Cocaine Abuse

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:

• Cocaine is an illegal drug. It may be snorted (sniffed), injected (given with a needle), smoked, or rubbed on your body. You may feel a great amount of excitement and joy after using cocaine. You may have this "high" feeling within seconds or minutes of using the drug. This feeling may only last for a few minutes, or it may last for a few hours. Because of how cocaine makes you feel, you may want to keep using more. Over time, you may develop a tolerance to cocaine. Tolerance to cocaine means that you need more cocaine to get the high feeling that you want. You will feel less of a high feeling from the same amount of cocaine you have taken in the past.
  
  
• Short or long-term use of cocaine may cause problems such as headaches, nosebleeds, and mood swings. You may want to hurt or kill yourself or others. Over time, cocaine may cause many serious health problems, and it may even kill you. You may have withdrawal when you stop using, or decrease your use of cocaine. You may have feelings of great sadness and anxiety, be very hungry, and have problems sleeping. There is help available if you or someone you know wants to stop using cocaine.

AFTER YOU LEAVE:

How does using cocaine affect your body over time?

• Cocaine decreases the size of your blood vessels. This makes your heart beat faster, and raises your blood pressure. Less blood and oxygen is able to reach your organs. Cocaine also raises your body temperature. Snorting cocaine into your nose or rubbing cocaine on body areas makes the area constrict (get smaller). The areas may become damaged and scarred. The cartilage that separates the two sides of your nose may bleed, or a hole may develop.
  
  
• Long-term cocaine use may affect your brain, heart, lungs, stomach, and bowels. Cocaine may cause seizures (convulsions), a stroke, or movements that you cannot control. These may include head jerking, constant chewing, and frequent eye blinking. If you have fast, jerky movements, and are unable to sit still, this may be called "crack dancing". Cocaine may cause an irregular heartbeat, a heart infection (in-FECK-shun), or a heart attack.
  
  
• Cocaine may cause ulcers (sores) and scarring in your mouth and throat. You may have symptoms of asthma (AZ-muh) including coughing and spitting up mucus. Your lungs may bleed, or you may get "crack lung". This is a condition causing fever, painful breathing, and coughing. You may develop holes in your bowel, or a stomach ulcer. If there is not enough blood, oxygen and nutrition reaching part of your bowel, you may get gangrene (gang-GREEN). You may need to be treated with medicine or surgery for these conditions. These conditions may be very serious, and you may die.
  
  
• People who try to hide cocaine in their bodies are called "body packers" or "mules". This may lead to severe medical problems including bowel obstruction (plugging) that may need surgery. If the cocaine packet in the body breaks, it may cause cocaine intoxication, a large stomach ulcer, and death.

Do you want to stop using cocaine?

If you want to stop using cocaine, talk to your caregiver. Your caregiver will help you find a program for people with cocaine dependence. You may be treated in the hospital, or as an outpatient. Treatments may include medicines to help you cope with withdrawal symptoms. They may also include talking therapy in groups, or one-to-one with a counselor. Treatment may include learning ways to deal with the people you knew when you were using cocaine. You may learn lifestyle changes that help you manage your life after cocaine. You may contact the following organizations for help and support:

• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
  PO Box 42557
  Washington , DC 20015
  Web Address: http://www.samhsa.gov
  

• National Institute on Drug Abuse
  6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 5213
  Bethesda , MD 20892-9561
  Phone: 1- 301 - 443-1124
  Web Address: www.nida.nih.gov
  

• Cocaine Anonymous
  3740 Overland Avenue Suite C
  Los Angeles , CA 90034
  P.O. Box 2000
  Los Angeles , CA 90049-8000
  Phone: 1- 310 - 559-5833
  Web Address: www.ca.org
  

Where can you go for help when someone you know abuses cocaine?

Having a friend or family member who abuses cocaine can be very difficult. You may not understand why your friend or family member is abusing cocaine. You may remember the way the person was before using cocaine, and wish the cocaine use would stop. You may feel frustrated and angry because the person will not stop abusing cocaine. You may want to help, but you don't feel like you know how. These are normal feelings. For help and support, you may contact the following:

• Co-Anon
  PO Box 12722
  Tucson , AZ 85732-2722
  Phone: 1- 520 - 5135028
  Phone: 1- 800 - 8989985
  Web Address: www.co-anon.org
  

CONTACT A CAREGIVER IF:

• You feel your problems are getting worse and you cannot deal with them alone.
  
  

SEEK CARE IMMEDIATELY IF:

• You feel like hurting yourself or someone else.
  
  
• You have chest pain, sweating, or breathing problems.
  
  
• You have a seizure (convulsion).
  
  
• You have a temperature over 101° F ( 38.3° C) after using cocaine.
  
  
• You cough or spit up a lot of blood.
  
  
• You have bad pain in your abdomen (belly).
  
  
• You have a bad headache, are confused, or feel very nervous.
  
  
• You have weakness on one side of your body.

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The above information is an educational aid only. It is not intended as medical advice for individual conditions or treatments. Talk to your doctor, nurse or pharmacist before following any medical regimen to see if it is safe and effective for you.

Learn more about Cocaine Abuse (Discharge Care)