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Cocaine is a very powerful and highly addictive stimulant drug. What starts out as an escape quickly can turn into addiction and a relentless cycle of incredible highs and grim lows. Anyone who participates in the usage of this drug will experience what is called a comedown. The comedown are intense effects that are opposite from the euphoria that the drug creates when originally ingested. Comedowns are similar to hangovers that you may have experienced with alcohol, however the symptoms are very different. In this post, we will explore what a cocaine high feels like, why the comedown is the way it is, and how to take steps to recover from cocaine and the comedown altogether.
You may have seen someone high off cocaine and thought to yourself, is it really worth it? The cocaine high, also known as the peak or climax, can make someone feel like “Superman”. Cocaine floods the brain with dopamine which creates that euphoria we mentioned above. Cocaine can make someone feel confident, excited, happy, and they even may take risks they normally wouldn’t. It can also make them feel invincible and more sociable.
Cocaine is a fast acting drug that takes as little as 5 minutes to start working, it depends on how the drug is taken. Snorting cocaine will take a few minutes, however smoking or injecting cocaine produces an immediate effect. This will also differ the outcome of how intense the high is. The effects of this drug can differ per person. What the most typical high would look like is a high energy euphoria, may be manic mood swings and aggression for another. Some people hallucinate while others have sharper thinking. It truly depends on how it was ingested, how much and how often.
The high itself doesn’t last long, usually up 10-30 minutes hence why it is so addictive. The short-lived high can create one’s heartbeat to increase, raise the body temperature, suppress appetite, and/or make one anxious or paranoid. Users have to continue to take more of it to make the effects last longer. Doing so, can cause someone to overdose as many users rather stay high and take more of the drug than experience the comedown. Everyone who ingests this drug must come down at some point or another. Doing more cocaine will never help soften the comedown, but actually make it much worse to experience.
Incredible intense highs end in depletion leaving users struggling to regain a sense of balance without the drug. The cocaine comedown is almost the exact opposite of the high. As this drug exits the body, most are left feeling rundown, exhausted, and emotionally empty. Even the comedown can be as intense as the high, but of course in all the worst ways. All this goes toward the cause of addiction. The comedown can be a brutal reminder of how cocaine disrupts brain chemistry. You may be asking how cocaine affects our brain chemistry and how doing cocaine ultimately affects us. Well, brain chemistry itself releases neurotransmitters that allow nerve cells to communicate and influence bodily functions like cognition, movement, even emotions and mood. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that controls movement, mood, sleep, learning and more along those lines while serotonin influences mood, appetite, memory, sexual desire and function, and lastly, norepinephrine increases alertness, arousal, and attention.Cocaine blocks off dopamine transporters and inhibits the reuptake of the dopamine transmitters which also includes serotonin and norepinephrine. This action overstimulates the dopamine receptors and leads us to that euphoric high that includes increased energy, elevated confidence, heighten alertness and pleasure. Chronic cocaine usage can lead to less dopamine receptors being able to properly produce dopamine over time, therefore making it harder for the brain to feel pleasure without being high.
Source: Nestler E. J. (2005). The neurobiology of cocaine addiction. Science & practice perspectives, 3(1), 4–10. https://doi.org/10.1151/spp05314
Cocaine comedown happens when the person is done using cocaine for either the time-being, or quits completely. The symptoms start to occur as the drug is moving out of their system. As mentioned earlier, most users are left feeling completely turned around.
Being restless makes it difficult to relax and catch up on sleep. As the appetite increases it will help with both the fatigue and restlessness as well as the overall discomfort of the comedown. Later in this post, we will dive a bit deeper in what we can do to help the cocaine come down.
Depression and anxiety can leave one feeling hopeless and scared while coming down from cocaine. Most people want to continue using the drug to avoid these feelings, even thoughts of suicide are common with the come down. Some users say the mental symptoms of the come down are worse than the physical ones…which is also a friendly reminder that the come down can look and feel different for everyone.
The feelings of euphoria have faded and that can often end in the person feeling easily agitated. This could be directed to anyone, even oneself and can be triggered by almost anything. This could result in withdrawing from social interactions or lessening them extremely until the person is either high again or has completely withdrawn from cocaine. It may be extremely difficult for users to stay off cocaine as it is persistently craved while one is coming down or withdrawing from the cocaine high. These symptoms can really impact one’s quality of life as they continue to experience the highs and inevitable lows from cocaine usage.
Have you or a loved one experienced cocaine comedown? It can feel unbearable in the moment, but there are steps you can take to help ease the come down symptoms and speed up your recovery.
Cocaine addiction can be hard to breakaway from, but not impossible. Being able to realize you or a loved one is suffering from addiction is the first step and the second is seeking help. Help will look differently to everyone, but it can start with North Palm Beach Recovery. What works for you may not work for someone else and vice versa. That’s why we offer personalized treatment plans for each client. Start yours today to make this cocaine come down the last cocaine comedown.
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