How to Overcome Cocaine Addiction
What to Know About Cocaine Addiction
If you have been using cocaine and have been wondering how to overcome cocaine addiction, it is important to understand what the drug is, what addiction is, and where to find help and support. It is also important to understand that just because you cannot stop using cocaine does not mean you are a failure or have no hope. Addiction is a serious disease, but if you dedicate yourself to facing the truth, digging deep, and working hard in therapy, it is possible to stop drug abuse and manage your addiction for life.
What is cocaine?
Cocaine is a highly addictive recreational stimulant drug that produces an intense high and makes users feel awake, focused, and alert, affecting structures found deep within the brain and producing feelings of energy, pleasure, and confidence. It is sold on the street as a fine, white powder, often called “coke”, “snow,” or “blow.” Users will either inject the dissolved drug intravenously or snort it into the nose. Freebase cocaine (a compound processed from cocaine hydrochloride using ammonia or baking soda) is smokable and is known as “crack.”
Cocaine is classified as a Schedule II controlled substance by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and is illegal to buy and use. It is also dangerous to purchase, as many unscrupulous drug dealers will cut cocaine with other substances, from corn starch to fentanyl or amphetamines, to improve their profit. You never know what you are buying when you purchase cocaine.
What are the signs of cocaine addiction?
Using cocaine regularly causes damage to important chemical pathways in the brain, making clear thinking and normal thought processes difficult. Many people who have become addicted to cocaine may not even realize it. Some of the signs of cocaine addiction are:
- Feeling like you have to use cocaine regularly (daily or several times a day) to feel normal
- Use of the drug is damaging your relationships, work, money situations, or health, but you continue using it anyway
- Having intense urges to use the drug and being unable to think about anything else
- Developing a tolerance and needing to take more to get the same effect
- Missing out on recreation and social activities in favor of using cocaine
- Doing things to get the drug that you normally would not do, like stealing or lying
- Spending a lot of time thinking about cocaine, finding the drug, using the drug, and dealing with hangovers
- Being unable to stop or cut back, even when you really want to
- Experiencing withdrawal symptoms when you try to stop
How can I tell if my family member or friend is using cocaine?
Some external symptoms of cocaine addiction you can look for include the following:
- Physical health issues, especially in the nose and mouth
- A neglected appearance
- Problems at school or work
- Changes in behavior
- New serious money issues
- Having too much confidence
- Speaking with rambling, rapid speech
- Displaying irritability and paranoia
- Unexplained weight loss
- Acting excited or aggressive
- Large, dilated pupils
3 Steps to Overcome Cocaine Addiction
1. Recognize you need help, and start researching your options
If you recognize even just a few of the signs of cocaine addiction in yourself, it may be time to consider a rehab program. There are many types of rehab out there, and because every person has unique health issues, life commitments, needs, and preferences, no one-size-fits-all rehab works for everybody. If you are unsure where to start, you can ask your doctor or therapist for advice and/or a referral or take matters into your own hands and look into rehab centers yourself.
Some things to consider include the following:
- The treatment center’s accreditation, the treatments they provide, and who is providing them (Do they have licensed doctors and therapists? Do they provide evidence-based effective therapy?)
- Do you wish to travel to get treatment or get help locally?
- Do they provide medical detox programs to help you detox safely and comfortably?
- What types of additional services, accommodations, and amenities do they offer?
- Do you want inpatient or outpatient treatment?
2. Contact the treatment facility and make arrangements
After deciding on the right treatment center for you, it is time to contact them and begin planning for when you are in treatment. The rehab center can help you out. Some of the things you will want to do before rehab include:
- Arranging for childcare and/or pet care
- Taking a medical leave from work or negotiating time off
- Checking to see whether insurance covers your treatment
- Putting bills into autopay or paying them in advance
- Arranging for a friend or family member to come by and check on your plants/house
- Packing only what is allowed inside the treatment center
- Getting rid of all drug paraphernalia and anything else that has the potential to trigger a relapse after rehab
- If necessary, notify the court that you will be going to rehab
3. Complete the full continuum of care recommended to you, including detox and rehab
From detox to rehab, completing the full treatment program recommended to you is important to ensure you are getting all the benefits and reduce your risk of relapsing. The best treatments for cocaine addiction include talk therapy and behavioral therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), group therapy, and couples therapy or family therapy. Overcoming the psychological aspects of cocaine addiction are important as relapse is common. Rebuilding your relationships with family can provide you with the additional support you need at home after rehab is complete, as it will not only mend damaged relationships but will also provide them with information and strategies to be able to help you without enabling unhealthy behaviors.
