Can You Eat Cocaine?

However, when someone uses cocaine and goes through a period of a high, they must also come down, therefore, the well-known term comedown. Euphoria or any other symptoms associated with a high are, in a sense, paid for by the negative feelings that are experienced the next day.

Cocaine comes from the coca plant, typically found in South American countries. Some individuals in South America chewed the stimulating leaves to stay alert during long days of fieldwork. The purified chemical taken from coca leaves is cocaine hydrochloride, usually found in powder form. On the street, cocaine may be called coke, blow, powder, or white lady.

Eating cocaine is not common, nor is drinking cocaine in the traditional sense. However, it is not uncommon for users to rub the white powder form of cocaine along their gums, though they do not typically swallow it. This method of cocaine use is generally done when someone tests the cocaine product to see how pure it is. The more refined the cocaine, the more it will numb the gums.

Effects Of Eating Cocaine

Cocaine and erectile dysfunction. After prolonged use, cocaine can alter the nervous system, leading to permanent erectile dysfunction. Cocaine contains toxins that harm healthy cells. 

Cocaine and depression. Cocaine use can cause damage to mental health. Cocaine directly interferes with dopamine being reabsorbed by neurons. One of the symptoms of a crack cocaine comedown is severe depression. 

Cocaine perforated septum. A cocaine perforated septum or a “cocaine septum hole” is a condition that is commonly caused by sniffing or snorting cocaine through the nose. What does cocaine smell like?

Cocaine and the liver. Long-term cocaine use increases the risk of overdose, and an overdose of cocaine floods the body with toxins the liver cannot filter, resulting in liver damage. 

Cocaine and the gastrointestinal system. An individual abusing cocaine might experience stomach pain, reduced appetite, vomiting, nausea, and constipation, all resulting from reduced blood flow throughout the body. Cocaine abuse might cause ischemic colitis, inflammation, and injury of the large intestine resulting in serious digestive problems and even death. 

Even sporadic use can lead to health complications such as high blood pressure, hardened arteries, bowel gangrene, and loss of gray matter in the brain due to the expansion of the brain’s reward center. Because cocaine eliminates appetite, many who use cocaine are also malnourished.

History of Drinking and Eating Cocaine

Cocaine is a stimulant drug obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South America, Erythroxylum coca and Erythroxylum novogranatense. Leaves of the shrub Erythroxylum coca, the coca plant indigenous to Bolivia and Peru but cultivated also in Africa and Asia, have been chewed by individuals for centuries for their stimulant effects.

In 1860, cocaine, the alkaloid derivative of these leaves, was isolated and after 1884 used medically as the first effective local anesthetic. Physicians of no less stature than Sigmund Freud and William Hammond, one of the founders of modern neurology, advocated its merits for a time. It was available as an over-the counter remedy for hay fever, fatigue, melancholia, and ‘‘nerves.

’’ CocaCola, the popular soft drink, used it as an ingredient in the 1890’s, and Dr. Hammond promoted coca wine (a pint of wine laced with two grains of cocaine) which he drank with his meals. But the undesirous side effects associated with drinking cocaine-agitation, violence, and impaired judgment– led to its removal from Coca-Cola (1903) and to its classification as a prescription drug in the Harrison Act of 1914.

In a turn reminiscent of Dr. Hammond’s coca wine, current users frequently consume alcohol along with or prior to their cocaine use. Findings indicate that such concurrent use is common with 62-90% of cocaine abusers also being ethanol abusers. In addition, for cocaine abusers, the lifetime prevalence of alcoholism is about 60%. This figure is about twice that of heroin abusers and suggests some interactive effect may influence such a high rate of concurrent abuse.

What Happens If You Eat Cocaine?

When cocaine is used orally by rubbing it on the gums, it quickly hits the bloodstream. This results in an intensified high but also puts the person in more danger.

Flesh Eating Cocaine

According to the DEA, over 80 percent of cocaine in the US contains levamisole, a deworming drug used in veterinary livestock care. The drug has been cut into cocaine supplies for years and has been reported to cause a rotting effect on human flesh. The reports have included facial tissues on the nose, ears, and mouth withering, blackening, and sloughing off at times.

