Help With Cocaine Addiction

As experienced addictions clinicians we understand why people look to get help with cocaine addiction. There are those who think cocaine is a harmless drug they can use, once, at a party with no after effects.

While there will be a small number of people for whom this is true, for the majority they will discover that cocaine is a highly addictive drug that poses very serious health problems, both physical and psychological and also leads to fatalities.

It is now quicker, in larger metropolitan areas, to get cocaine delivered to your house than a pizza. There is no shortage of supply, though what you purchase and what you take is two different things. While there is treatment available at home, the vast majority of people make the decision to have residential treatment.

Getting help with cocaine addiction starts with speaking, without charge, to one of our experienced addictions clinicians. They will be happy to give you advice and information on treatment and where you can get it. We never charge for advice or for a referral. We only charge when people have treatment at home.

What Is Cocaine?

In short it is a stimulant. Derived from the leaves of the coca plant, native to South America, it can also be used as a local anaesthetic. Usually, people snort it but it can be made into rocks (freebasing) , known as crack which is heated up and smoked. Both cocaine and crack can be injected which brings additional risks of infection. Crack is made with baking soda.

Originally known as freebased cocaine, the moniker crack was attached due to the popping sound made when it is mixed and heated with baking soda.

What Happens When You Take Cocaine?

When you take cocaine, as with all other drugs and medication (including alcohol and caffeine) it affects receptors in your brain. There are two main methods by which receptors are affected: Either the item opens up chemical channels or closes them down (some partially open or close them).

Cocaine closes chemical channels that reuptake naturally occurring chemicals. As such there is an excess of these chemicals released into the body which causes the effects that happen when you take cocaine. You will experience:

• Feelings of euphoria
• Boundless energy
• Heightened state of alertness
• Not feeling tired
• Reduced appetite
• Lack of inhibition when meeting new people
• Increased sex drive

The problem is that cocaine is a very short acting drug. This means that the effects of cocaine wear off very quickly. This means that you will need to take it, every few hours, in order to maintain these effects. If you don’t you will experience withdrawals.

Why Is Cocaine Addictive?

When you take cocaine, your brain becomes used to it’s presence: This is known as tolerance. If you stop using or significantly reduce the amount you are taking your brain simply can not adjust to this immediate change. As a result, the chemical messaging your brain sends will be out of synch. This is why you experience withdrawal.

Detox has nothing to do with “flushing toxins” out of your system. It is all to do with your brain. Drinking water, going to the gym, sauna or a health spa will not do it. Addiction is all to do with the brain: Not willpower. Help with cocaine addiction is about accessing expert medical and psychological care.

Cocaine Withdrawal

There are four recognised stages of cocaine withdrawal:

Crash: This occurs within 90 minutes of your last use. Your mood will rapidly deteriorate and your anxiety rise to a worrying level. Your concentration will suffer and you will feel incredibly tired.

Withdrawal: usually, after a week to ten days, after you stop using you enter the second phase where you will experience severe nerve pain, flu like symptoms and muscle aches. Your appetite will become uncontrollable and you may have nightmares

Extinction: While cravings will start to reduce a lot of people develop instant urges to use. The risk of relapse increases.

Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome: Because of the structural changes to the brain and the time it takes to repair itself, some of the symptoms can persist for several months.

What Are The Health Problems Associated With Cocaine?

Using cocaine can be fatal. It can take your life the first time you use it or after many years. While snorting it is safer than injecting, cocaine is illegal because it is dangerous.

The physical effects can include:

• Stomach pains
• Feeling sick
• Headaches
• High body temperature
• Fast pulse
• Risk of infection
• Stroke
• Impotence
• Infertility
• Seizures
• Long term heart/lung damage and disease

What Is The Treatment For Cocaine Addiction?

As Tevye the milkman in Fiddler on the Roof said: That can be answered in one word: Rehab.

Addiction is addiction. It matters not what you are addicted to: Alcohol, heroin, crack, cannabis, pregabalin, GHB/GBL, ketamine. While the medical input will be different the therapy is the same. Unlike heroin and alcohol, for example, there is no detox for cocaine. This is because cocaine is a very short acting drug.

In rehab, your in house addictions clinician will provide adjunctive medication on an “as and when” basis to help you through your withdrawals. Medication to lower your blood pressure, help you to sleep, deal with your anxiety, etc. This can be essential to get you through the cravings. This is a short term course of medication and, usually, would be for up to 2 weeks.

Rehab is about getting to grips with why you became addicted in the first place. No one wakes up one day and decides to become an addict. It is not a choice. Something is happening to make you want to escape painful memories or the realities of your life: Unresolved childhood trauma, PTSD, failed relationships, legal problems. It really doesn’t matter: Everyone is welcome in rehab.

Every rehab centre, the world over, uses a group therapy model. Whether it is a 12 STEP or SMART approach (or even an eclectic one) it is important to get hung up on which approach is used but more important to get into recovery. Help with cocaine addiction means opening up to others.

Built around a group therapy model, centres offer a weekly session of individual therapy as well as bolt on treatments such as gentle exercise, music therapy, art therapy. Most therapists and support staff who work in rehabs are in active recovery themselves.

You will meet peers of the realm, businesspeople, doctors, cleaners, shop workers, bankers, factory workers. Addiction is an equal opportunities illness. It cares not what you look like, what you do for a living or if you are gay, straight, black, white, trans, Muslim or Sikh.

In rehab you will have the support to open the box of thoughts you have been trying to avoid. With the help of the therapy team you will get support for untreated mental health conditions and learn vital skills that you will need should tricky situations come your way when you are back at home.

All rehab centres offer a minimum of a years aftercare: This is essential. Knowing that there is support when you need it will bolster your recovery. Also, you will not want to let them down and this will keep you focused. Help with cocaine addiction is not just going to rehab and that is it. Recovery is a lifelong commitment.

Can My GP Prescribe Medication For Me?

No. Due to the way the NHS commissions GP services, they do not pay for addiction services unless it is a shared care service (these are now incredibly rare). It is always a good idea to speak to your GP and to be honest and open with you but they can not prescribe medication for Cocaine addiction. Even if they could, trying to detox at home is incredibly dangerous.

When you stop using you will experience overwhelming cravings. In a rehab centre there are staff on duty 24/7, many of whom are in recovery so really understand what the problem is. While you are free to leave at any time (rehab is not a locked psychiatric unit) the support of staff will get you through.

If you were at home and succumbed to the cravings you put yourself at incredible risk. This is because cocaine is a very short acting drug. Within hours of your last use your brain starts to loose tolerance. When you crave cocaine you will, invariably, use more than you need to stabilise your withdrawals. This puts you at extreme risk of overdose and death. Not because you want to harm yourself, but simply because you want the cravings to stop.

How Can Find Me A Rehab Help?

Our experienced addictions clinicians work in this sector, either in a private rehab or an NHS or locally commissioned service. Some of our clinicians work in private hospitals, NHS shared care (Addictions) services or prisons. Using an app, whomever is free will take your call or answer your email.

We are here solely to give advice and make suggestions as to where you might find the help you need. No charge is made for this service (and we don’t charge for referrals, either) we only charge for treatment at home.

We are registered with the Information Commissioners Office and only signpost callers to centers registered with the Care Quality Commission, which is a legal requirement.

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