How to treat cocaine addiction at home: Using a 7-day detox course to get rid of your addiction without any final pain Get it now from Future Hospital Call now 00201029275503
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Cocaine withdrawal and detox
Cocaine is a powerful stimulant that can be inhaled, injected, or smoked. Once addiction begins, the drug is difficult to stop due to withdrawal symptoms.
Stopping cocaine use can cause withdrawal symptoms such as fatigue, sleep disturbances, and irritability. Cocaine withdrawal is one of the main reasons people find it difficult to quit drugs. People often report that cravings for cocaine are strong during the detox process. Cravings can quickly hijack the recovery process, leading to a relapse.
Many people who use cocaine can’t stop trying to do it on their own. The side effects and cravings caused by withdrawal are more uncomfortable than many people realize. With a physician-assisted detox and close supervision, patients can safely eliminate medications from their system and prepare their bodies and minds for the recovery process.
Article at a glance:
- Cocaine withdrawal symptoms are more severe after the last use of the drug.
Symptoms of cocaine withdrawal usually last a few days, but may extend to several weeks for heavy users.
A person’s level of use, the quality of cocaine used, other drug use, and general health affect withdrawal symptoms.
The body needs time to readjust to life without cocaine and adopting healthy lifestyle habits can help.
Recovery from cocaine supplementation includes medical detox, treatment, and aftercare.
Cocaine withdrawal symptoms and schedule
Symptoms of cocaine withdrawal are more severe immediately after the last use of the drug. After chronic or severe binge use, symptoms may begin as soon as a few hours after the last dose.
Withdrawal symptoms will begin after the initial symptoms of collapse appear. Withdrawal symptoms include both physical and psychological side effects.
Cocaine withdrawal usually lasts only a few days, but people who have used cocaine heavily may have symptoms for several weeks. Symptoms of cocaine withdrawal include:
Symptoms of a cocaine crash:
General feeling of exhaustion
Anxiety and insomnia
Cravings
depression
Dysphoria, or feelings of extreme unhappiness
exhaustion
Oversleeping, or sleeping for long periods
increased appetite
irritability
Common symptoms of withdrawal:
depression
feelings of anger
Insomnia and interrupted sleep
irritability
Cravings for cocaine
Fatigue and tiredness
shivering
Difficulty concentrating
vivid unpleasant dreams
Withdrawal schedule and factors
Various factors affect the schedule and severity of withdrawal symptoms. In general, most people follow a similar sequence.
- Week 1: During this time, the person experiences mood symptoms, cravings, irritability, difficulty sleeping, and cravings. Relapse is common during this stage due to the severity of symptoms.
Weeks 1-10: Symptoms subside by this time, but cravings persist. The person may still have problems with concentration and mood.
Week 10+: Symptoms completely dissipate after 10 weeks, but a person may experience intermittent cravings based on external cues.Each person’s symptoms of cocaine withdrawal will be different. The exact types of symptoms, and how severe they are, will depend on the environment (school, home, work, etc.), history of traumatic events, drug use or duration of cocaine use, peer pressure, and physical and mental health.The safest procedure for anyone working through the cocaine withdrawal process is to enlist the help of rehabilitation professionals and participate in a medical detox.
Treatments for withdrawal symptoms
The only foolproof way to treat cocaine withdrawal is time. The body must adapt to normal levels of neurotransmitters and their identical receptors. The adaptation process is what causes bothersome withdrawal symptoms, so it cannot be avoided.
To help with withdrawal symptoms, a person should take steps to recover and maintain a healthy lifestyle. It may not sound magical, but the first steps to recovery are simply developing healthy habits.
Some treatments for withdrawal symptoms:
Establish a regular sleep schedule and get at least eight hours of sleep every night
Eat healthy and do it on a regular schedule
Exercise regularly, at least a few times a week
Maintain a regular schedule and wake up at a set time each day
Start healthy habits like meditation, yoga and mindfulness
Our detox process
The recovery process is broken down into a few steps: medical detox, treatment and aftercare. Not everyone needs a medicinal detox, but it can be a critical step in treating moderate to severe cases of cocaine addiction. Those who are still using cocaine when they enter treatment will usually start with a medicinal detox.
Toxins are detoxed when the body metabolizes cocaine and removes it from the body. Because cocaine is rapidly metabolised, it leaves the body within approximately 8 hours, based on the drug’s half-life.
People often get rid of cocaine at home because it doesn’t take long. They can completely detoxify within a day or two, with some symptoms persisting over the next few weeks. In contrast, a medical detox is a supervised version of a detox where a medical team supervises the process. Medical detox includes support to relieve withdrawal symptoms as well as medical support.
