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Symptoms of cocaine withdrawal?

Discussion in 'Cocaine' started by Kappys, Feb 19, 2015.

  1. Kappys

    Kappys Member

    I realize that it feels terrible to wake up the morning of snorting cocaine from the night before, but is being without it even worse? Is it really that addicting?
  2. bsthebenster

    bsthebenster Community Champion

    I've gone through very minor cocaine addiction (around six moths straight of using, as opposed to five+ years) and I felt it akin to nicotine withdrawal. I can't say the physical withdrawal was anything to fuss about, but the cravings and depression were brutal.

    Personally, when it comes to purely mentally addictions drugs (meth, coke, tobacco as opposed to heroin for example), you always feel better without them. It's a matter of your irrational, drug-starved mind telling you otherwise. It's not until you give in to the craving that you realize it doesn't really make your life all that better.
  3. missbishi

    missbishi Community Champion

    The addiction cetainly is psychological and I experienced no physical withdrawal symptoms when detoxing from the drug myself, eight years ago. The mental torture was something else though! You just have to tell yourself that it's all in the mind, learn some coping strategies and find new ways to enjoy yourself (without becoming a raging alcoholic, obviously!).
    bsthebenster likes this.
  4. bsthebenster

    bsthebenster Community Champion

    It's insane. We think bad withdrawal symptoms and we imagine puking and pains like with heroin or benzos. But I'm telling ya, I'd take physical pain over a dopamine starved brain any day.
  5. OhioTom76

    OhioTom76 Senior Contributor

    Cocaine withdrawal sucks bad, particularly if you're a heavy user and you've been using it for a while. The overwhelming feeling of discontent will not go away no matter what you do, and even worse, you cannot sleep it off either and hope you will feel better in the morning. Not only will you spend entire nights laying in bed staring a the ceiling suffering through the angst and irritation while being wide awake - when the speedy part of it finally wears off, you'll be a zombie the whole next day because you got no sleep, and you won't be able to concentrate or focus on anything from being so sleep deprived.

    It's hard to describe the feeling compellingly to someone who has never experienced it, I think one of the closest explanations I've heard is imagine you found out you just won the lottery and were going to be a multi-millionaire. That sort of joy, elation, and sense of relief (no more financial burdens) is kind of what it feels like being on cocaine, but coming down off it is sort of like finding out a few hours or the next day later that there was some technical error and no, you won't be getting any of that money and you have to go back to your normal mundane life. Think of how let down and angry you would be feeling, and imagine feeling like that for hours, if not days and there is nothing you could do to make it go away. Even when there is nothing really bad happening to you (aside from you coming down) you feel irrationally worse for no good reason. It's really frustrating.
  6. bsthebenster

    bsthebenster Community Champion

    That's perfect, I love that analogy. Whether the feeling is more or less intense than winning and losing the lottery depends, but it's very much the same feeling.
  7. trevermorgana

    trevermorgana Active Contributor

    Its addictive especially if you are a socialite since its considered a "party drug". Cocaine leaves your body rather quickly. Since its a stimulant you will probably feel burnt out for a few days. Depression is a definite (but this is the case with almost all drugs). The only long term symptom of cocaine withdrawal is constantly flicking your nose but that occurs usually to more severe abusers of the drug.
  8. pwarbi

    pwarbi Community Champion

    I think recovering from a coke addiction is all psychological. I don't think I know anybody who is physically reliant on the substance.

    Sometime though that can be even worse. When you look and feel fine but you know your head isn't right.
  9. rightct

    rightct Community Champion

    I will have to agree with some people here, cocaine withdrawal happens mostly because we think there are symptoms, just as things happen with marijuana upon not consuming it for about 3-4 months if you take it too much, on a daily basis, more specifically. Compared to cigarettes and alcohol, you can get off of cocaine quite easily if you really seek to.
  10. vegito12

    vegito12 Community Champion

    I know someone who had been taking, it and started to stop taking it and they had to struggle as the body was so used to it that they could not stop thinking about it. He did have depression and also mood swings as well and he did have anger and throwing things around it is quite sad to see how a drug can change a person for the worse and ruin relationships as well. Well he, also had problems trying to do something else and also had issues with sleeping as the mind wanted to have cocaine when trying to withdraw.
  11. keekz38

    keekz38 Member

    Cocaine addiction is really all in your mind. It's pretty much giving up something you've become use to which you associate with having a good time. The same way ending a relationship doesn't have an effect on your body physically, but can make you feel miserable for a while until time heals and you learn from your mistakes.
  12. Damien Lee

    Damien Lee Community Champion

    I've never tried cocaine but a friend of mine tried it once. He told me that it gives a very smooth high, he understands why wealthy people partake in this substance. He didn't experience any withdrawal symptoms or try to do it again. Perhaps because he wasn't a regular user, his experience may have been different.
  13. JoanMcWench

    JoanMcWench Community Champion

    Hmm...I'm not going to say it's a terrible thing to wake up after 'snorting coke' nor am I going to say it's worse without it. That's a tad too generalized a way of dealing with a potential problem. trying coke or using coke is not indicative of a problem. If there is a problem there's far worse than how one feels after using.
  14. missbishi

    missbishi Community Champion

    That's a great way of putting it! To me, it was like losing a friend and it wasn't until I was able to look back on things and realise that it was a mistake that I stopped missing it.
  15. Totalarmordestine

    Totalarmordestine Senior Contributor

    Although cocaine does not cause dangerous physical addiction, discontinuing regular use can lead to a wide varieties of (very) unpleasant withdrawal and craving symptoms. Apathy, depression, paranoia and suicidal ideation just to name a few.
  16. blastguardgear

    blastguardgear Senior Contributor

    Pretty much everything you can imagine, even psychosis. Coke is the second-most addictive major drug, only heroin is more addictive.
  17. Charli

    Charli Community Champion

    I've never heard from addicts but some of my friends are casual users and they don't really say anything about having withdrawal symptoms even if they go long periods without it. I'm sure for someone who has been using regularly for years and years it might be different and it's why it really is important not to give into temptation and go in too deep.
  18. tarverten

    tarverten Senior Contributor

    Anhedonia (innability to feel pleasure) anxiety, tiredness, soreness of the muscles, extreme hunger, depression, sore throat and nose andsleep disturbances. These are among the more common symptoms.