Question
Does efavirenz help chest pain and acid reflux after smoking meth?
21 July 2021. Related: All topics, Drug interactions, Recreational drugs.
I have been a meth user (smoked it) and has used meth for 5 consecutive days. I am also on antiretroviral meds (lamivudine zidovudine and efavirenz). Also taking high blood meds such as irbesartan 300/5 nebivolol 2.5 and rosuvastatin 10.
Recently, everytime I smoke meth i would experience chest pain on the left side and palpitations but they would subside if I drink 2 bottles or even a bottle of beer. Also I do experience acid reflux too. My friend advised me to take omeprazole 20mg when I want meth to go down faster and I tried it and it works (just for 4 occasions only) But I also notice that I would go down if i would take my ARVS especially Efavirenz.
Question: what causes the chest pain/heartburn and acid reflix?? Why do I feel sleepy after taking ARVs when Im high on meth?
Thanks!!
Answer
Answer: Simon Collins
Hi there
Unfortunately, the symptoms you are reporting are directly linked to smoking meth.
Smoking meth can easily cause irregular and faster heart rates, acid reflux and prolonged exhaustion/sleeping, both during and in the days after use. Feeling heart palpitations is a serious caution that you have smoked too much and you need to smoke less. This is a serious risk if you are already taking medication for high blood pressure.
Meth can cause blood vessels to expand and restrict causing bursts in blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke, This includes causing heart problems at a younger age.
Extending the days you use meth might give you short term energy boosts but just delays these symptoms – and adds to your body’s exhaustion because you are unlikely to be eating or sleeping properly.
Keeping hydrated by drinking water might help but I can’t comment on efavirenz.
Fom a risk reduction perspective, a safer way to smoke would be to smoke less over a shorter time and to rest and eat properly the next day. Better still would be to find a safer way to get high.
The paper below is a technical medical study on Meth use and heart disease that makes these risks clear.
Methamphetamine Use and Cardiovascular Disease
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/ATVBAHA.119.312461
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