Last Updated on January 2, 2023 by Mike Robinson

Speed Drug Effects the speed is the name given to a synthesized drug from amphetamine sulfate consumed nasally (snorting) or orally.

The main consequences of speed are feelings of well-being, increased energy, alertness and activation, decreased tiredness, hunger and sleep, and a generalized over-activity of mental state.

Speed Drug Effects

Consequences of speed

However, the consumption of this drug can be highly dangerous and reports a series of very negative consequences in the long term and in the short term.

What is speed?

Speed is a drug that belongs to the phenethylamine family, that is, it is part of the amphetamine group.

Its scientific name is amphetamine sulfate and is made up synthetically from the substances of amphetamine.

Amphetamines are natural drugs that, when consumed, stimulate the central nervous system of the brain.

Methamphetamine, on the other hand, is synthetic compounds from this substance that are made with the aim of producing drugs of abuse.

In this way, the speed is performed in laboratories to be commercialized illegally and to be administered as recreational drug.

Thus, despite having therapeutic properties used in narcolepsy treatments and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, its main use is in festive spaces.

The speed is generally consumed snorting, which produces a more immediate effects, although it can also be consumed smoked and orally and intravenously.

People who consume it report effects such as increased energy, increased mood, joy, suppression of tiredness and a generalized state of well-being.

However, consumption of this drug causes brain overstimulation which can also produce unpleasant symptoms such as nausea, palpitations, dizziness or headaches.

Likewise, the risks of this drug are accentuated when consumed of prolonged, abusive or chronic form.

It should be noted that speed specifically stimulates the central nervous system and, unlike amphetamine, is synthesized to produce very high effects.

In this way, the drug super stimulates the brain in an uncontrolled way, so it can produce brain damage and psychopathological alterations very easily.

Likewise, this drug has an addictive potential elevate so that “hooking” to speed is relatively simple if consumed periodically.

Effects of speed on health

1- Dangerous poisoning

In the first place, it must be taken into account that the consumption of speed can have negative consequences with a single consumption.

In this way, the repercussions do not only appear with prolonged consumption of the drug since a simple intoxication can already have negative consequences.

As we have said, speed over stimulates the central nervous system, so when we consume the drug and it reaches our brain, we can greatly modify our mental functioning.

The main negative symptoms that can lead to consumption of Speed are the feelings of irritability, hyperactivity, restlessness or even aggressiveness.

These symptoms are usually annoying but above all can create a serious danger for the person intoxicated by speed.

Being over activated, restless, hyperactive or even aggressive can lead the person to engage in risky behaviors that may intrude on their physical integrity.

On the other hand, the consumption of speed can also cause hallucinations, convulsions or insomnia, symptoms that can be highly dangerous.

Finally, it is necessary to take into account that the sobreactivación and the overstimulation that produces the drug also increases the heart frequency reason why it can cause palpitations, tachycardia’s, nauseas, headaches or even death.

2- Amphetamine toxic psychosis

By abandoning the direct effects of consumption, we are already focusing on the long-term consequences of speed.

It should be noted that these effects that we will comment below do not occur whenever speed is consumed periodically, however, they do occur in a large number of cases of people who abuse this drug.

The first of all we will comment on is the toxic amphetamine psychosis.

This type of psychosis is mental illness very similar to schizophrenia in which the person suffers a psychotic disorder through the direct effect of speed.

Although this condition does not appear in all cases, it is necessary to take into account that it is not necessary that the person consumes speed of prolonged form during years to suffer a toxic psychosis amphetamine.

Typically, this condition is characterized by symptoms typical of schizophrenia such as: hallucinations, delusions, disorganization in thinking and extravagant behaviors, and remit when the effects of the drug have disappeared.

However, sometimes this psychosis can end up leading to a pure psychotic disorder so that psychosis becomes chronic.

3- Anxiety crisis

Another disturbance that can cause the prolonged consumption of speed is the anxiety crises.

This disorder is characterized by sudden state suffering from extreme anxiety in which the person is totally paralyzed by their fear.

Anxiety attacks or panic attacks appear abruptly and unpredictably, and from them the individual experiences fear of the possibility that they may recur and in relation to the physical or psychic consequences of them.

