Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Telltale signs of someone who's off their face on coke?

118 replies

VladmirsPoutine · 08/09/2018 22:33

What would these be? I'm fairly good at recognising people that are wasted on alcohol; the slurring, the weird sort of honesty and imbalance when they walk. And for one or two reasons I can spot an alcoholic who is hiding it well; a functional alcoholic, if you will.

But with coke what would it be? I suspect this of someone close to me but don't necessarily want to make any judgements as such just yet. When someone is drunk it's easy to spot but I'm not aware of what someone off their face on coke would necessarily be like, speaking very fast and rubbing their nose a lot?

OP posts:
MorrisZapp · 09/09/2018 10:11

Mimic the signs yourself by having a fresh brewed espresso (if like me, you're sensitive to caffeine).

Apologies to my family. I thought it was decaf.

AsleepAllDay · 09/09/2018 11:02

Definitely staying up all night! I could never keep up

VladmirsPoutine · 09/09/2018 12:04

I once knew a man whom was overly confident and totally arrogant with it. On a night out he took coke and this escalated his personality a million times over. It was not a pleasant evening at all. He started asking random women how much they cost Hmm

OP posts:
StealthPolarBear · 09/09/2018 12:08

How do you chew your guns? I'm trying now but can't

StealthPolarBear · 09/09/2018 12:14

Gums not guns!

noeffingidea · 09/09/2018 12:16

Look up 'celebrities on coke' on youtube and you can see cokeheads in action. It's worth remembering that experienced users often use drug cocktails to control some of the side effects or obvious signs.

Djnoun · 09/09/2018 12:48

Yes, MDMA users take magnesium supplements to control the gurning.

VladmirsPoutine · 09/09/2018 14:22

What is the difference between MDMA, coke and speed? Don't they all have, in effect, the same result?

OP posts:
FourFriedChickensDryWhiteToast · 09/09/2018 14:26

Talking shite about themselves, loudly.
Rubbing their nose or sniffing loudly.

FourFriedChickensDryWhiteToast · 09/09/2018 14:27

no they are quite different.

Have a google.

Djnoun · 09/09/2018 14:33

No, they're very different.

Cocaine essentially jams the reward part of your brain on. So everything is fantastic. You feel super confident.

MDMA makes you full of waves of euphoric energy. It makes you want to dance and you love everybody.

Speed is similar to MDMA, but the energy part is more concentrated. You want to dance and talk forever.

Cocaine is the hardest thing of the three to spot, as it doesn't cause massive overwhelming euphoria. The euphoria means you lose control of your movements, particularly in the face. Which is why you see gurning.

FoxFoxSierra · 09/09/2018 14:35

Vladimir Mdma is very different to coke and speed, it's basically ecstasy so it gives a feeling of euphoria and will make you want to dance for hours and spread the love. Speed is known as the poor person's coke, the effects are very similar but it's much cheaper and makes you feel like absolute shit the next day

VladmirsPoutine · 09/09/2018 14:35

Have a google.

I will. I am asking as it's a discussion forum so others might be able to talk about their own experiences or whatever. I could have also googled my own OP but the point of this forum is to talk about things.

OP posts:
FourFriedChickensDryWhiteToast · 09/09/2018 14:37

yes I know but I wanted you to get the best information, not my subjective one.
Plus I didn't feel like writing an essay on ' my experiences with powdered drugs' tbh.

VladmirsPoutine · 09/09/2018 14:54

Fair enough if you didn't, it's up to everyone what they choose to share or not. I'm not obtuse so could have found this all out on Google but if we are to start telling posters to Google things then Mumsnet would be a very barren land.

OP posts:
VladmirsPoutine · 09/09/2018 14:54

If you didn't want to share your subjective one that's fine. Subjective thoughts/opinions was exactly why I started the thread.