Drug cartels increasingly prefer levamisole, a veterinary antibiotic customarily used to deworm cattle, sheep, and pigs. It’s unclear why dealers don’t just use baking soda all the time, although studies in rats suggest that levamisole might tingle brain receptors as cocaine does. If that’s the case, adding it to the supply might be a way to enhance the effects of cocaine on the cheap.

Over the last decade, Levamisole has become a major cutting agent in cocaine supplies. Reports of flesh-eating cocaine have come in from several cities in the US, England, and Canada. While more than 5 million people in the US are regular cocaine users, these new and dangerous side effects of its use may prove to be adequate deterrents. The DEA has discovered within seized cocaine supplies that nearly every supply contained upwards of 10 percent of levamisole.

Possible Signs And Symptoms

• Skin infections
• Swollen glands
• Lesions and sores/abscesses
• Fever, chills, and weakness
• Thrush on the mouth and tongue (noticeable white spots)

Cocaine Addiction Treatment

First and foremost, if you think a loved one is abusing cocaine, you should research the substances and their associated addiction to understand better what your loved one needs.  Next, you must plan an intervention to provide your loved ones with options to battle the effects of cocaine addiction in a safe and supportive environment. During this intervention, offer compassion and support instead of judgment. Lastly, show your support throughout the entire treatment process.

In addition, prolonged drug use can have severe physical and psychological effects on you, so it is essential to seek treatment as soon as possible. Inpatient drug rehab offers intensive care that can help you promptly get through the early stages of cocaine withdrawal. 

Cocaine Detox

Medical detox is often considered the first stage of treatment. It will help you navigate the complicated cocaine detox withdrawal but doesn’t address patterns of thought and behavior contributing to drug use. Various treatment approaches and settings can help provide the ongoing support necessary to maintain long-term sobriety after you complete the cocaine detox.

Cravings are very common during drug detox and can be challenging to overcome. This often leads to relapse. Constant medical care provided during inpatient treatment helps prevent relapse. Clinicians can give medication and medical expertise to lessen cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

Inpatient Cocaine Addiction Rehab

There isn’t one treatment approach or style that will suit everyone. Treatment should speak to the needs of the individual. Inpatient rehab and addiction treatment aren’t just about drug use. the goal is to help the patient stop using cocaine and other substances, but drug rehab should also focus on the whole person’s needs.

Addiction is a complex but treatable disease that affects brain function and behavior. When someone or their family is considering different treatment facilities, they should account for the complexity of addiction and the needs of the individual. The objective of attending an inpatient rehab center for addiction treatment is to stop using the drug and re-learn how to live a productive life without it.

Following a full medical detox, most people benefit from inpatient rehab. Inpatient drug rehab can last anywhere from 28 days to several months. Patients stay overnight in the rehab facility and participate in intensive treatment programs and therapy. Once someone completes rehab, their addiction treatment team will create an aftercare plan, which may include continuing therapy and participation in a 12-step program like Narcotics Anonymous.

Psychotherapy 

Many rehab programs will also have early morning classes or programs. Group sessions occur during inpatient rehab, as do individual therapy sessions. Family therapy may be part of inpatient rehab when it’s feasible. Alternative forms of therapy may be introduced during inpatient rehab, like a holistic therapy program, yoga for addiction recovery, or an addiction treatment massage therapy.

Several different modalities of psychotherapy have been used in the treatment of mental health disorders along with addiction, including:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – is an effective treatment that involves changing both the patterns of negative thoughts and the behavioral routines which are affecting the daily life of the depressed person for various forms of depression.
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy – is a comprehensive mental health and substance abuse treatment program whose ultimate goal is to aid patients in their efforts to build a life worth living. The main goal of DBT is to help a person develop what is referred to as a “clear mind.” 
• Solution-focused therapy is an approach interested in solutions that can be quickly implemented with a simple first step leading to further positive consequences.

Dual Diagnosis Treatment

Drug abuse and mental health disorders often co-occur. Traumatic experiences can often result in mental health disorders and substance abuse. Dual-diagnosis rehabilitation treats both of these issues together. The best approach for the treatment of dual diagnosis is an integrated system. This strategy treats both the substance abuse problem and the mental disorder simultaneously. Regardless of which diagnosis (mental health or substance abuse problem) came first, long-term recovery will depend mainly on the treatment for both diseases done by the same team or provider.