Cocaine is widely used as a recreational drug but can become highly addictive even after a couple of uses. Cocaine Hydrochloride is a Schedule II controlled substance and can cause psychological, behavioral, and physical effects after minimal use.
Even if you just dabble in cocaine use for fun or on occasion, cravings and other effects on your body’s health can quickly negatively influence your short- and long-term mental health. If you have started to experience adverse effects after cocaine use, you should look into visiting a rehab center or consult with a medical doctor. In this article, we will dive deeper into the effects of cocaine use on the body and how to know when it is time to seek professional help.
What is Cocaine?
Cocaine, a potent stimulant also referred to as coke, is a drug made from the coca plant leaves. It is a street drug and is considered illegal. This drug can come in various forms, whether a white powder, paste, or solidified and rock-like, also referred to as “crack-cocaine.”
How is the Drug Consumed?
There are several ways cocaine can be administered, and the methodology in which it is ingested can also influence how it affects you. If you snort cocaine, the drug can have relatively delayed effects on your body. If you smoke or inject cocaine, it has a more rapid impact on your body but in a shorter duration. A quick and fast fix that leads to a shorter period of the drug can lead to more intense effects and cause the user to desire the drug even more.
Some consume the drug by snorting. They drink it through the nose, which gets dissolved into the bloodstream via nasal tissues. This is an intranasal use of the drug. While some take the medicine for oral use, they do it by rubbing it on their gums. Others inject the drug directly into the bloodstream by dissolving it in water, increasing its effects. This is its intravenous use. Many even smoke it to inhale vapors into the lungs. When it gets absorbed into the bloodstream, its reaction is as fast as it does with inhalation.
Why Is It Addictive?
When you consume the drug excessively, it behaves as a stimulant and increases brain chemical dopamine. The chemical produces happy pleasure feelings, and its higher amount makes a euphoric. The sensation created by euphoria due to cocaine vanishes quickly. This results in intense cravings for consuming the drug again.
With time, the body develops the tolerance power to cocaine, which then increases the need to consume the drug in more quantity to continue to achieve the effects that a person craves to experience. As your brain gets addicted to the drug, it changes your physical, social, and psychological health. Intense impulses to use the medicine even force drug addicts to steal money to buy cocaine.
When an addicted person doesn’t receive the desired amount, they experience withdrawal symptoms like drowsiness, slow thinking, sleeping trouble, depression, and increased appetite. The more you consume the drug, the faster and stronger the addiction becomes.
You need to consider cocaine detox if you suffer from anxiety, depression, regretting your decisions that are made under the influence of the drug. Drug addicts often select cocaine addiction over their other interests.
Dangers Related To Addiction
It is advised to visit a rehab or consult your doctor if you are increasingly becoming addicted to it. Failing to do so, you will observe the following side effects of the drug:
Paranoia- a persistent, fearful, and irrational feeling that lets you think that you are under threat
- Irritability
- Violent and unpredictable behavior
- Narrowed or restricted blood vessels
- A rise in blood pressure, heartbeat, and body temperature
- Muscle twitches and tremors
- Risks of HIV, hepatitis C
You may also suffer various other blood-borne diseases. An overdose of the drug even leads to heart failure, respiratory failure, stroke, and cerebral hemorrhage.
There is no specific medication that can help treat the addiction alone. Consulting a doctor can only help you out of this. Don’t wait till your condition worsens or becomes life-threatening. Immediately visit your doctor and save your life.
