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Cocaine Addiction

Information on Cocaine Addiction: Treatment and More

If you are currently suffering from cocaine addiction, then you need to get help now. Call 1-866-99-DETOX (1-866-993-3869), and get cocaine addiction treatment.

Cocaine addiction can form very quickly. Cocaine is a powerful stimulant, which is extracted from coca leaves. The natives of South America in the mid-19th century used cocaine to relieve fatigue. Cocaine in its purest form (hydrochloride) was originally used in the 1880s as a local anesthetic for surgeries. In the early 1900s, cocaine was used in tonics and elixirs to treat various illnesses because of its effects as a stimulant.

The freebase form of cocaine, known as crack, became popular in the mid-1980s. Crack is a cheaper form of cocaine that produces an immediate high. Cocaine is most often found in the form of either a white, crystal-like powder or an off-white, chunky material. Cocaine is usually snorted or injected, while crack is most often smoked. Over the last ten years, crack cocaine has become increasingly popular resulting in an even wider cocaine addiction problem.

A person does not suffer from cocaine abuse for long. Cocaine abuse becomes cocaine addiction almost overnight. When you move from cocaine abuse to cocaine addiction, you will almost surely experience an increase in the frequency of cocaine use and the amount of cocaine used.

The Dangers of Cocaine Addiction

Cocaine addiction has immediate effects on your body. How long these effects last depends on how the drug was taken. Snorting cocaine causes a high that lasts for 15-30 minutes, while smoking it causes a more intense high that lasts for five-10 minutes.

Cocaine addiction has become a rising problem because cocaine produces euphoric effects by building up dopamine in the brain. This build-up causes a continuous stimulation of neurons, making those suffering from cocaine addiction feel euphoric, energetic, mentally alert and talkative.

Short-term physiological effects of cocaine addiction include:

• Anxiety
• Bizarre, erratic, and violent behavior
• Constricted blood vessels
• Dilated pupils
• Increased temperature
• Increased heart rate
• Increased blood pressure
• Irritability
• Muscle twitches
• Paranoia
• Restlessness
• Tremors
• Vertigo

People suffering from cocaine addiction easily develop a tolerance to the drug, which makes it harder and harder to achieve the pleasure received from the previous use. This causes them to use more and more of the drug, more and more often.

The Consequences of Cocaine Addiction

The direct consequences of cocaine addiction are a result of the method of cocaine use. If you are suffering from cocaine addiction and snort cocaine, you may experience:

• Loss of the sense of smell
• Nose bleeds
• Problems swallowing
• Overall irritation of your nasal septum
• Chronic runny nose

Research has shown that cocaine addiction can not only affect you, but if you are pregnant, it can affect the fetus as well. Though the effects of prenatal cocaine addiction are not completely understood, research tells us that afflicted babies are often born prematurely and have low birth weights. The exposure to cocaine addiction can also have irreversible effects on the child as he or she ages, such as lack of concentration, behavioral problems, and emotional struggles.

Cocaine addiction can lead to life-threatening medical complications including:

• Cardiovascular problems
• Disturbances in heart rhythm
• Heart attacks
• Heart disease
• Accelerated heart beat
• Respiratory failure
• Accelerated breathing
• Increased blood pressure
• Blurred vision
• Neurological effects
• Strokes
• Seizures
• Headaches
• Gastrointestinal complications
• Abdominal pain
• Nausea
• Fever
• Muscle spasms
• Convulsions
• Coma

Cocaine has the ability to cause sudden death upon even the first use. Cocaine-related deaths usually result from cardiac arrest or seizures followed by respiratory arrest.

Cocaine addiction and alcohol abuse are a deadly combination as well. Your body converts the combination of cocaine and alcohol into coca-ethylene, which causes a longer duration of the effects of both drugs on the brain and is more toxic than each drug alone. The mixture of alcohol and cocaine addiction results in more drug-related deaths than any other combination of drugs. If you are experiencing an addiction to both cocaine and alcohol, please seek help in a residential addiction treatment program with a cocaine detox program as soon as possible.

Cocaine Addiction Treatment

The American Medical Association recognizes that cocaine addiction is a disease that is progressive, chronic, and if left untreated, fatal. As such, cocaine addiction should be treated in a cocaine addiction treatment program capable of providing detox services.

Although cocaine is not physically addicting, it certainly carries a psychological dependency that is challenging enough to require an inpatient cocaine detox program. An inpatient cocaine detox program should be located within the cocaine addiction treatment program and should be capable of providing 24-hour medical care and support. The intense cravings that accompany withdrawal from cocaine addiction can be compelling; the most effective way to address your cocaine addiction is within a cocaine detox program.

Please realize that a cocaine detox program is not a cocaine addiction treatment program. The cocaine detox program provides for medical and psychiatric stabilization, but it is only the initial step in cocaine addiction treatment. Aside from medical stabilization, the other main focus of a detox program is to determine your need for an ongoing cocaine addiction treatment program. Research has determined that very few people who complete a cocaine detox program and choose not to go on to a residential cocaine addiction treatment program maintain their recovery.

The goal of a cocaine addiction treatment program is to support the gains made in the cocaine detox program, while continuing to help you develop a solid foundation upon which your future recovery is to be built. The cocaine addiction treatment program should be residential in nature, licensed by the state in which it resides and accredited by The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

Every cocaine addiction treatment program should have a licensed and credentialed addiction treatment staff and offer addiction treatment services such as a dual diagnosis treatment program, a medication management class, a relapse prevention program, a family recovery program, group and individual therapy, and aftercare.

There are as many cocaine detox programs as there are cocaine addiction treatment philosophies. Take the time to match the cocaine addiction treatment program's services with your individual needs. If you are having trouble deciding which cocaine addiction treatment program is best, please allow us to help. As stated earlier, a cocaine detox program and a cocaine addiction treatment program must work hand in hand to provide a continuum of care that will result in recovery from cocaine addiction.

If you're suffering from cocaine addiction, call our toll-free helpline at 1-866-99-DETOX (1-866-993-3869). Our cocaine addiction treatment professionals are available to help you find the best course of treatment for your individual needs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call now.