Cocaine is a powerful stimulant that has significant effects on the brain. Using it even once can cause brain damage and trigger addiction. Long-term use has devastating effects on your physical and mental health. Understanding the effects of cocaine and what makes it addictive is an important step in getting the help you need.
What Is Cocaine?
Cocaine is a stimulant made from the leaves of the South American coca plant. Cocaine, commonly called coke, comes in two forms: powder and solid rocks. Cocaine powder can be snorted or rubbed on the gums. Rock cocaine, also known as freebase or crack, can be smoked. Both forms can be made injectable by mixing them with water. Cocaine is a Schedule II drug which means the DEA has classified it as having a high potential for abuse.
Cocaine’s Addictive Effects on the Brain
Is coke addictive? The short answer is yes, very. Cocaine affects your brain in several ways, none of them good. When you use cocaine, it causes a larger-than-normal release of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that your nervous system uses to send messages between your brain and your body. It plays a very significant role in how we experience pleasure and perceive rewards.
Your brain releases dopamine when you engage in behaviors that feel good. You’re instinctively motivated to repeat those behaviors in order to experience that dopamine release again and again. When these releases occur naturally, such as when you exercise or listen to music, your brain is able to regulate your dopamine levels and consequently your impulse control. But the abnormally large dopamine release caused by cocaine use creates an intense, euphoric high that makes you feel energetic, happy, and confident. These effects make you want to binge the drug – using it again and again in a short time span – so you can keep having these pleasurable feelings.
In addition to causing a large release of dopamine, cocaine binds to the receptors in the brain that remove dopamine. This means that the brain loses its ability to regulate the amount of dopamine in your system. The over-release of dopamine in your brain caused by long-term cocaine use actually reduces your ability to experience pleasure. This means that the more coke you use, the harder it is for you to get high. Which, in turn, leads you to use more coke. This vicious cycle is part of what makes cocaine so addictive.
Also, long-term coke use can cause the part of your brain that controls anxiety, irritability and other uncomfortable feelings to become overly sensitive and make you feel these feelings more often. Addicts turn to coke to relieve these feelings, making the cycle of abuse even more entrenched.
Cocaine also damages your prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is the part of your brain that controls decision-making and cognitive function. It’s basically where your personality lives. The damage caused by cocaine can cause poor impulse control, aggressive behavior, and violent outbursts. This inability to control your behavior further reinforces the cycle of cocaine abuse.
Coke causes your blood vessels to constrict, leading to reduced blood flow all over your body. But this reduced flow is especially damaging to your brain where it can cause the death of grey matter. Research has shown that the brains of coke addicts age at twice the rate of non-users. This can lead to conditions such as early-onset dementia and stroke.
Short-Term Effects of Cocaine Use
When you take cocaine, it makes you feel energetic, alert, and euphorically happy. It can even make you feel invincible. You’ll also likely have an increased heart rate, reduced appetite, and a decreased need for sleep.
Long-Term Effects of Cocaine Addiction
The long-term effects of cocaine addiction can be devastating to your physical and mental health. Cocaine damages your cardiovascular system, leads to respiratory issues and causes neurological damage. Cocaine addicts may also develop mental health issues including anxiety, depression, paranoia, and psychosis. Cocaine addiction also affects your personal relationships and your financial situation.
How Long Does It Take to Get Addicted to Coke?
Everyone is different, so the path to addiction varies from person to person. Some people become addicted to coke after one use. For others, addiction may take several months to develop. How quickly you become addicted depends on personal factors such as your past drug use, how easily you can access and afford cocaine, past trauma, and even your genetic makeup.
A Short High Makes Cocaine More Addictive
The high from cocaine is very intense, but very short. Depending on how you ingest cocaine, it usually takes between 5 and 30 minutes for you to feel its effects. A cocaine high is typically very brief—between 20 and 30 minutes. Because the high goes away so quickly and because it induces such pleasurable feelings, you find yourself driven to use cocaine again and again in a short time frame.
Is Crack More Addictive Than Coke?
Crack is a very potent form of cocaine. Because it’s smoked, it enters the bloodstream very rapidly, producing an intense, almost immediate high. But this high doesn’t last as long as the high from powder cocaine, leading users to a cycle of smoking crack again and again to maintain their high. This makes it even more addictive than other forms of cocaine.
Increasing Tolerance Deepens Coke Addiction
Taking cocaine frequently causes your tolerance to build up more quickly. And as your tolerance increases, so do the uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms you feel when you come down from the high. Many people manage the ‘comedown’ by using more cocaine, making their addictions worse.
Social Pressure Can Fuel Cocaine Addiction
There’s a reason coke is known as a party drug. When coke is introduced in a social setting, it can be very hard to say no. If the people you’re hanging out with have normalized coke use, the desire to fit in can lead to trial, use, and, ultimately, addiction.
What Does Cocaine Do to Your Body?
While it’s making your brain think you feel good, cocaine is causing serious harm to your physical health. Cocaine addicts can experience a wide variety of medical issues including heart problems, appetite loss and malnutrition, memory loss, sleep problems, respiratory problems, kidney damage, and strokes.
And while taking cocaine in any form is bad for your health, snorting cocaine causes particular risks to your nasal tissues. Because cocaine causes blood vessels to become constricted, blood flow to the tissues in your nose are reduced. This reduction in blood flow damages your nose and can even cause holes in the cartilage between your nostrils. In addition, the dangerous substances used to cut cocaine can cause sores and rashes on and around your nose.
How Does Cocaine Addiction Affect Your Mental Health?
Because cocaine interferes with the brain’s ability to experience pleasure, long-term use can cause serious mental health issues. Coke addicts often find that they have lost the ability to experience pleasure from activities like eating and sex. Repeated coke use can also cause anxiety, poor impulse control, depression, overly aggressive behavior, and even hallucinations.
Comedown aka The Coke Hangover
When the coke high wears off, users experience a comedown, also called a coke hangover. The physical and mental effects of a comedown can last a few hours to several days. You may feel extremely tired yet restless and unable to relax or get good sleep. You may also feel intensely hungry, which can lead to overeating. People coming down off of coke often feel sad and hopeless. You may also be easily angered and experience difficulty thinking clearly. The discomfort of a coke hangover often leads people to use cocaine again to relieve these symptoms. This is part of what makes cocaine so addictive.
Signs of Cocaine Addiction
The signs of cocaine addiction will vary from person to person. Common conditions to look for include:
- Noticeable weight loss
- Changes in mood or personality
- Health problems such as chest pains, abnormal heartbeat, and headaches
- Withdrawal from friends and loved ones
- Cognitive lapses such as memory loss and inability to focus
- Emotional volatility such as mood swings, anxiety and depression
- Lying about using cocaine
- Financial problems
Cocaine Withdrawal
Cocaine withdrawal happens when a cocaine user suddenly stops taking the drug and can last anywhere from a few hours to five days. Some people may experience withdrawal symptoms for months. The length and severity of withdrawal depends on how much cocaine you used and for how long. Symptoms are uncomfortable and distressing and may include:
- Cocaine cravings
- Depression
- Sleep disorders
- Intense hunger
- Irritability
- Fatigue
- Memory loss
Cocaine addiction can happen very quickly and have a profound impact on your life. Because coke is so addictive, people almost always need professional help with detox and recovery. Brentwood Springs Detox Programs offer a safe, comfortable, confidential environment where you can get the physical, psychological, and emotional care and support you need to get on the path to recovery. We’re here to help – contact us today.