Coming down
In the days after cocaine use, you may feel:
- irritability and paranoia
- mood swings
- feeling uncomfortable
- exhaustion.4
Long-term effects
Regular use of cocaine may eventually cause:
- dependence
- lung conditions such as bronchitis
- anxiety, paranoia and psychosis
- sexual dysfunction
- kidney failure
- stroke
- seizures
- hypertension and irregular heartbeat
- heart disease and death.4, 5
Snorting cocaine regularly can also cause:
- runny nose and nose bleeds
- nose infection
- damage to the tissue separating the nostrils (nasal septum)
- loss of sense of smell.4
Withdrawal
Giving up cocaine after a long time is challenging because the body has to get used to functioning without it. Please seek advice from a health professional.
Phases of withdrawal
Withdrawal symptoms usually start around 6-12 hours after the last use.
Withdrawal usually happens in three phases:
- Crash – feelings of depression or anxiety, cocaine cravings, extreme tiredness (experienced in the first few days)
- Withdrawal – cocaine cravings, lack of energy, anxiety, agitation, disturbed sleep,and an inability to feel pleasure (can last for several weeks)
- Extinction – withdrawal symptoms can occur over several months, gradually subsiding).4
Mixing cocaine with other drugs
Mixing cocaine with other drugs can have unpredictable effects and increase the risk of harm.
- Cocaine and psilocybin/LSD/cannabis: can intensify anxiety, paranoia, confusion, or thought loops.
- Cocaine and opioids/GHB/GBL: can increase the risk of heart strain and respiratory arrest.
- Cocaine and methamphetamine: can increase the risk of heart strain.
- Cocaine and ketamine: can impair thinking, coordination and increase blood pressure depending on amount taken.
- Cocaine and alcohol: can feel less intoxicated due to the stimulant effect of cocaine and lead to drinking more.
- Cocaine and MDMA: increases the risk of heart strain, heart attack and psychosis. Cocaine can also reduce desirable effects of MDMA.
‘Polydrug use’ is a term for the use of more than one drug or type of drug at the same time or one after another.6 Polydrug use can involve both illicit drugs and legal substances, such as alcohol and medications.