Signs and Symptoms that your child may be using

• Fatigue
• Moodiness / Irritability
• Loss of interest in family, leisure activities, school
• Fighting
• Decrease in grades
• Change in circle of friends
• Decrease in Motivation
• Mood Swings
• Weight Loss
• Increase in acne, skin sores

Signs your teen may be doing methamphetamines:

• Alertness and inability to sleep: Something might be up if you notice a change in your teen's sleeping patterns, especially if he/she is staying up for days on end and then sleeping or fatigued for a few days straight.
• Nervous physical activity: You notice your child is fidgeting and possibly scratching or picking at their skin.
• Decreased appetite: Your child is uninterested in food and starts to become dangerously thin.
• Euphoria and rush: Your teen might be extremely alert and energized, even after he or she was up all night.
• Increased respiration and/or increased body temperature: Your child might appear out of breath for no reason (meth is a stimulant that can speed up one's heart rate.)
• Burns, nosebleeds or track marks: If there are strange burns on your teen’s lips or fingers, he/she may be smoking meth through a hot glass or metal pipe. Snorting meth could cause nosebleeds and eventually eat away at the septum inside the nose. If they’re using meth intravenously there could be track marks on their arms.
• Carelessness about appearance: Has your teen stopped showering? Has he/she lost interest in grooming? Do they no longer brush their teeth?
• Deceit or secretiveness: Is your normally honest child lying to you all the time? Are his/her plans sounding fishy or vague? Is your child’s bedroom door always closed? Do they have a seemingly endless string of excuses to justify odd behavior?
• Violence and aggression: Meth affects the central nervous system, which in turn can affect a person's mood. Look for wild mood swings, hostility or abusive behavior.
• Presence of inhaling and injecting paraphernalia: If you noticed razor blades, mirrors, straws, syringes, spoons or surgical tubing in your child's room, this is a clear sign of drug abuse and a cry for help.
• Withdrawal from family, friends and school: Look for deteriorating relationships with family members and friends. Your teen may be depressed or exhibit a lack of enthusiasm and not express feelings like they used to. This can also include slipping grades, absenteeism and decreased motivation.
• Missing valuables: For a teen who's looking to buy drugs, their parents' house can be a gold mine of resources from stealing cash out of your wallet to swiping valuables like jewelry and heirlooms to pawn for money.

Long-Term Use Can Result In:

• Dependence: If your child can't function in their day-to-day activities without meth, they have become dependent.
• Addiction psychosis: This can include a number of disturbing behaviors:

• Hallucinations
• Paranoia
• Mood disturbances
• Repetitive motor activity

• Your child might talk to people who aren't there or become so paranoid that he/she won't leave the house.
• Severe anorexia: Some teens take meth to lose weight, and become dependant on the drug. The weight loss can be rather quick and drastic - leaving them looking unhealthy and skeleton-thin.
• Memory loss: Meth is very toxic and can affect the brain so much that your 16 year old may begin to show symptoms similar to Alzheimer's.
• Stroke, liver or heart failure: Meth puts the body in overdrive, which can fatally damage one's internal organs.

(Source: Partners for a Drug-free America, www.drugfreeamerica.com)