Follow our detox process
Detoxing usually takes place in a hospital or inpatient rehabilitation center. People with life-threatening problems will detox in a hospital, while those who are medically stable will do so in a rehab facility.
During a medicinal detox, a person experiences some or many symptoms of cocaine withdrawal. Detoxing from cocaine is not long in coming but it can be uncomfortable for some people.
Those in detox can expect medical, nutritional, and addiction support. Treatment centers may take the opportunity to detect and treat infectious diseases. Detoxing is also an opportunity for clinicians to diagnose and treat chronic diseases, as this may be the first time someone with SUD has visited a doctor in years.
In medical detox, diets are designed and managed by the treatment team. The individual will have more time to focus on their recovery and will be better equipped to maintain a healthy diet once they leave.
After the medical detox is completed, patients will be screened for entry into substance use disorder treatment. Treatment plans may continue inpatient (at the facility) or outpatient (living at home and moving to the facility). Those willing for continuing care may be accepted into a program at this time.
What is cocaine?
Cocaine is a powerful stimulant used by people all over the world. People can quickly become addicted due to its effect on brain cells (neurons).
Cocaine works by increasing dopamine, a chemical that transmits messages between nerve cells. Dopamine usually helps reinforce and signal when a behavior is “good” or “good for survival.” Prolonged use of cocaine will lead to dependence, a condition in which the body needs the drug to function normally. If someone is a dependent, they will experience withdrawal symptoms if they stop taking cocaine.
Can you quit cocaine?
Due to its short half-life, cocaine is one of the few drugs a person can quit, but doing so alone may not be the safest option.
The half-life of cocaine is about 1.5 hours, so a full dose leaves the body in 7.5 hours. Therefore, there is no cocaine tapering strategy, either using the drug itself or an alternative substance. Cocaine is metabolized by the body too quickly to be necessary.
Therefore, the only way to detox from cocaine is to “cold turkey.” A person has the option of doing this on their own or with the help of a drug rehab facility.
Cocaine causes intense cravings during withdrawal, and this is one of the major barriers to long-term recovery for many people. A person who detoxes alone usually has more difficulty managing these cravings.
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A medical detox provides support for cravings and other withdrawal symptoms. Since the person will undergo a detox in a treatment facility, they will not have access to cocaine, enabling them to focus on recovery.
If you or a family member suffers from cocaine abuse, Future Hospital can help you. While detoxing at home is possible, it is not usually the safest option. Medical detox helps ensure that the process is safe and healthy. Inpatient and outpatient treatment programs can help provide the tools and life skills needed for long-term recovery. Call today to learn more about the continuum of care that can start your lifelong healing.
Medical Disclaimer: Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people with substance abuse or mental health disorders through fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options, and related outcomes. We publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals. The information we provide is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be used in place of the advice of your doctor or other qualified healthcare provider.
How is cocaine addiction treated?
In 2013, cocaine made up nearly 6 percent of all admissions to drug treatment programs. The majority of individuals (68 percent in 2013) who seek treatment for cocaine use crack smoke and are likely to be multiple drug users, meaning they use more than one substance. Those providing treatment for cocaine abuse should be aware that drug addiction is a complex disease that involves changes in the brain as well as a wide range of other social, familial, and environmental factors; Therefore, treatment of cocaine addiction must address this broad context as well as any other concurrent psychiatric disorders that require additional behavioral or pharmacological interventions.
Pharmacotherapeutics
Currently, there are no FDA-approved drugs to treat cocaine addiction, although researchers are exploring a variety of neurobiological targets. Previous research has focused primarily on dopamine, but scientists have also found that cocaine use causes changes in the brain linked to other neurotransmitters — including serotonin, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), norepinephrine and glutamate. Researchers are currently testing drugs that act on the dopamine D3 receptor, a subtype of dopamine receptors abundant in the emotion and reward centers of the brain. Other research is testing compounds (eg, N-acetylcysteine) that restore the balance between excitatory (glutamate) and inhibitory (GABA) neurotransmission, which is disrupted by long-term cocaine abuse. Animal research is also looking at drugs (eg, lorcaserin) that act on serotonin receptors.
Several drugs marketed for other diseases show promise in reducing cocaine use in controlled clinical trials. Of these, disulfiram, which is used to treat alcohol dependence, shows the best results. Scientists do not yet know exactly how disulfiram reduces cocaine use, although its effects may be related to its ability to inhibit an enzyme that converts dopamine into norepinephrine. However, disulfiram does not work for everyone. Pharmacogenetics studies reveal variants in the gene that encodes the DBH enzyme and appear to influence the efficacy of disulfiram in reducing cocaine use. Knowledge of a patient’s DBH genotype can help predict whether disulfiram will be an effective drug treatment for cocaine dependence in that person.