Many people benefit more from inpatient rehab programs, moving into a sober and supportive environment for a few weeks or months, to be able to make sweeping changes not only to their physical health but mental and emotional health. Outpatient options are also available for people who cannot take time away from work or who cannot leave home due to family or other life obligations. Researching your options is a good first start, and once you have narrowed down the search, contacting the centers that fit your needs best will get the ball rolling.
What Effects Does Cocaine Addiction Have on Your Body?
Short-term effects of cocaine use appear right away and fade away within minutes or a few hours. These include increased energy, mental alertness, constricted blood vessels, high blood pressure, and heart rate, increased temperature, and dilated pupils. You will feel talkative and the need for food and sleep will temporarily decrease. A high dose may also cause you to act erratically or violently and may cause cardiac arrest or seizures that can be deadly.
Medical complications due to cocaine use include:
- Heart attacks
- Respiratory failure
- Heart rhythm disturbances
- Strokes
- Seizures
- Malnourishment
- Abdominal pain and nausea
- Overdose death
- Snorting can lead to nose and throat complications
- Injecting can lead to track marks, allergic reactions, and infections
What Are the Three Pillars of Addiction?
There are three main factors when it comes to an understanding how to overcome cocaine addiction. These are sometimes referred to as the “three pillars” of addiction. These are:
- Therapy – cocaine has a serious biopsychosocial effect on the brain, and therapy can help change the way you think to a positive, recovery-friendly attitude. Therapy can also help you heal underlying pain, develop coping mechanisms, and learn new relapse-prevention skills as you come to understand potential triggers and how to deal with them.
- Support – support from loved ones, peers, and the recovery community is often the leading factor in a person’s ability to stay sober long-term.
- Education – knowing what you are dealing with and understanding that addiction is more than a “lack of willpower” is immensely important to recovery. Learning what drugs do to the brain and understanding the impact of drug use is essential to long-term recovery.
What Causes a Cocaine Addiction?
To learn how to overcome cocaine addiction, it is important to understand the causes and effects of cocaine use and how occasional partying can easily transition into a full-blown addiction, even if you feel you are being “careful.” The truth is that there is no “safe” amount of cocaine to use because it is a highly addictive substance, and addiction can affect anybody, regardless of age, race, status, or religion.
It is impossible to predict how using cocaine will affect your brain, but because the drug is a stimulant that works to inhibit the reabsorption of dopamine by the nerve cells in the brain, it keeps the dopamine around in the brain longer than it should be, causing a spike in your “reward system” and causing euphoric feelings. Tolerance to cocaine builds up fast, meaning you will need to take more each time to get the same pleasurable feelings. People tend to binge on cocaine, taking the drug repeatedly at increasingly high doses, which can result in irritability, paranoia, restlessness, mood disturbances, auditory hallucinations, and paranoid psychosis while at the same time increasing tolerance even more. Cocaine binges are very dangerous and can lead to a fatal overdose.
The “rush” of cocaine tends to fade quickly, spurring users to take more to avoid withdrawal symptoms ranging from mild to intense, depending on the person and how much they have been using. Cocaine withdrawal symptoms may include:
- Increased appetite
- Fatigue
- Depression
- Agitation
- Restless behavior
- Nightmares
- Anxiety
- Suicidal thoughts
These symptoms tend to start just hours after your last use, but you will likely experience these symptoms, along with drug cravings for up to a month or even longer after quitting. Many people experience severe anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation, and without proper mental health care may be in danger.
Some of the most common risk factors associated with cocaine addiction include the following:
- Genetics and biological makeup
- Peer pressure, or living/working in an environment where drug use is normalized
- Family history of addiction
- Using drugs at an early age
- Trauma experienced at a young age
- Mental health issues like PTSD or mental illness
Overcome Cocaine Addiction Today at Novo Detox
Novo Detox is a small, six-bed rehab center in California, offering luxury accommodations and high-end treatment options that can not only help you quit using cocaine but can also help you to overcome your addiction and heal your body, mind, and spirit during intensive inpatient detox and rehab programs customized to your individual needs and preferences.
We are fully accredited by the Joint Commission, the California Department of Health Care Services, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and have a high recovery rating. During intake, we do bloodwork and bio-genetic profiling to figure out which types of medications, nutritional supplements, and therapies may be more beneficial to your overall health, and we provide customized care through therapy, counseling, holistic treatments, mental and physical health care, and more. All care and treatment are provided by board-certified doctors, nurses, psychologists, and other care providers, so you can rest easy knowing you are in good, capable hands during treatment.
