Cocaine Addiction: Signs, Symptoms, & Rehab

Cocaine is a stimulant drug that is made from the leaves of the coca plant, which is grown in certain regions of South America.¹ Illicitly manufactured cocaine is often found in a white powder form, and is commonly used by snorting, smoking, or injection.¹ It is also common for people to mix cocaine with other substances, including heroin, which is a combination known as a speedball.¹ Many people misuse cocaine for its reinforcing or rewarding effects, including euphoria and temporarily increased energy which can last anywhere from a few minutes to an hour.¹

Is Cocaine Addictive?

Repeated misuse of cocaine, regardless of how it is consumed, can result in changes within our brain’s reward circuitry and, ultimately, addiction development.¹ Part of the reason that cocaine can be so addictive is that its use is associated with a surge in dopamine activity. Dopamine is a neurochemical that is associated with feelings of pleasure and reward; when cocaine leads to increased levels of active dopamine in the brain, it serves to reinforce the continued use of the drug.¹

Over time, our reward circuitry may adapt to being artificially stimulated by cocaine. As our bodies adapt to the presence of the drug, we may find ourselves needing to use an increasing amount of cocaine with more frequent doses to keep experiencing its pleasurable effects and to avoid experiencing withdrawal.¹

Signs of Cocaine Addiction

While some people may begin to use cocaine only occasionally, with continued use many will begin to develop more compulsive patterns of use characteristic of a cocaine addiction.  While doctors or other healthcare professionals are best qualified to diagnose someone with a cocaine use disorder, there are signs that you might recognize in yourself or others that could indicate the need for further evaluation. As official diagnostic criteria, the potential signs of a cocaine use disorder include:³

• Using larger amounts of cocaine than was originally planned and/or continuing to use it longer than intended.
• Continued, unsuccessful efforts to stop or cut down on cocaine misuse.
• Spending a lot of time, money, or other resources to obtain cocaine, use it, and recover from its use.
• Cravings to use cocaine.
• Failing to uphold responsibilities at home, work, or school as a result of cocaine use.
• Continuing to use cocaine despite it causing social or interpersonal problems.
• Giving up other important social or recreational activities to use cocaine instead.
• Using cocaine in physically hazardous situations, such as while driving.
• Continuing to use cocaine even though it is causing and/or making a medical or mental health issue worse.
• Developing cocaine tolerance, which means more of the substance is needed to keep experiencing its effects.
• Developing withdrawal symptoms when unable to use.

What Are the Long-Term Effects of Cocaine Addiction?

In the long-term, repeated cocaine use can have a major effect on an individual’s well being. Some of these effects can include:^1,4

• Chronic irritability, anxiety, and panic.
• A temporary psychosis, which can include a loss of touch with reality, paranoia, auditory hallucinations, etc.
• Malnourishment of the body and unhealthy weight loss, due to chronic loss of appetite from cocaine use.
• Increased risk for cardiovascular problems (such as endocarditis, chronically elevated blood pressure, and increased risk of stroke, aortic ruptures, and heart attack).
• Chronically inflamed nasal tissue, nosebleeds, and loss of smell from snorting cocaine.
• Asthma, chronic cough, respiratory distress, and increased pneumonia risks from smoking cocaine.
• HIV, hepatitis C, and other infections from sharing needles while injecting cocaine.

No matter how cocaine is used, ingesting toxic amounts of the drug into the system can lead to devastating events such as heart attacks, strokes, and seizures—which may all lead to sudden death, even with just a single use.^1,4 A person can experience a cocaine overdose, which can result in these and other severe and sometimes life-threatening symptoms, including:¹

• Heart arrhythmias.
• Dangerously elevated blood pressure.
• Hyperthermia.
• Breathing difficulty.
• Extreme psychomotor agitation.
• Severe anxiety.
• Acute hallucinations.

Cocaine-related overdoses may be increasingly likely in situations where a person uses it in combination with other substances, such as alcohol, amphetamine stimulants, or opioids like fentanyl.^1,4