Cocaine: Effects, Mixing With Alcohol, Addiction, and More

Some people may use alcohol to ease cocaine hangover symptoms or use cocaine to ease alcohol hangover symptoms. To remove cocaine, the body metabolizes the drug into chemicals called metabolites. The main cocaine metabolite is inactive, so it doesn’t interact with the body. Thus, a person doesn’t feel the effects of cocaine once the drug is metabolized. They want to feel more buzzed, or they want to offset unpleasant side effects of one of the substances. Mixing the drugs may seem like it makes you feel better, but they’re actually causing more internal damage than you realize.

Dangerous by-product

The risk of addiction is solution-focused therapy techniques even higher with crack cocaine because its effects are more immediate and more intense. There are quite a few known interactions between cocaine and other substances, including over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medications and other drugs. Recovery will depend on the frequency and severity of cocaine and alcohol use and the overall health of the person. In the U.S., 45 states now have Good Samaritan laws, which protect drug users and witnesses from persecution in the event of an overdose.

Treatment

1. While withdrawal from alcohol or cocaine alone is challenging, withdrawal symptoms can be even more severe when both substances are mixed.
2. The biggest danger of using both are sudden heart-related problems, such as a heart attack or change in heart rhythms.
3. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has determined that 16.8% of people over 26 years old have used cocaine in their lifetime.
4. It can contribute to cardiological issues such as high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy, and an increased chance of heart attack or stroke.

The adult brain contains a small population of neural stem cells that help to repair and maintain cerebral tissue [38]. Adult mammals experience neurogenesis to a limited extent over the course of their lifetime [39]. In a study of mice, the long-term exposure of animals to ethanol and cocaine induced pathological changes in the brain and neurodegeneration [38]. Cocaethylene seems to be far more selective to dopaminergic sites than cocaine [11], since the latter appears to block serotonin reuptake as well as dopamine reuptake [2].

Due to the potential severity of cocaethylene detox, individuals seeking treatment for alcohol and cocaine addiction should utilize a professional medical detox program in which trained medical staff monitor and treat withdrawal symptoms. Treatment for cocaine and alcohol addiction may include residential or outpatient rehab, psychotherapy, support groups and medication-assisted treatment. Individuals often require a personalized treatment plan to help them recover from both cocaine and alcohol addiction. While cocaine is often used to feel good, it causes increased stress on the body, especially on the heart. It can lead to increased blood pressure and heart rate, increasing the risk of a heart attack or stroke occurring. Cocaine can also cause addiction to develop, which makes someone seek drug rehab statistics success rates out and use the drug despite negative consequences.

Signs of cocaine and alcohol dependence

For example, cocaine is a stimulant that can make people more anxious or unnerved than they want to be. In another example, a person who is drunk and sleepy may use cocaine to feel more alert and to stay awake. Mixing alcohol and cocaine has also been shown to increase cravings for each substance, leading to a higher risk of dependence. The combo leads to the production of a metabolite called cocaethylene, which is considerably stronger than cocaine or alcohol alone.

The euphoric effects of cocaine use are accompanied by physical effects, including a rapid heart rate, sweating, and pupil dilation (widening of the pupils). Cocaine can also cause other adverse effects, such as anxiety, crawling sensations on the skin, hallucinations, and paranoia. Some of these feelings can persist, or might even increase, during the comedown (“crash”) as the euphoria is wearing off. People use alcohol and cocaine together for many different reasons.

Most cardiac-related risk assessment tools do not ask about cocaine use, which can prevent clinicians from making optimal therapeutic choices. Cocaine is a sympathomimetic that affects a variety of receptors in the body, releasing specific catecholamine and blocking their reuptake at certain sites. In the short term, cocaine acts as a vasoconstrictor and subjects who use cocaine present with dilated pupils, elevated body temperatures, rapid heart rates, and high blood pressure. At higher doses, cocaine may induce behavioral changes including paranoia, aggression, and violence; cocaine has potentially life-threatening cardiotoxic effects [1].

Central to the psychoactive effects of cocaine is the nucleus accumbens (NA) region of the brain, a major part of the ventral striatum that helps to mediate emotions, motivation, reward, and pleasure. In another example, a person with great thirst who is given water will experience a rush of dopamine to the NA. Cocaine can cause dopamine build-up and dopamine activity in the NA that exceeds the levels of dopamine that might occur naturally [24]. For example, a thirsty person given water will remember the event, the source of the water, and the experience of drinking. Repeated cocaine use causes associations to form in the brain that try to link cocaine-induced delivery of dopamine to the external circumstances. This is thought to play an important role in cocaine addiction [22].

Cocaine is Dangerous – Adding Alcohol Can Be Deadly

Clinicians treating cocaine toxicity may find that the half-life of cocaine is approximately doubled when ethanol is used at the same time. Even if a patient is forthcoming about the quantity and timing of taking cocaine, the effects of the drug may be significantly prolonged when alcohol is involved. Clinicians treating patients with acute or chronic cocaine exposure should ask about alcohol consumption to get a more realistic assessment of their risk. While the pharmacology of cocaethylene has been known for decades, its role in cocaine intoxication, cocaine-induced heart disease, and polysubstance use disorder has not been well studied. Clinicians may be unaware that the concurrent consumption of ethanol and cocaine may result in prolonged cocaine-like effects and may be more cardiotoxic than if the drugs are not taken at the same time. Greater study is needed about the effects and metabolic pathways of cocaethylene in the body.

Once the body has formed a dependence, unpleasant and potentially dangerous withdrawal symptoms occur when drug use is stopped. While withdrawal from alcohol or cocaine alone is challenging, withdrawal symptoms can be even more severe when both substances are mixed. Long-time users of alcohol also face a whole host of physical and psychological issues. Heavy drinking can be a major contributing factor to liver damage, including fibrosis and alcoholic hepatitis. It can contribute to cardiological issues such as high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy, and an increased chance of heart attack or stroke.

The criteria is outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Edition 5 (DSM-5), a guide used by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals for the diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions. With that said, studies have suggested that some groups are at the highest risk. These include people who also abuse alcohol and cannabis, as well as individuals who have depression. When snorted, smoked, or injected, cocaine induces intense feelings of euphoria. Over time, however, the body alters its own natural patterns in terms of production and reuptake of the neurotransmitters.

Alcohol also slows down the elimination process, which means that the liver is unable to expel all of the cocaethylene, leaving about 20% remaining in the liver. Further alcohol consumption can cause cocaethylene to pass into the bloodstream, harming tissues and organs. The impairment of these cognitive centers can lead to the compulsive dry eyes alcohol withdrawal use of cocaine—with little to no regard for the consequences. The impairment of judgment and loss of impulse control further promotes high-risk behaviors, sometimes increasing the risk of accidents or exposure to infections like HIV and hepatitis C. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, around 68% of people seeking cocaine treatment regularly use crack cocaine.