Dangerous Signs and Symptoms of Cocaine Addiction
Detecting cocaine abuse is difficult to do during its early stages. While the symptoms presents itself immediately after using the drug, it is usually deemed by many as bodily reaction to environmental stimuli. Cocaine use presents some symptoms similar to work-related stress. As the cocaine use morphs into cocaine addiction, more evident symptoms appear. Most of the time, however, the cocaine abuse is so rampant that it is difficult to stop, and the likelihood of cocaine user’s death is very high.
It is therefore important to observe the physical and psychological condition of people, friends and family members because they are the people who can actually help a cocaine user stop his deadly habit. First thing you should know about cocaine is that it is a strong stimulant, and its effect draw people to constant use the drug.
Immediate Symptoms
Cocaine is a stimulant that targets primarily the brain, the heart and the lungs. The most obvious of the early cocaine abuse symptoms would be concentrated in these areas. cocaine users suffer from insomnia, restlessness, loss of appetite, and high levels of energy and euphoria, which is followed by sudden depression, anxiety, paranoia, and loss of energy. Because of the disruption of normal sleeping and eating patterns, sudden loss of weight could also point to cocaine use. Pupil dilation, involuntary muscle twitches and increased temperature could also indicate cocaine abuse.
The way cocaine is used could also cause the emergence of these symptoms. Sudden ‘bout of cold’ and nosebleed could be more than just reaction of the body to the change of climate. Cocaine users also exhibit this symptom from ‘snorting’ cocaine. Rapid breathing, fast pulse rate and sudden onset of hypertension could also be from ‘slamming’ or injecting cocaine directly into the blood system. This process causes the blood vessels to shrink, causing the symptoms to appear.
Long-term Symptoms
Long-term cocaine symptoms usually appear after several cocaine uses, albeit it could also present on the user’s first try, depending on the user’s relevant history and present health condition. The scary thing with the dependence on the drugs is getting stronger, and the ability of the individual to focus on other thing is getting weaker
Long-term symptoms include sign which point out to habitual use of the drug. People develop these symptoms because of the increasing urge to get as much pleasure as they did from their first encounter with the drug, usually by increasing cocaine dosage. Symptoms like increased irritability, frequent mood swings, paranoia, and hallucinations are usually signs of long-term cocaine use. Advance paranoid psychosis could also result from persistence of these symptoms. High blood pressure, rapid breathing and disrupted pulse rate could develop into more severe signs of cocaine abuse. Cocaine could trigger tachycardia, tachypnea and ventricular fibrillation that could induce chest pain, blurred vision, onset of fever, nausea, muscle spasms, convulsion, seizure, and even coma.
Posted in Drugs