Likewise, crises occur repetitively so that the person is suffering from unpredictable anxiety attacks on a constant basis.

During the attack, the individual who suffers from it may experience palpitations, heart shaking or increased heart rate, sweating, shaking or shaking, feeling of shortness of breath or breathlessness, choking sensation, oppression, nausea or dizziness.

Likewise, you may suffer instability, dizziness or fainting, depersonalization, fear of losing control or going crazy, or fear of dying, and experience the crisis as an extremely unpleasant moment.

This psychological disorder does not only appear with the consumption of speed since it presents other types of causes, however, the cerebral alterations that this drug makes can predispose to the chronic consumer of speed to suffer anxiety crisis.

4- Dependence and tolerance

Dependence and tolerance are undoubtedly the most important problems presented by all substances that have an addictive component.

In fact, if the addictive substances did not provoke one of these two symptoms in the consumer, most probably would not appear the others.

This fact can be understood in this way since a consumer of any drug, would surely stop taking it as soon as he began to perceive the negative effects of taking the substance periodically.

However, the appearance of drug addiction is what causes the person to remain hooked on the drug and continues to abuse it despite being aware of the harm caused by the drug.

In this way, speed is a psychoactive drug with a clear addictive component, so that the person who takes this drug can be hooked to it with relative ease.

In fact, because of the high release of dopamine (the main neurotransmitter of addiction) in the brain that produces methamphetamine, speed is one of the most addictive drugs.

This shows the high danger of consuming this type of drug, since it does not require years of consumption to create a clear addiction.

Also, when we talk about addiction we have to take into account its two basic concepts: tolerance and dependence.

Tolerance refers to the habituation of the body and mind to drug use.

Thus, when speed is consumed for the first time, possibly with a very small dose and we will be able to notice the effects we want from the drug.

However, as a person is consuming this drug on a regular basis, the tolerance to the substance will be greater.

This means that as a person consumes greater amounts of speed, each time he requires higher doses to experience the effects he previously experienced with much smaller doses.

In addition, tolerance affects not only the rewarding effects but also the more negative effects caused by the non-consumption of speed.

In this way, when a person starts to use this drug frequently, his brain asks for the administration of speed when it takes a certain time without consuming it.

At first, these desires of the speed-consuming brain can be satiated with small doses and not very frequent, however, as more is consumed and increased tolerance, the brain will require more and more doses of the substance.

The latter we have explained is closely related to the other concept of addiction: dependency.

When a person becomes dependent on a substance implies that the brain requires administration of the drug in order to function properly.

Otherwise, the person will begin to experience a series of unpleasant symptoms and a high need for consumption.

This can happen very easily with the speed, so the consumer begins to be dependent on the substance to be able to function properly.

This fact causes a high discomfort in the person when not consumed by what the drug needs, not only to achieve pleasant effects but to avoid unpleasant effects.

5- Severe depression

As we have said, speed is a psycho stimulant drug of the central nervous system.

Brain stimulation is performed primarily through a neurotransmitter known as dopamine.

Thus, dopamine is a substance that is in the brain that connects neurons to others.

Although the functions of dopamine are multiple, one of them stands out above all: the sensation of reward and pleasure.

In this way, this neurotransmitter is the component of the main brain that allows us to have feelings of pleasure and gratification.

As we have seen in the previous section, the modification of this neurotransmitter that causes the speed is the main aspect that explains the clear addiction that causes its consumption.

However, by modifying the pleasure sensations of the brain as high as speed does, the mood can also be highly disturbed.

When we consume speed we accustom the brain to experiencing gratification only when we consume high amounts of a substance that produces an immense release of dopamine.

In this way, it is very likely that the dopamine that releases our brain when we perform enjoyable activities is too low, so we can start not being able to enjoy anything, decrease motivation and, eventually, develop severe depression .

6- Brain Impairment

The repeated consumption of speed not only modifies the functioning of the substances of our brain but can change and deteriorate certain brain structures.

In this way, the prolonged consumption of speed affects and deteriorates very well to parts of the brain known as raffle cores.

This brain region is responsible for performing a large number of physiological functions such as: