KCI The Anti_Meth Site

What happens to older meth users?

lynne	What happens to older meth users? is it possible to live a long life using meth? my ex is 56 and told me he had been using meth for years. maybe 20. he lost everything. he refuses treatment. what will happen to him eventually? he snorts it. he already forgets a lot, lost his hair, poor teeth. what is going to happen to him at this age? ... and is snorting "better" than smoking? not so addictive?
Replies...
forget suzette	Re: What happens to older meth users? same thing that happens to old non meth users... .....you know. like people who smoke ciggerrettes. ..............some die of it and some don't
khbird	Re: What happens to older meth users? My ex fiance has used meth for 23 years. and previously had used coke for a few years. He is 45 yrs old. he has alot of side effects of this..high blood pressure, stomach problems alot I mean alot. urine trouble. but all in all he does get around good. he is full of life..but I don't know if its the drugs or him that makes him that way. I just worry that since he still smokes pot, that he will have try something stronger.
Tamtom	Re: What happens to older meth users? i know alot of guys that started while in vietnam, and are still using today,their alittle nuts but their still kickin.
Tender heartsKS	Re: What happens to older meth users? Honestly, I don't know any old meth users. All my using buddies from way back when are dead.
luve piphany	Re: What happens to older meth users? The way I have to think of it is, we are all dying, some of us choose to die in hell on earth luvya
danimal55	Re: What happens to older meth users? Nobody gets out alive, but career meth addicts get out a lot sooner.
Penel0pe	Re: What happens to older meth users? I used for 26 years, stopped more than 3 years ago, and I am tore up physically. Is it due to meth? Probably some of it, I have no way of knowing. I'm pretty sure the meth and the lifestyle associated with being an active drug addict didn't help.. For example, I found out shortly after getting clean that I had Tuberculosis - WHO GETS THAT ANYMORE? I felt a little.... dark ages at the time, needless to say... There's a lot of other stuff going on, my connective tissues are breaking down a little at a time... Related to meth use? I dunno. It couldn't have helped, that's for sure.
NoMore 4Me	Re: What happens to older meth users? The oldest user I know just had a heart attack the other night. So that's ONE that I know of who is still with us, barely but still.
danimal55	Re: What happens to older meth users? One tragic example comes to mind. A dear friend, Steve C., just dropped dead in Portland,OR from a heart attack at a family reunion last Fall. First came kidney failure, followed by diabetes, followed by strokes and "mild" heart attacks. Then...the BIG one that dropped him dead in front of his entire family. IMO a realistic prognosis for a meth addict in his/her 50's.
FSOAB	Re: What happens to older meth users? My other halfs dad had a stroke in his fifty's. Both his grandfathers died in thier fifty's of heart attacks. I don't know that any of them used meth. He does...
nineyears clean	Re: What happens to older meth users? I was 40 when I got clean. Lost the last of my teeth when I was 42. Nearly died from pancreas failure when I was 46. Have lingering, long term damage from my years of addiction. Sadly, when I was ready to get clean, my co-addict and husband/love of my life was not. He wanted nothing to do with me after I got clean. He divorced me. Nearly 10 years later, at the ripe old age of 49, he suffered a massive heart attack and was rushed into surgery for a five-way bypass. I don't hold out much hope that he is clean now, but I don't know for sure. I pray that he got the message when his body retaliated against him for all of his years of abusing it. But I don't know. If he is still using, I expect to be attending his funeral within the next year or two. It is the natural progression of things that as we get older our bodies slow down and aren't able to bounce back as they once did. I imagine that this is when the damage meth is doing or has done really revs up. I'm glad I don't have to find out firsthand. The residual damage that meth did to my body is enough for me.
Penel0pe	Re: What happens to older meth users? All I know is that I am falling apart, and many of the folks I know in recovery who are recovering meth addicts seem to have a lot of physical health problems even after many years clean. Arthritis, diabetes, lung problems, heart problems, hypertension, kidney problems, liver damage, muscle and bone damage, DENTAL problems, osteoporosis, Hep C for the IV drug users, and for me, connective tissue problems like crazy (Just had ANOTHER tendon bulge out with a fat nodule last week - in my right hand, doctor says it will require surgery eventually - that's one neck surgery, achilles tendonitis, adhesions in my leg muscles causing difficulity with walking and WORKING,) memory problems like crazy, and my favorite, tuberculosis.