Signs and Symptoms of Bath Salt Abuse

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Bath salts is the street name for a group of often changing synthetic drugs on the illicit market, so the full effects of using bath salts is not fully known. Medical personnel who come across someone who is in a full-blown delusion as a result of bath salts may not recognize the effects and may not know what to do. Even drug tests may not determine that bath salts were involved in a serious adverse effect since the newest tests only detect fourteen common chemicals used in these formulas. There are more than eighty chemicals that might be included in these small packets.

This group of drugs is referred to as “cathinones.” It is a class of stimulants that creates aggression and hallucinations. One or more of these substances are packaged in small foil packages and labeled “bath salts, for a soothing bath, not for human consumption.” The most common drugs to be included are mephedrone, methylone and methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV).

These drugs have been made illegal in the United States, so their sale is carried out more covertly.

Bath salts may be ingested, snorted or injected. Small foil packages are often left behind, evidence of bath salts consumption.

They may be labeled:

• Blue silk
• Zoom
• Ivory Wave
• Purple Wave
• Red Dove
• White Lightning
• Cloud Nine
• Or many other names

A variety of chemicals make up bath salts. These include mephedrone (a popular and problematic drug in the UK), pyrovalerone and methylenedioxyprovalerone (MPDV). The most serious results come from snorting or injecting. While these are three of the most common chemicals sold as bath salts, there are dozens of others that may be used. This makes treatment in the case of overdose or adverse effects very difficult.

They act as strong stimulants and may be sought by a person who normally uses cocaine or methamphetamine. They are strongly addictive and trigger intense cravings. Even a person who sees that they are experiencing harm from abuse of these drugs may not be able to stop himself.

Short-Term Effects

Bath salts effects tend to last about three or four hours, but rapid heartbeat, increased blood pressure and other effects of a stimulant may last longer.

High doses have caused intense and extended panic attacks in some people. Since this drug is a stimulant, it tends to disrupt sleep. A person who takes the drug frequently may suffer from sleep-deprivation psychosis. Addiction is also a very likely effect.

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Mental, Emotional and Physical Effects

Mentally, the user will experience euphoria, alertness, anxiety, and agitation. He will probably not feel hungry. He may have a headache, tense muscles, increased body temperature, nosebleeds and dilated pupils. He may also be dizzy and confused and may grind his teeth. But those are the milder effects.

The more serious effects include fits, hallucinations, aggression, suicidal thoughts or attempts and psychotic delusions. Physically, a person can experience liver failure, kidney failure, loss of bowel control and rhabdomyolysis, a spontaneous breakdown of muscle fiber that can lead to death.

A person using bath salts may overheat and tear of their clothing trying to cool off. Paranoia may drive an individual to aggressive, uncontrolled attacks on others, or self-destruction. They are often unresponsive to any commands to stop their actions, and pepper spray or stun guns may have no effect.

In many cases in the United States and the United Kingdom, the signs of bath salts abuse included acts of violence that ended in the death of multiple people or suicide attempts.

A 35-year-old UK woman who thought it could help her lose weight—and who had no knowledge of its dangers—took the drug over a period of months. She lost weight but also turned into a “paranoid, aggressive, agoraphobic insomniac,” according to her family. She finally went into a coma, suffered irreversible brain damage and was then taken off life support.

Arizona law enforcement personnel reported that a man high on bath salts tried to break into an operating room armed with a fire extinguisher. He sprayed the hospital security staff who tried to stop him. Another Arizona man high on bath salts walked down a sidewalk throwing himself at walls. He then stripped naked and ran through the neighborhood.

And in one of the most tragic incidents involving bath salts, a young mother and father died after a high-speed chase in Washington. After they crashed, the father shot his wife and then himself and their young child was later found dead in the home.

The paranoia and delusions associated with this type of drug can trigger a wide range of violent or suicidal behaviors because the drug user is completely disassociated from reality.

Symptoms of Bath Salts Abuse

There have been serious and even fatal results from using bath salts.

Signs of bath salts use include:

• Increased blood pressure
• Chest pains
• Increased heart rate
• Agitation
• Hallucinations
• Kidney pain
• Increased body temperature or chills
• Muscle tension
• Nausea
• Confusion
• Reduced need for food or sleep
• Paranoia
• Suicidal ideas
• Delusions

Dealing with These Signs

If a family sees any of these signs of bath salts use, it is vital to get the person professional help as soon as possible. The drug user and those around him are at risk as long as the drug is being abused. If the drug user can’t stop using the drug on his own, then he must be gotten into an addiction treatment program at the first possible moment.

This is not a drug to take any kind of chances with. Serious physical damage is also possible, as in the case of the New Orleans woman who lost her arm, shoulder, breast and other tissue after an injection of bath salts into her forearm set up a chain reaction of tissue death.

Around the world, Narconon drug rehabilitation centers helping individuals avoid these dangers by enabling them to leave drug abuse far behind. In some 45 locations, Narconon enables people to achieve drug-free lives.

Deaths and Injuries Due to Bath Salts

Tragically, one of the effects of bath salts abuse is death, either because of the direct effect of the drug or because of a person’s actions. In March 2011, a young man in New Jersey killed his girlfriend while he was under the influence of bath salts. A young woman who injected bath salts lost the arm the drugs were injected into, her shoulder, breast and other tissue after a flesh-eating bacteria destroyed the muscles in that part of her body. She survived.

A young man in Louisiana thought his house was surrounded by police and tried to cut his own throat. His family stopped him and the cut was stitched up, but he succeeded in shooting himself the next day. These are only a few of the many stories of self-destruction and harm resulting from bath salts consumption.

In 2010, there were 304 calls to poison control centers about this drug, but more than 6,000 in 2011. Since the drugs have been banned in 31 states, there have only been 2,250 in the first six months of 2012.

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A Sober Person Does Not Run these Risks

Every drug of abuse is associated with harm—addiction, the decline of personal integrity and happiness, illness, incarceration, hallucinations, and delusions that can lead one to harm others—the list is almost endless. The only way to avoid these risks is to remain sober.

For some people, this is a choice they can’t make, as they are already addicted. Whether the addiction is to an opiate, alcohol, a stimulant like this one or any other substance, hope of lasting recovery is available at Narconon centers around the world.

Learn how a loved one can leave addiction behind and stay safely sober.