What does cocaine do to your body?

The effects of cocaine on the body are damaging at best and life-threatening at worst. It’s shocking how a substance as fine as talc slowly breaks down the tissues of the mouth and nose, the body’s critical organ systems and the social fabric that communities and families are built on.

Equipping yourself with a better understanding of cocaine’s risks can help you identify addiction in yourself or a loved one before its inevitable consequences. We’re highlighting the short-term and long-term risks of use and the broader implications on a person’s quality of life and social relationships.

How cocaine causes damage to the body and mind

The risks associated with cocaine use on both the body and mind are complex and multi-faceted. Recognising some of these effects might mean the difference in helping yourself or a loved one kickstart recovery at the right time. Here are some of the most common effects over the short and long term:

Short-term effects on the body and mind

Over the short term, cocaine use affects the body in numerous ways. Let’s first imagine a scenario of a night out taking cocaine. The immediate effects minutes after taking cocaine and later into the night are likely to include:

• Your body temperature fluctuates: You might start to have uncomfortable hot flushes to begin with. Studies show that cocaine affects the body temperatures of animals, even affecting the body’s ability to deal with the change itself.
• You feel uncomfortable chest sensations: You start to experience strange sensations of heartbeat irregularity. Atrial fibrillation, or an irregular and rapid heart rhythm, is a common outcome of short-term cocaine use. One study of cocaine users found a 62% increased risk of atrial fibrillation.
• Your behaviour starts to change: You only decided to do a small amount to start with, but your behaviour changes and it’s noticeable to those around you. It often gives a sense of euphoria and makes you more energetic and talkative.
• Your brain’s “reward system” is altered: Using cocaine causes disruptions in the brain’s mesolimbic dopamine system, the reward system in the brain that releases dopamine, a pleasure chemical.Your sensitivity becomes heightened: Your pupils dilate, and you can start to feel more sensitive to light, sound and touch. Rapid changes in dopamine levels alter your body’s natural senses.

The night passes and the next morning comes with a decrease in the desire for food and sleep. These unpleasant changes in healthy routines can often be linked with a sense of depression on the “comedown” throughout the next day or two.

Long-term effects on the body

Long-term cocaine abuse has harmful effects on critical organ systems in the body, and its prolonged use is linked with heart cardiovascular damage and heart attacks.

Cocaine is a powerful vasoconstrictor, so each time it’s used, the walls that hold blood vessels become narrower. Prolonged cocaine use damages the mucous membranes in the nose and mouth, causing them to dry and to have constricted blood flow.

One of the most critical of all bodily systems is likely to be affected, too: the gastrointestinal system. If some of the short-term effects like stomach pains, reduced appetite and vomiting are dragged over a long period, their effects will worsen. Having a long-term cocaine addiction can lead to a major intestinal problem called ischemic colitis. This can cause serious issues in simply digesting food, and can even lead to death.

Long-term effects on the brain

For the brain, the effects over sustained periods can be equally severe. Chronic cocaine use is linked with brain impairments, as the blood vessels that carry oxygen and some nutrients throughout your body are damaged.

Studies are even starting to link long-term cocaine use to ageing of the brain, highlighting how cocaine abusers in their 30s and 40s show brain changes that are only usually seen in people over the age of 60.

For millions of people, long-term cocaine abuse has led them down avenues of depression and anxiety. There’s an argument to consider about the cyclical relationship between cocaine and depression: Does cocaine use cause depression? Or does depression increase the likelihood of someone taking cocaine? The sad truth is that both are sides of the same coin and usually fuel one another.

Let’s look at the effects of cocaine with a broader lens now, at the gloomy role it plays in a person’s social and personal life.

The effects of cocaine on personal lives

Aside from the damage caused to physical and mental health, heavy usage has broad knock-on effects that can tear through a person’s quality of life. In many cases, the first time someone takes it is an unfortunate result of their social, economic or even parental situation. Young adults are usually the most frequent consumers of cocaine, and their personal lives are suffering because of it. Some of the effects of cocaine on a person’s quality of life include::

Relationship struggles

If you or a loved one is going through the tumultuous cycle of cocaine addiction, there’s likely going to be new strains and stresses in your relationships. Tensions and tempers heat up, so when new problems arise between family and friends, they can be especially disturbing.

Cocaine abuse can lead to erratic and unpredictable behaviour, as well as trust issues arising as a person tries to figure out how to get off cocaine. They might sometimes become aggressive in an uncharacteristic way, which is horrific to see in someone very dear to you.

Cocaine’s effect on sleep

Sleep significantly impacts quality of life, and the term “occult insomnia” highlights how chronic cocaine use exacerbates sleep problems during withdrawal. The research on occult insomnia goes on to suggest that the person’s procedural learning suffers, too.

As we’ve learned more about the damage cocaine causes to the body and brain, understanding how it directly applies to your personal life and relationships can help highlight the importance of stepping onto the road to recovery. Which is where we come in.

I want to know how to quit cocaine

If you’re going through the thralls of cocaine addiction, you’ve probably experienced more than one of these physical and psychological changes. Your relationships might have broken down and at times you might have felt like you were alone in the dark. But not anymore.

Here at UKAT we specialise in programmes for cocaine addiction treatment. We have comprehensive systems to help you onto the road of recovery and our cocaine rehab clinic is here to support you and your loved ones as you work towards a happier, cocaine-free life.

Our hand is offered out to you. You’re only one decision away from the first step to recovery.