth is detectable in urine a max of 3-5 days after using. So a positive result means recent use. Ask her before you spring the idea of a test on her if she takes any over the counter medication, or prescription medication. That way she can't say "oh it's cold medicine, or ADHD medicine when she finds out she tested positive. They know these tricks. You need to know them too so that you can be on the same level. Meth acts in the brain in a way very similar to cocaine with a few major differences: 1) The body breaks cocaine down in a matter of minutes, the high does not last long. It takes the body 12+ hours to break down meth, making the high last a long time. 2)Because it takes the body SO LONG to break meth down, meth is even more dangerous long term. The body has other "tricks" that it uses to try to prevent the over stimulation caused by meth. The first one is the recycling of dopamine. However, meth interrupts this process by fitting into the recycle transport molecules, blocking them up. The second is with other chemicals which will destroy the dopamine that is causing the user to be high. Normally this rarely happens. On meth, it happens often. This causes the user to be chemically imbalanced after they finish their "run" on meth. It takes the body months of clean time to repair that damage. Meth is, in my personal opinion, many many times worse than cocaine. Although cocaine has ruined many lives, indeed, I personally would want to know what i was dealing with if I had an addict of either one living in my home.
luve piphany	Re: Is my daughter using meth? Mom, how did you handle your daughter while she was living with the drug addicts before? Didn't you have to give up the idea that you could help her? Didn't you learn then that you didn't cause her addictions (if she was living with the people, she was doing drugs-period), you couldn't control her addictions (she was doing exactly as she pleased) and most importantly, that you couldn't control her addiction (or her)? I'm only asking because it sounds like you've been through the "wringer" with her and with 2 year old twins...there isn't much space left in your energy box left to deal with a teenage meth addict (or whatever drug). She has the behaviors of a meth addict or a crack addict....I tend to think that meth addicts lie more but sounds the same. It sounds like the best way to help her would be to give her all the info possible on treatment programs. She has a whole life ahead of her-getting clean is the only way she can live it. Sending you lots of strength and love
So much guilt	Re: Is my daughter using meth? Welcome and hugs to you. I'm sorry that you are going thru this. How long has it been since you've seen your daughter? Get yourself educated on the effects of drugs and especially meth. Set rules when your daughter comes to live with you, and consequences for not following the rules. And keep your word on that. Do not enable her, make sure she gets a job and helps support herself and helps you with the expenses, she's old enough. I wish you luck and I'll be praying for this to work. Visit my son's memorial website and share this with your daughter. Be open with your daughter about what you've been researching on. My 22 year old son Austin took his life this past August. He battled with meth addiction and couldn't break the grip of the devil drug. May Austin's story give you and your daughter strength to stay drug free and to know you don't want it to end this way. www.austin-hesse.last-memories. com