Cocaine: Side-Effects and Addiction Treatment
The more you use an addictive substance, the more at risk you are of developing an addiction. Over time, you can develop a tolerance, which means you’ll need to take more of the drug to achieve the same high. The flood of dopamine from cocaine use causes a euphoric high. Snorting cocaine produces a high that lasts for 30 minutes or less. Smoking crack or freebase cocaine has more powerful euphoric effects that last for just two to three minutes. When people use the stimulant, excessive amounts of the chemical dopamine build up in the brain.
It is normally found as a white, crystalline powder or as an off-white, chunky substance. It is extracted from the leaves of Erythroxylon coca (E. coca), also known as the coca scrub, a plant that grows in the Andean highlands of South America. Cocaine is a highly addictive and a naturally occurring anesthetic, or pain blocker.
How Long Does It Take for Drugs to Leave the Body?
Cocaine addiction accounts for roughly 6% of all drug rehab admissions in the United States. This addiction can be difficult to treat, and the majority of those seeking treatment for cocaine addiction are polydrug users (use more than one drug recreationally). The risk of addiction is even higher with crack cocaine because its effects are more immediate and more intense.
The treatment is focused on detoxification (also referred to as detox) and behavioral therapies. You might receive treatment with a pharmaceutical drug if you have a co-addiction that can be treated pharmacologically, such as an addiction to alcohol or opioids. Some people are more vulnerable to cocaine addiction than others. There is no way to predict who will develop cocaine addiction.
The combo leads to the production of a metabolite called cocaethylene, which is considerably stronger than cocaine or alcohol alone. That also depends on how it’s consumed, along with other variables, like your dose and whether you’re taking other substances. When snorted or gummed, coke amphetamine addiction needs to get through mucus, skin, and other tissues. It bypasses all that when you inject or smoke it, allowing it to enter the bloodstream almost immediately. Crack is cocaine freebase that’s been processed into a rock. There are about 750,000 cocaine-exposed pregnancies each year.
Recognizing an overdose
That means it takes less of it to cause negative effects like anxiety and convulsions. Many people start to build a tolerance after their first use of cocaine. A typical dose of snorted cocaine is between 30 and 70 milligrams. Anyone who is concerned about cocaine use should see a doctor or a local support group for beating addiction. Cocaine has a very powerful stimulating effect on the nervous system. It raises levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter linked to pleasure, movement, and the brain’s reward circuit.
- It bypasses all that when you inject or smoke it, allowing it to enter the bloodstream almost immediately.
- John C. Umhau, MD, MPH, CPE is board-certified in addiction medicine and preventative medicine.
- This addiction can be difficult to treat, and the majority of those seeking treatment for cocaine addiction are polydrug users (use more than one drug recreationally).
- Many issues play a role, including other mental health disorders, your background, and your environment.
- The severity of the disorder can be classified as “mild” if two to three criteria are met, “moderate” if four to five are met, and “severe” if six or more are met.
Using cocaine during pregnancy can cause problems for both the parent and the developing baby. Your chances of getting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, are higher if you use cocaine. The drug can also speed up the progress of an HIV infection. Some research has suggested that cocaine damages the way immune cells work in your body, which could make HIV worse. When you snort it, it takes slightly longer to feel the effects. The 2021 survey found no differences in rates of cocaine use among different ethnic and racial groups in the U.S.
You may need to stay in a rehabilitation center (also known as rehab) for intensive therapy and support. If you do attend rehab, continuing treatment afterward (aftercare) is important to help you avoid relapse. This makes you compulsively crave or use substances like cocaine. Cocaine, especially crack cocaine, is strongly addictive for several reasons. For one thing, the high feels very pleasurable, especially when you first try it.
What are the risks of using cocaine?
Initially, cocaine use can lead to increased alertness, energy, and feelings of euphoria. However, Cocaine abuse can lead to anxiety, loss of appetite, sleep problems, and other health consequences. The feelings alcohol abuse and alcoholism of euphoria caused by cocaine fade quickly, and people often experience a crash marked by fatigue and intense cravings to use the drug again. These factors cause many people to repeatedly use the substance.
Mixing cocaine with alcohol or other drugs is especially dangerous. Combining cocaine with heroin, a concoction known as speedball, greatly increases the risk of overdose. Most cocaine-related deaths occur when the drug stops the heart and causes breathing to stop. Individuals can experience a fatal cocaine overdose after just one try.
A cocaine binge is when someone uses cocaine repeatedly in higher and higher doses. People may take the drug until they run out or become exhausted. The effects generally last between 15 and 30 minutes, but shorter with crack.
Regular usage, even without overdosing, increases the risk of negative health consequences. An overdose of cocaine can lead to seizures, life-threatening heart failure, cerebral hemorrhage, stroke, and respiratory failure. The effect is intense and virtually immediate, as with injected cocaine, but the “high” lasts only around 5 minutes. As the medical profession came to realize that cocaine was addictive, safer anesthetics were developed. It’s not a sign of weakness, bad judgement or other personal characteristics.
How Addictive Is Cocaine?
While cocaine and crack cocaine highs are brief, the drug may stay in your system for up to three days. Coming off cocaine is a process that may take several weeks. Side effects that can develop as a result of smoking crack include coughing up blood, hoarseness, persistent sore throat, and shortness of breath. People use coke for its intense psychological effects, like euphoria and boosted confidence. But it can also produce some not-so-pleasant psychological and physical effects.
Why Cocaine Is So Addictive
Cocaine addiction is one of the different stimulant use disorders. Stimulant use disorders are a subcategory of substance use disorder. An in-depth look at the signs and symptoms of cocaine addiction, how to get help for your loved one, and what treatment options addiction intervention in chicago banyan illinois are… Pharmacological and behavioral treatments are the most effective options for cocaine addiction. Outpatient treatment, inpatient treatment, medications, therapy, or a combination of different treatment programs can help you recover from addiction.
