Cocaine Withdrawal
Some people have a hard time grasping the addictiveness of powder cocaine because when a user hits withdrawal, it's a little different than with other addictive drugs. Withdrawal from opiates such as heroin, oxycodone and hydrocodone are unmistakable. The recovering addict goes through severe muscle aches, spasm, diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting. Cocaine users ending chronic use or a binge will crash, experiencing strong cravings, fatigue, anxiety, agitation and an inability to feel pleasure. The former cocaine user will often be depressed and restless. This is the first phase of cocaine addiction recovery.
Because many see physical withdrawal symptoms as a defining characteristic for addiction, they may question cocaine's addictiveness. The addict himself may wonder why he can't quit using the drug, if it seems to be less addictive (by this measure) than opiates or alcohol. But an inability to quit using a drug despite marked damage being done to one's relationships, work, school, health, legal status or life in general is a distinct sign of addiction. Withdrawal from cocaine just has a different look and feel to it.
--> Getting the proper help with addiction
- Ref: NIH Article on Cocaine Addiction
The Only Way Out is Effective Cocaine Rehab
Despite the differences, cocaine withdrawal contains the same component that drives any addict back to drug use: cravings. A cocaine rehab program must provide a way to reduce or eliminate the severe cravings experienced by someone recovering from cocaine addiction. Pharmaceutical companies are hard at work to find a new drug to fill this role, but the discovery of such a drug would just perpetuate the need to take drugs. The Narconon drug and alcohol recovery program has been shown in thousands of cases to reduce cravings, enabling the recovering addict to stably establish a new drug-free life for himself or herself.
The entire long-term, residential Narconon drug recovery program attacks each point of the destruction created by cocaine use and replaces it with strength, health and a new energy for living drug-free. Many recovering cocaine addicts find that the nutritional support they receive as soon as they walk in the door begins to compensate for the unhealthy lifestyle of an addict and begins to correct the physical damage of drug abuse. Depression often begins to lift in the first few days in the program from nutritional help and the one-on-one counseling and gentle orientation exercises with Narconon staff. When a recovering addict can see a change from the right kind of support, he (or she) can begin to envision his success in becoming drug-free.
When the recovering addict is through the withdrawal phase of their recovery from cocaine, they can find further improvement from doing the Narconon New Life Detoxification Program. But this is nothing like detoxification programs you will find elsewhere. This one is an exact regimen of sauna time, moderate exercise and precisely controlled nutrition. These factors work synergistically to release cocaine (and any other) toxins from fat cells. As drugs are fat soluble, this is where they will lodge during drug use. Certain conditions can cause some of these residues to be released and this can be involved in the triggering of cravings. With the residues effectively eliminated, former cocaine addicts feel better, think more clearly and have a much greater shot at lasting sobriety.
Recovery Can be Complicated by Serious, Delayed Withdrawal Symptoms
Unlike other drugs, cocaine withdrawal symptoms can last for months. Recovery can be complicated by these lingering symptoms that include depression, severe cravings and even suicidal thoughts and attempts.
A recovering cocaine addict may try to treat these symptoms with alcohol, sedatives, hypnotics or benzodiazepines. But this coping mechanism simply substitutes one addictive substance for another. A cocaine addict may also try to find the same euphoria of earlier drug use to eliminate the cravings and depression.
- Ref: National Institute of Health Cocaine Rehab
When all the different facets of cocaine addiction are thoroughly addressed as is done in the Narconon drug treatment program, then the recovering addict does not have to hit these later phases of cocaine withdrawal. By the time a person trying to "go it alone" hits the lingering depression and possible suicidal thoughts of this later phase, a recovering addict in the Narconon drug rehabilitation program will be through the Narconon New Life Detoxification Program and onto his or her life skills training, preparing for a life of sobriety after addiction.
Some Untreated Cocaine Addicts Blow Entire Fortunes
A characteristic of cocaine addiction is that a person continues to chase the euphoria of cocaine use by consuming more and more as the body develops a tolerance. Entire fortunes can go and have gone down the drain as the drug simulates a high confidence that leads users to spend thousands on cars, gifts, prostitutes or other extravagances. From various news reports, it appears that Charlie Sheen may have spent as much as a half million dollars on call girls and cocaine over a short period. In 2009 in London, international banker Christen Schnor committed suicide after several months of cocaine use and prostitutes, running through many thousands of Euros in the process.
These disastrous effects do not have to happen if the person who wishes to recover from cocaine addiction finds the Narconon drug rehabilitation program. Instead of life destruction and the wastage of fortunes, a person can find lifelong sobriety and a productive enjoyable life.
Contact one of our Narconon cocaine treatment centers if you know someone who needs help with cocaine withdrawal.
