Cocaine addictive

[Beachwaves127]

Sorry in advance for naivety.
Why is cocaine so addictive? It ruins lives doesn’t it. :(

Cocaine and drink killed my partner at the age of 35. Its a horrible addiction and really hard to break.

And not to mention expensive. He spent 10s of thousands of £s over the years . When you're on it that's all you care about. It destroyed him and me in the process .

@Friend2023 I’m so sorry to read this. Genuinely. xxx

I find it all very sad. Did he realise it was destroying him?

Because it changes brain chemistry. I am just over seven years clean of cocaine, it's a nasty drug.

However you can't force someone to get clean. They have to want to do it themselves. It's the only way.

It also ruins the lives of people in South America forced into growing and manufacturing it and the children in the UK exploited in the distribution of it.

I think cocaine is way worse than heroin in the effect it has on users. In theory if you have a clean supply of heroin and can keep paying for it without your life going down the tubes, you can keep using it without disastrous effects for a long time. That is not true of cocaine- eventually it will seriously damage your health. It’s only treated differently because of the stupid perception that it’s somehow glamorous and socially acceptable.

Well done probably won’t be strong enough but well done for getting yourself clean. Xx

I hear people addicted to cocaine talking about wanting to stop but they don’t or can’t. Why is that? I’m naive not judgemental.

Thank you for replying. The health consequences are terrible I’m concerned someone I know will lose their life.

Its foul. The way its taken, its so unpleasant, its like self harm in a way.. its such an extreme thing to get hooked on considering the cost, how terrible the after effects are

As in the mental come down or the physiological side effects?

I’m struggling to quit. Last 6 months have increased use. Cravings are hard but husband and I hate it. Started smart recovery and Friday I was doing well but caved at 9pm. Was through the worst of it. No positives but still do it

Sorry to read this. What is smart recovery? I hope you and your husband can get any help needed to stop xx

It’s a meeting that focusses on recovery and does offer tools to help with all aspects. They have face-face and online National meetings. I like the idea of their strategy over CA (just personal view). I spoke at 2nd meeting and it felt good. I’m annoyed as I could have done it at weekend if I just held off that bit longer. Try again tho as fully committed

Thanks for explaining. Today is a new week :) xx

Because it changes your brain chemistry, and makes you feel a fantastic high at the time... but its a vile drug that causes so much damage.

I lost my best friend in the world to it at 21yo. I miss him every single day.

its a genuine stimulant. Alcohol is a suppressant. Opiates are narcotics The drug stops your pain and makes you sleep. It is a drug that causes insensibility or stupor.
Cocaine fires all the synapses in your brain so you get an incredible rush which you want more of and it speeds up messages travelling between the brain and body.

With coke it also doesn't help that it's often seen as a 'cool' drug to take, it doesnt have the reputation that heroin and meth etc have. It also is rife in professional communities and wealthy communities.

Cocaine blocks dopamine receptors in the brain causing a flood of dopamine. Interesting paper here...The Neurobiology of Cocaine Addiction - PMC (nih.gov)

So sorry about your friend. That must have been awful for you and him. I am concerned about someone I know too losing their life. I just don’t know how they will overcome the drug.