Skinny drug abusers

November 16, 2008 2:15 PM

What drugs make those skinny rocks stars dreadfully skinny ? Need help for a script. You see some people, that abuse drugs maybe, that are really skinny. I've always assumed that the drugs make them forget to eat, or maybe they can't afford food or the drug drives down appetite. What drugs do this? I kinda mean street drugs, but maybe other medications. I want to add some authentic detail into a play I'm involved with. Thanks
posted by Xhris to health & fitness (27 comments total)

I'm not an expert, but I think it's cocaine that does that.
posted by god particle at 2:17 PM on November 16, 2008

Meth, coke, alcohol, caffeine and cigarettes.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 2:21 PM on November 16, 2008

Heroin makes you feel full/not hungry, which is convenient since the user needs his/her money to spend all on the drug. I think meth is the same way but have only discussed this with a (now dead) heroin user.
posted by Melismata at 2:22 PM on November 16, 2008

Clenbuterol for intentional weight loss.
posted by Tapioca at 2:23 PM on November 16, 2008

Are you talking about Heroin Chic?
posted by CKmtl at 2:23 PM on November 16, 2008

Methamphetamine and cocaine primarily. Heroin if you're a hardcore junkie.
posted by Justinian at 2:25 PM on November 16, 2008

The classic rock hard drug is heroin, which would definitely cause that gaunt look, and coke would be the 2nd choice. I would research those drugs... for a look more at the side of what its like to be a user of that drug try erowid.org
posted by GleepGlop at 2:26 PM on November 16, 2008

Coke drives down appetite and makes you hyper/spazzy usually. Other forms of speed do this as well.
Meth is similar but also wrecks your skin/teeth.
Heroin removes your desire for pretty much everything, including food.
Smoking is a bit of an appetite supressant, but not enough to make you skinny.
Alcohol does not really do this.
Caffeine does not do this.
posted by jessamyn at 2:27 PM on November 16, 2008

Google "coke bloat". Makes you skinny, except in the face and tummy.
posted by meerkatty at 2:29 PM on November 16, 2008

Heroin. If you're talking about the standard Janis-Joplin-oh-my-god-she-looks-like-a-skeleton-but-damn-she's-still-kinda-hot thing, it's heroin.

If you're going for the where-are-her-teeth-and-what's-that-purple-thing-on-her-lip thing, methamphetamine.
posted by Netzapper at 2:43 PM on November 16, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Adderall
posted by demon666 at 2:49 PM on November 16, 2008

When my sister was on coke she got Ally McBeal skinny. She had an endless supply of energy and no appetite to speak of.
posted by HotPatatta at 3:01 PM on November 16, 2008

Heroin was the drug of choice for the likes of Guns N Roses in the 80s, who would most likely qualify for the look you're describing; likewise Anthony Kiedis of Red Hot Chili Peppers.
posted by rodgerd at 3:11 PM on November 16, 2008

Cocaine's a helluva drug.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 3:21 PM on November 16, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Alcohol can indeed have this effect, or rather alcoholism. I don't know the mechanism, whether it's that alcohol is a depressant, or whether it's irritation of the digestion system, or permanent hang-over, but loss of appetite and an aversion to eating can be side effects. The skinniness seems to be more from loss of muscle mass though due to sitting around and not getting proper exercise (which may also me related to not being hungry).
posted by hungrysquirrels at 3:22 PM on November 16, 2008

Speed will make you a (skinny) street-walking cheetah with a hide full of napalm, like Iggy Pop.

John Cale doesn't carry too many extra pounds singing closing in on death as he extols the virtues of Heroin.

Also I'm pretty sure Nico didn't get those cheekbones by chugging Slim Fast.

And Patti Smith was pretty, uh, lean, promising a real good time together. Especially when we'd ''jump and shout and shoot together''. (That's horse not hoops.)
posted by t0astie at 3:50 PM on November 16, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Eric Clapton said he actually got fat while using heroin due to only eating junk food. Cris Kirkwood from the Meat Puppets said he went through the same thing.
posted by Sailormom at 3:51 PM on November 16, 2008

I guess I should have said the combination of meth, coke, alcohol, caffeine and cigarettes.

Through nausea, diarrhea, appetite suppression and simply forgetting to eat, these substances can drop your caloric intake to something below your basal metabolism. The result is an unhealthy weight loss.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 3:54 PM on November 16, 2008

Alcohol alone can do it, if you'd rather drink than eat.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:53 PM on November 16, 2008

Speed, meth.
posted by 31d1 at 5:34 PM on November 16, 2008

Alcohol and puking.
posted by BrnP84 at 6:46 PM on November 16, 2008

A lot of them were skinny to begin with.
posted by Burhanistan at 7:57 PM on November 16, 2008

Speed suppresses your appetite. It also allows you to drink like mad without falling down (until you black out) and thus is borne the skinny-yet-bloated look. But if you're young and your metabolism is hanging in there, coke is the best way to easy effortless skinny.
posted by desuetude at 8:57 PM on November 16, 2008

Heroin, typically, unless they've really got the Night of the Living Dead thing going for them, in which case meth seems to be involved a lot of the time...

I was unaware that coke use had a characteristic 'look' to it, but my experience comes mostly from my time working as an EMT, and we didn't have a lot of coke users coming in as ODs or tweaking. (Might have been more related to demographics of use than the drug, though; I remember someone saying something to me once along the lines of "cokeheads go to rehab, meth-heads come here [to the ED].")
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:19 PM on November 16, 2008

Let's not forget that people in Hollywood have access to Mexico and unscrupulous doctors.

Therefore, I'll throw in Topamax, any ADD medication (Ritalin, Vyvanse, Adderall IR), again, Clenbuterol, and Valium. These things are easy to travel with if you have a script and are all taken orally; just because they're legal and regulated doesn't make them less abusable.

There are numerous accounts of various 90's supermodels drinking champagne all day at shows and doing coke, then taking valium so they could sleep without ever eating during fashion week in Milan. I heard these stories quite a bit from actual models when I had an ex working for a modeling agency, but I didn't witness it myself.

There are models who soak toilet paper in orange juice and swallow it along with a multivitamin to stay feeling "full" without gaining weight or getting a vitamin deficiency. That I have witnessed, and it's disgusting.

It's common too for famous people to hide track marks and drug use by injecting between their toes and parachuting vs. snorting (i.e., put substance of choice in a small piece of tissue paper, swallow). Then you don't have red nostrils on the red carpet and you can't get busted with a baggie/needle in your bag if you get stopped.

Pinned eyes (small pupils) = heroin. Dilated pupils = stimulants (coke, meth, amphetamine salts).
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 8:03 AM on November 17, 2008

I know a lot of skinny "rocker" or hipster types who don't do much more than smoke and drink, and occasionally have a bite to eat.

It's not always drugs causing this. Just an unhealthy lifestyle.
posted by Espoo2 at 8:55 AM on November 17, 2008

Just to clarify the above, speed, coke, crack & meth are all illegal amphetamines/psychostimulants, they are all the same general class of drug. Adhd medication (adderall etc), diet pills etc for the legal/prescription stuff.

Heroid is an Opioid, derived from morphine. Abuse of opiod-based prescription medications, will have similar effects.

Those are the two major classes of 'skinny' drugs.
They could be taking E on the weekends in addition to the above, as it's a minor appetite suppressant.
Much more minorly, people usually aren't interested in eating during an acid trip - often an interest in tasting food, but not eating so much.

They probably wouldn't be smoking much pot, obviously (see: munchies).
posted by Elysum at 2:01 PM on November 17, 2008