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Is this methamphetamine psychosis or am I losing it?

Posted by sleeplesscoast119 on August 10, 2026

Original post

I've been up for almost 3 days now, maybe closer to 4, and I keep hearing my name called from the other room when nobody's there. Last night I was convinced someone was standing outside my window for at least 2 hours, so I sat in the dark with the lights off just watching. My hands won't stop picking at my arms because I feel like something is crawling under my skin. I know I've been using a lot more than usual this week, but I can't tell anymore if this is the meth or if I'm actually losing my mind. Has anyone else gone through this and had it clear up once they stopped?

2 replies

  • steadyharbor2088Marked as the answer
    What you're describing sounds exactly like what I went through after a 5 day run about 8 months ago, the voices, the certainty someone was watching the house, the skin picking. That's textbook meth induced psychosis, and the good news is it's almost always temporary once the drug clears your system and you actually sleep. For me it took about 4 days of real sleep and food before the paranoia faded, though the skin picking urge lingered a bit longer. Please don't try to white knuckle this alone if you can help it, a detox program can keep you safe while your body resets, since dehydration and exhaustion make the psychosis worse. It scared me enough that I called a treatment center the next morning, and I'm glad I did.
  • quietmesa774
    I had something similar happen twice before I finally got help, so I want to say you're not losing your mind, this is a known reaction to heavy meth use. The window thing you mentioned is so common in our forum threads it's almost a pattern, along with the sense that people are talking about you nearby. One thing that helped me tell the difference was writing down exactly what I saw or heard once I came down, since most of it stopped making sense in daylight. If it keeps happening even on days you haven't used, or it gets worse instead of better, that's worth mentioning to a doctor since it could point to something separate from the meth itself.

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