Follow the pharmacopoeia
Finally, researchers have developed and conducted early tests of a cocaine vaccine that could help reduce the risk of relapse. The vaccine stimulates the immune system to make cocaine-specific antibodies that bind to cocaine, preventing it from reaching the brain. In addition to demonstrating the vaccine’s safety, a clinical trial found that patients who achieved high levels of antibodies significantly reduced cocaine use. However, only 38 percent of the vaccinated people had adequate antibody levels for only two months.
Researchers are working to improve the cocaine vaccine by enhancing the binding strength of cocaine and its ability to elicit antibodies. New vaccine techniques, including gene transfer to enhance the specificity and level of antibodies produced or enhance cocaine metabolism, may also improve the efficacy of this treatment. A pharmacogenetics study with a small number of patients indicates that individuals with a particular genotype respond well to the cocaine vaccine—an interesting finding that requires further research.
In addition to addiction treatments, researchers are developing medical interventions to treat acute emergencies that result from a cocaine overdose. One approach being explored is the use of genetically modified human enzymes involved in cracking cocaine, which would counteract the behavioral and toxic effects of cocaine overdose. Currently, researchers are testing and purifying these enzymes in animal research, with the ultimate goal of moving to clinical trials.
behavioral interventions
Several behavioral treatments for cocaine addiction have proven effective in both residential and outpatient settings. In fact, behavioral therapies are often the only available and effective treatments for many drug problems, including stimulant addiction. However, the integration of behavioral and pharmacological treatments may ultimately prove to be the most effective approach.
One form of behavioral therapy that shows positive results in people with cocaine use disorders is contingency management (CM), also called motivational stimuli. Programs use a coupon or reward-based system that rewards patients who abstain from cocaine and other drugs. On the basis of drug-free urine tests, patients earn points or chips that can be exchanged for items that encourage healthy living, such as a gym membership, movie tickets, or dinner at a local restaurant. CM may be particularly useful for helping patients achieve initial cocaine abstinence and stay in treatment. This approach has recently been shown to be practical and effective in community-based treatment programmes.
Research indicates that CM benefits diverse groups of cocaine users. For example, studies show that cocaine-dependent pregnant women and women with young children who participated in a CM program as an adjunct to treatment for another substance use disorder were able to stay abstinent longer than those who received an equivalent amount of coupons without behavioral requirements. Patients participating in CM treatment for cocaine use who also experienced psychiatric symptoms, depression, emotional distress, and hostility, showed significant reductions in these problems, possibly related to reductions in cocaine use.
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Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective approach to preventing relapse. This approach helps patients develop critical skills that support long-term abstinence — including the ability to recognize and avoid situations in which they are most likely to use cocaine, and to deal more effectively with a range of problems associated with drug use. This remedy can also be used in conjunction with other treatments, thus maximizing the benefits of both.
Researchers recently developed a computerized form of CBT4CBT that patients use in a private room in a clinic. This interactive multimedia program closely follows the key lessons and skill development activities of IBT into a series of modules. The films provide examples and information that support the development of coping skills; Quizzes, games and homework reinforce lessons and provide opportunities to practice skills. Studies have shown that adding CBT4CBT to weekly counseling promoted abstinence and increased treatment success rates up to 6 months after treatment.
Therapeutic communities (TCs) – drug-free accommodations in which people recovering from substance use disorders help each other understand and change their behaviors – can be an effective treatment for people who use drugs, including cocaine. Primary contributors may request a stay of 6 to 12 months and may include on-site professional rehabilitation and other support services focused on the individual’s successful reintegration into society. Primary contributors can also provide support in other important areas – improving legal and employment outcomes and mental health.
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Regardless of the specific type of substance use disorder treatment, it is important that patients receive services that are tailored to all of their treatment needs. For example, an unemployed patient may benefit from vocational rehabilitation or professional counseling along with addiction treatment. Patients with marital problems may need couples counseling. Once inpatient treatment is over, ongoing support — also called aftercare — can help people avoid relapse. Research indicates that people who are committed to abstinence, engage in self-help behaviors, and believe they have the ability to abstain from cocaine use (self-efficacy) are more likely to abstain. Aftercare reinforces these traits and treats issues that may increase vulnerability to relapse, including depression and deteriorating self-efficacy.
Scientists have found promising results from telephone counseling as a low-cost way to deliver aftercare. For example, stimulant abusers who participated in seven sessions of telephone counseling showed a decrease in drug use during the first three months, while the use of those who did not receive calls increased. Coupon incentives can boost patients’ willingness to participate in aftercare over the phone, doubling the number of sessions received according to one study.
Community-based recovery groups — such as Cocaine Anonymous — that use a 12-step program can help maintain abstinence. Participants may benefit from a supportive fellowship and from sharing with those who have common problems and issues.