Author: James Anderson

Crack Addiction: Definition, Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

In addition to friends and family, a group of other sober individuals can be critical. Those you meet in rehab, aftercare groups or local outpatient programs can help you stay connected to sobriety and remind you of the importance of staying clean. While staying clean isn’t easy and the temptations to use may never go away, the right people around you can help you stay on the straight and narrow. While quitting without intervention is certainly possible, it’s not recommended.

Cocaine and crack are powerful stimulants that give users a euphoric feeling and increased energy, says Dr. Tetrault. Normal amounts of dopamine can make us feel happy, alert and focused. Large amounts may make us feel powerful, euphoric and filled with energy. When people use cocaine, their brains release lots of dopamine. But that cocaine-driven dopamine release or rush fades quickly, leaving them wanting more of those feelings — and the drug. As people keep on using cocaine, their brains get used to the huge overstimulation and they need stronger, more frequent doses.

Create a Support System

Cocaine is a powerful drug that can cause serious side effects that can happen very quickly after you start using the drug. If there are any concerns about content we have published, please reach out to us at Once the drugs and alcohol are removed, we still have to face the problems we’ve been running from. This is a hugely underestimated part of the road to recovery and is? But ponder this often, and soon you will be ready to forgive and forget.

When this happens, a person is more likely to overdose because their body is no longer used to the drug or the amount they took before detox. As a result, people need to take more of the drug more frequently in order to achieve the same high and prevent withdrawal symptoms. While cocaine and crack cocaine highs are brief, the drug may stay in your system for up to three days. Instead of finding yourself with idle time and letting temptation take over, use your newfound sobriety to reexplore your former passions. Join a running club, buy a new game, buy some new books or take up an instrument.

1. This might seem like odd advice in a post about recovering from hard drugs.
2. For example, the depression that occurs during withdrawal could lead a person to attempt self-harm.
3. But when you eat enough (healthy) food and you allow yourself adequate amounts of sleep then recovery becomes easier because the intensity of cravings are lessened.
4. But compulsive shopping, video game binges or prolonged exercise can be unhealthy.

Cocaine is a stimulant drug that is extracted from the leaves of the coca plant. The purified form of the extract, which looks like fine, white, powdered crystals, was initially used for medicinal purposes. Take a look at our state of the art treatment center. Malnutrition can inhibit recovery by causing headaches, anxiety, depression and other side effects.

Get the Help You Need to Quit Cocaine

Long-term cocaine use dulls thinking processes and the ability to remember information. Cocaine use may make the brain’s stress receptors more sensitive to stress, so people react more strongly to stressful situations. If you or someone you love is living with an addiction to cocaine, help is here. Despite the pop-culture perceptions, cocaine is a dangerous drug and can lead to significant consequences when abused. If you or someone you love is stuck in a cycle of cocaine abuse, the time to get help to quit cocaine is now.

Crack is a freebase form of cocaine that is processed using water and either ammonia or baking soda, until it forms a rock crystal that can be smoked. Crack cocaine is also known as “rock,” because it looks like small, hard shards of rock. People typically smoke crack by heating it in a glass pipe; however, they may also add it to tobacco cigarettes or marijuana joints. The term ‘crack’ refers to the crackling sound the crystal makes when it is being heated to smoke. John C. Umhau, MD, MPH, CPE is board-certified in addiction medicine and preventative medicine.

He is the medical director at Alcohol Recovery Medicine. For over 20 years Dr. Umhau was a senior clinical investigator at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The 2021 (U.S.) National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) concludes 4.8 million people age 12 and older used cocaine in 2020. In comparison, the same survey results show 52.8 million people age 12 and older used marijuana and 1.1 million people used heroin. Further, the rate of cocaine overdose is on the rise, in large part due to fentanyl adulterating cocaine supplies. While once limited to heroin, fentanyl is appearing in cocaine in all forms, making use more dangerous than ever before.

Crack Recovery Dos and Don’ts

4.) Apologize to yourself for all the harm you’ve caused to yourself and others. The support from those who’ve accomplished rehabilitation will be tremendously helpful. Some addicts have become clean after 30+ years of abuse, some even longer.

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You feel high because the drug floods the brain’s reward system, which affects how you feel pleasure. The brain remembers that the drug causes happiness, and it naturally craves things that make it happy. You may feel good now and have no desire to use, but everything changes. If you are attached to these good feelings then you will become desolate when they fade and you’ll have a higher likelihood of relapse.