Adolf Hitler's manic mannerisms may be attributed to his crystal meth addiction
Adolf Hitler's manic mannerisms may be attributed to his crystal meth addiction Getty

The leader of the Nazi party Adolf Hitler had a secret addiction to crystal meth, the drug which is the focus of the TV series Breaking Bad.

Referred to as "ice" or "glass", methylamphetamine can be taken orally, sniffed, smoked or injected.

In its most popular crystalline form, crystal meth resembles glass shavings or a crystal rock but is also available in pills and powder.

The drug causes a range of dangerous side-effects alongside its high, such as increased heart rate, paranoia and heart problems.

According to a Daily Mail report, the American military intelligence compiled a 47-page wartime dossier containing information that Hitler was a hypochondriac and took 74 different kinds of medication and pills, including methamphetamine.

The drug produces feelings of euphoria and was also used by the military during World War II for its stimulant effects.

Hitler hooked on drugs

Hitler is thought to have taken crystal meth before a meeting with Mussolini in 1943, in which he talked non-stop for two hours. He also had nine injections of Vitamultin, a drug which contained methamphetamine, during the final days in his bunker.

From 1942 until his death in 1945, Hitler was also given intravenous injections of methamphetamine by his personal physician Theodor Morell, dubbed the "Reichsmaster of injections" by Nazis.

In National Geographic channel's Nazi UnderworldHitler's Drug Use Revealed, psychiatrist Professor Nassir Ghaemi claims: "It's not whether Hitler was an amphetamine addict or not – it's that Hitler had bipolar disorder and amphetamines made it worse.

"That is the issue. That has never been described before and that would explain a lot why Hitler changed in the late 1930s and the 1940s."

It's also claimed by the Discovery Channel that Hitler also took cocaine to clear his sinuses and received injections of bull testicle to improve his libido.

In a 178-page report, dated 12 June 1945, compiled by Dr Erwing Giesing, one of Hitler's six physicians, the dictator inhaled cocaine to "clear his sinuses" and "soothe" his throat.

Geising also claimed that the Fuhrer "suffered from uncontrollable flatulence".