In follow up with the last post on Signs of a Cocaine Overdose, I felt we should also cover some of the effects that can come with cocaine overdose. If a cocaine overdose occurs, the user may need immediate medical attention. Call for immediate help if these signs are apparent:
- Intense pain in the chest area.
- Profuse amount of sweating.
- Rapid breathing, or difficulty breathing.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Extremely rapid pulse.
- Signs of hallucination.
If you experience any of these symptoms, or witness someone else experiencing any of these symptoms, do not take any chances, and get them medical attention right away.
Now I would like to switch gears, just a bit, and discuss how cocaine affects the brain.
Scientists have done many studies on the effects of cocaine use on the brain, most of them in hopes of discovering why cocaine is so addictive and so difficult to stop using once you start.
There is a section of the brain that allows people to feel pleasure and euphoria. When the body experiences something that produces pleasure a chemical, known as dopamine, is released into this section of the brain. Normally the dopamine will remain in small gaps between neurons in the brain for a short period of time allowing you to feel euphoria and pleasure. When using cocaine this process is disrupted and the dopamine is allowed to stay longer in the gaps providing a greater sense of pleasure for a longer period of time.
Even though this is the effect sought out when someone begins to use cocaine, eventually there will be a price to pay to achieve the same feeling. Each time cocaine is used the body starts building up a greater level of tolerance requiring the cocaine user to more and more each time to be able to achieve the same feeling as previously felt. The brain also remembers the great feelings accompanied with being high, and that the use of cocaine is what provided this feeling and will send signals, in the form of cravings, in an attempt to have this feeling again. These cravings are what can lead someone who has been able to stop the abuse of cocaine, and other forms of drug abuse, to have a relapse.
In our next post we will talk about some of the short term and long term effects of cocaine abuse, and also what types of cocaine treatment is available.
