Cocaine, a potent and damaging stimulant, seriously influences your brain and body.
While it is often snorted, smoked, or injected, some people may wonder what happens if you eat cocaine.
Ingesting cocaine orally has different risks compared to other methods of use, ranging from slower drug absorption to life-threatening dangers like overdoses.
In this blog, we’ll dig deeper into the implications of eating cocaine, related dangers, and actions to take in a crisis.
Besides, we’ll discuss matters like how long cocaine stays in the body, alongside other pertinent issues.
Can You Eat Cocaine?
Eating cocaine is extremely harmful, presenting no “safer” route compared to other forms.
It entails ingesting the drug, typically combined with another substance or encased in a pill, leading it into your digestive system.
Such a way prolongs effect onset, fostering more risks as ingestion may increase without instant results.
Ingesting cocaine carries identical threats, encompassing addiction, excessive intake, and extreme harm to vital organs. It should never be viewed as a “safe” choice.
So What Happens If You Eat Cocaine?
When you eat cocaine, it travels through your digestive system, entering the bloodstream at a slower pace than when snorted or injected.
This slow absorption might encourage some people to increase their dosage, significantly upping the risk of negative outcomes.
Once in the system, the drug impacts the same brain chemicals as with other modes of use.
How Long Does Eating Cocaine Take to Hit?
The results of eating cocaine don’t surface as swiftly as with other methods.
Generally, it takes around 30 to 90 minutes to feel any impacts, since digestion needs to occur first.
This delay may lead some users to consume more, intensifying the potential risks.
How Long Do the Effects of Cocaine Last?
There is the high from eating it, and that lasts longer than when you snort it. What do the effects of cocaine last for? You might experience the peak effects for 1 to 2 hours, on average.
But other symptoms such as anxiety, restlessness, and disturbed sleep can last longer than this.
These are all due to factors such as how much was taken and your body’s metabolism.
Risks and Dangers of Eating Cocaine
Any form of cocaine use is risky, but eating cocaine is risky in a certain kind of way. Some notable health impacts include:
1. Severe Gastric Distress
Eating the substance directly troubles your digestive system.
Abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, and, in severe cases, gastrointestinal perforation or bleeding are reported by many users.
Because the drug interferes with blood flow from the stomach lining, these problems can arise.
2. Delayed Overdose Risks
Due to the delayed effects when swallowing cocaine, users will continue for longer, not realizing they are already consuming massive amounts. It raises the chances of overdose.
Common signs of cocaine overdose include:
- Seizures.
- Irregular breathing.
- High or low blood pressure.
- Chest pain or heart attack.
- Unconsciousness.
When you notice these signs, prompt medical aid is required. When there’s an overdose, swift medical action is vital to reduce the risk of death.
3. Cardiovascular Strain
Cocaine triggers an overdrive in your cardiovascular system. It quickens your heart rate and narrows your blood vessels, a process known as vasoconstriction.
This extra burden on your heart can cause heart attacks, strokes, or deadly arrhythmias.
4. Mental Health Issues
Cocaine can create turmoil in your mind, leading to anxiety, paranoia, or psychotic episodes.
Consistent use results in cocaine withdrawal symptoms. These may include depression, an overwhelming urge, irritability, and sleep issues.
How Long Cocaine Stays in Your System
Regardless of whether you’ve used cocaine or not, you might be questioning how long it lasts in the system.
Approximately an hour is the half-life of the drug, but the metabolite benzoylecgonine stays longer in your body.
- Urine test: Lasts 2–4 days after use, up to 2 weeks in heavy users.
- Blood test: It will be detectable for 48 hours.
- Hair test: Detectable for up to 90 days.
Depending on the frequency of use, dosage, and metabolism, cocaine stays in the body for differing amounts of time.
Which Neurotransmitters Does Cocaine Release?
Dopamine is the main known target of cocaine, an important neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of pleasure and gratification.
Cocaine aids in flooding your brain with dopamine, giving you a euphoric, intense ‘high.’
Like other intense experiences, this one has a cost. It rattles your nerves and harms your body.
Recognize and React to Cocaine Overdose
Know the clues of a cocaine overdose and how to prevent fatalities.
Call 911 if someone you know is having chest pains, a seizure, or hallucinations.
Recovery Is Possible
If you or a loved one are using cocaine it is important to tackle it proactively.
The fact is that addiction is already challenging, however, being treatable with structured intervention and therapy.
Long-term recovery from addiction requires an approach to the physical issue and the psychological dependence.
Why Choose Amazing Care Health Services LLC?
We have a specialization in addiction recovery at Amazing Care Health Services LLC.
Our therapy combined with medical care and ongoing support specific to our patients’ requirements is carried out compassionately.
We’re here to help whether you’re trying to curb cravings, overcome withdrawal, or battle-related health issues.
Next Steps
Call Amazing Care Health Services LLC today. Start your road to recovery and take your life back under control.
Learn more about our recovery and addiction services today, or visit our website.
FAQs
What are the symptoms of cocaine toxicity?
Cocaine toxicity means your body’s taken in too much cocaine, which can be really bad for you.
Signs of it may be a speeded up heart, high blood pressure, feeling wound up, chest discomfort, feeling sick, having seizures, seeing things that aren’t real, and hyperthermia.
It’s crucial to get help from doctors immediately to avoid bad outcomes.
How do you treat a cocaine overdose?
Doctors treat cocaine overdoses by making sure the body’s vital functions remain stable.
They take care of the overdose by stopping seizures, soothing agitation, making the body cooler, and dealing with heart issues.
Certain medications like Benzodiazepines and beta-blockers are often given to help with the signs of overdose, along with oxygen treatments and fluids delivered straight into the veins.
How do you treat cocaine hypertension?
When there’s high blood pressure caused by cocaine—what’s called cocaine-induced hypertension—it’s treated with drugs, like benzodiazepines that relax the nervous system.
Then vasodilators or alpha-blockers bring down high blood pressure safely. Beta-blockers usually aren’t used because they can make things like tightening blood vessels worse.
How long has cocaine been around?
Cocaine has been used for a long time. Thousands of years ago, people in South America started chewing coca leaves as an energizer.
Cocaine, in its cleaned form, turned up in the middle of the 19th century and was first used in medicine for numbing before people realized it was dangerous.
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