22 Stimulants Side Effects You Weren’t Aware of

1. According to the NIDA, “Stimulants can increase blood pressure” which can becomes more and more dangerous over time.
2. Taking stimulants can, in the same way that taking hallucinogenic drugs like LSD can, increase your body temperature to a dangerous degree, especially when a person overdoses on them.
3. Both licit and illicit stimulants can cause addiction.
4. Dependence and tolerance can occur in those who abuse both types of stimulants as well.
5. Stimulants taken over time and then stopped suddenly can cause many psychological withdrawal symptoms including severe depression, anxiety, and irritability.
6. Abusing stimulants can cause a person’s risk for seizures to rise.
7. Many students abuse prescription stimulants because they believe they will do better in school and be able to concentrate better. According to the NIDA, “Research has shown that students who abuse prescription stimulants actually have lower GPAs in high school and college than those who don’t.”
8. An “irregular heartbeat” is one of the consequences of taking high doses of stimulants (NIDA Teen).
9. Stimulant abusers often experience insomnia and other sleep disturbances, even when they are not currently abusing the drug.
10. Methamphetamine, an addictive stimulant drug, can cause severe itching, broken teeth, and emotional problems in long-term abusers (NLM).
11. Dry mouth is a common side effect for both those who abuse stimulants and those who take them as prescribed.
12. Diarrhea and constipation are both side effects of the stimulant Adderall (NLM).
13. A loss of appetite is common among those who take stimulants.
14. Stimulant abusers also can experience extreme weight loss as a result and malnutrition.
15. Motor and verbal tics are a severe side effect of prescription stimulants. If you know someone who is experiencing them, call their doctor immediately.
16. Paranoia, irritability, and hostility are all common symptoms of stimulant abuse. In some cases, it can even turn into full-blown psychosis which includes violent behavior and hallucinations as well.
17. People who are abusing stimulants often feel alert and awake, but they can become extremely manic and frenzied as well which can cause problems. It is difficult at times to control a stimulant high and the individual under the effects of it.
18. Stroke is a common result of stimulant abuse. Even a person’s first dosage of a stimulant drug, if it is large enough, can cause extreme cardiovascular problems like heart failure, stroke, coma, and death.
19. The cravings for stimulants, especially cocaine, can last much longer than those for other drugs, even up to years after the individual has stopped taking them.
20. Abusing stimulants increases dopamine in the brain to an extremely high degree, “disrupting normal communication between brain cells and producing euphoria” (NIDA). This is why addiction to stimulants occurs so quickly.
21. Abusing any kind of stimulant drugs can cause severe abdominal cramps.
22. People who crush and inject prescription stimulant pills are putting themselves at risk of small blood cell blockage which is caused by insoluble fillers in the tablets themselves (NIDA).