When you come to our residential inpatient center to treat drug or alcohol addiction, you will have access to amenities like:
- Meals cooked by a private chef
- Housekeeping services
- Fully stocked snack bar
- Swimming pool
- Workout and fitness classes
- Yoga
- Meditation
- Sound healing
- Massage therapy
- Indoor and outdoor community lounge areas
- TV, video games, board games, and books
- Cell Phone access after a blackout period
Detox at Novo is provided on an inpatient basis. You will move into our treatment center, with 24-hour oversight and medical care as your body removes the toxins from your system. You will eat healthy food and get plenty of rest within a comfortable and supportive environment, and you can contact your loved ones for support.
You may be provided with prescription medications that will help ease anxiety and drug cravings and prevent bodily discomfort, and because cocaine is an extremely psychologically addictive substance, you will also have psychiatric care provided from day one. Doctors may also help you with other issues like high blood pressure and dehydration, and holistic treatments may be provided for your comfort as well and may include:
- Saltwater therapy
- Acupuncture
- Herbology
- Reflexology
- Detox massages
- Qigong
- Tai Chi
- Yoga
- Meditation
After detox, you will begin your rehab program, with a structured daily program that may include treatments and therapies like:
- One-on-one meetings with your primary therapist at least twice a week
- Meeting with a case management team once a week for life skills and vocational skills and help with any practical issues like legal problems or taking leave from work
- Dual diagnosis programs for those with co-occurring disorders
- 40 to 47 hours of group therapy per week, covering topics like mindfulness, goal setting, seeking safety, anger management, emotional self-regulation, health awareness, and cognitive restructuring
- Cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy
- Interpersonal psychotherapy
- Relapse prevention skills and aftercare planning sessions
- Exercise, nutritional health, and wellness
- Life skills and social skills
- 12-step fellowships (Alcoholics Anonymous, etc.)
- Holistic treatments like yoga, massage, and meditation
Learn about Ed Sheeran’s substance abuse issues here:
At Novo, we believe that, for many people, family is a huge motivator. If you wish, and if it is appropriate to your treatment, your therapist can keep your loved ones involved in your treatment by keeping them up to date on your progress through weekly contact and by arranging family therapy sessions.
If you live within the state of California, our treatment center also offers telehealth services that include group therapy sessions, weekly one-on-one therapy, case management, and weekly appointments with psychiatrists, an option that may be right for clients with milder addictions.
Once you complete your 30 to 90 days of treatment within our inpatient facility, we can offer you several options for long-term outpatient care that are within our wide network of trusted rehab centers throughout the state. Outpatient treatment like partial hospitalization programs or intensive outpatient programs can help you make the transition back to your normal life, offering a regulated schedule of ongoing therapy, counseling, groups, and doctor’s visits, with some providing medication management services, life skills programs, and case management, along with connections to local support groups like Narcotics Anonymous (NA) or SMART recovery programs, and alumni meetups in your area.
At Novo Detox, we pride ourselves in our commitment to your comfort and safety. Along with concierge-level service, we also provide state-of-the-art medical care and the latest psychiatric treatments and therapies, ensuring you receive only the best. Our holistic therapies make an excellent addition to our evidence-based treatments, providing you with a well-rounded approach to addiction treatment that includes your emotional and spiritual well-being, along with treating your physical and mental health and teaching new ways of thinking and new healthy habits that will help you on your sobriety journey.
All of our staff is dedicated to offering trauma-informed care, and they truly want to help you. Every doctor, therapist, counselor, holistic practitioner, and addiction specialist you meet at Novo will do all they can to make you feel welcome and at home during your time with us. We aim to maintain your sense of self and treat you with respect and dignity at every stage of your treatment.
Getting help does not need to be scary or stressful, and we will do all we can to make it easier to receive the treatments you need to quit using cocaine and overcome your addiction long-term. This includes being in-network with several of the most popular health insurance companies to help alleviate the financial strain that inpatient rehab can place on some families. We accept Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Cigna, Health New, Health Partners, First Choice Health, and Value Options. If you are unsure whether your treatment will be covered, we can help you verify insurance coverage.
Please call us at (844) 834-1777 today to learn more about overcoming cocaine addiction. We are available 24 hours a day to take your call because we understand that for some people the difference a few hours can make with addiction treatment can make the difference between life and death. When you call us, we can answer any questions you have regarding insurance coverage, treatment options, and the amenities and therapies we offer within our inpatient rehab facility. Our team is standing by now, and we are happy to help you better understand the options available to you to learn how to overcome cocaine addiction, so you can make an informed decision on cocaine addiction treatment for yourself or a loved one.