OP posts:
FourFriedChickensDryWhiteToast · 09/09/2018 14:57

OK -
Cocaine -makes you feel great, very talkative
Speed - makes you rush about wanting to clean up. Mixes well with a beer for a night out but only for youngsters.
MDMA - makes you bond with your cat if no humans about..

:)

BifsWif · 09/09/2018 15:06

I’ve never known anyone gurn on coke, pills maybe but not coke.

Their eyes are really bright, pupils dialated and they talk shit for ages.

spaghettiforhair · 09/09/2018 15:07

Massive over confidence and arrogance
Refusing all food, so weight loss
Sniffing a lot
If it's at night time they won't be sleeping a lot.

Also if it's prolonged use the paranoia..

spaghettiforhair · 09/09/2018 15:09

@BifsWif I’ve never known anyone gurn on coke, pills maybe but not coke

Neither have I, have a close relative who does and has a huge problem with it but they have never gurned

FourFriedChickensDryWhiteToast · 09/09/2018 15:10

no, no gurning on coke AFAIK. Face touching and nose rubbing but not gurning.

BifsWif · 09/09/2018 15:11

The comedowns from coke are awful, so watch them the next day too.

AsleepAllDay · 09/09/2018 15:12

The best thing is to know that person's personality so you know that they're on something because it makes them magnified.

Coke is a drug for grandiose statements, big plans, lots of talking, it's like they have a battery up their arse.

Some people (anecdotally) can get a bit angry or punchy

But mostly it just pushes you over the top until you come down.

AsleepAllDay · 09/09/2018 15:13

And this is what I've observed from being around people quite closely. I prefer downers tbh

DoinItForTheKids · 09/09/2018 15:17

Chewing gums and gurning isn't coke.

Coke is one or more of these (believe me was with a guy who used coke (5 yrs)), had plenty of experience of it until I dumped his ass. In no particular order:

  1. Odd meetings/popping out (this is to buy the stuf/pick it up through the car window)
  2. On taking coke it can give them the shits
  3. After which another symptom comes into play, absolutely no desire to wash
  4. Drinking certain drinks that they only drink when they're on coke (you'll soon learn the signs)
  5. Non-stop talking, always about themselves
  6. An insane urge to clean - XP once cleaned a bathroom with another girl for hours (no shagging, just cleaning, it's compulsive due to the coke)
  7. Banging away at you for bloody ages when shagging, unable to come
  8. Convinced they can only have 'good sex' on coke (which is absolute utter bollocks), no idea how to shag when not on it
  9. Little clear plastic bags found in odd places
10. And of course the delightful sniffing, rubbing nose, inserting finger up nose to make sure no residue showing and on more than one occasion 11. leaving cocaine residue around (windowsill, coffee table) knowing it was possible that a child could come into contact with it. They are so busy getting high that they can't be arsed to clear it up properly. They smear it off then lick their fingers 12. They can be the life and soul of the party or become incredibly arrogant that turns into nasty.

This is when they're on it.

Sadly there's a whole cycle to it and they can be utter c*nts when they need it, nasty, vile. It can cause them to pretty much go on a psychotic break. I've had my XP smash up my house and then be as right as rain in the morning as though nothing had happened. They'd leave you somewhere (say away in a restaurant) without transport without a second thought, even if you had your kid with you.

Essentially, if they're strongly addicted, their moods are unpredictable, completely unpredictable, you can never know when they're going to go off on one. It can make for a miserable family life and in fact anyone at this level of addiction shouldn't be around children. Believe me, should it reach a certain level and you end up having to call police for example ending up on the radar of social services. So let's say all's been good for the past fortnight, but you went out and left the children with that person, social services would see it as 'leaving the children in the care of a known drug use' and this would not bode well for you in those respects, them viewing you as completely incapable of understand that this is not safe.

Sorry that went a bit further than the 'what do people look like if they're on coke', but I think it's important to know how a life with someone like this might pan out. I'd be 100% giving the advice to just have a zero tolerance - you meet someone who uses it, run a bloody mile.