Coke Addiction

http://www.urban75.com/Drugs/helpline.html

hi jackie
this link from stickies on the is forum might answer some of your concerns

tigress

Thanks Tigress- I will check out the link. I can only hope that there is help for him somehow as i feel quite helpless towards the situation. I think the most important step for him to take is to admit that he has a problem.
Thanks again for your help
Jackie
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Coke=cocaine?
Then your friend needs URGENT HELP as cocaine is the quickest of all drugs
to form addiction to, faster than heroine.
People certainly need professional help, usually in clinic.
Long-term effects are dangerous [especially for liver as cocaine is
substantially toxic] and addiction usually hard to cure, especially if one
stays in the same surrounding/curcumstances.
Consider it as bad as heroine case.

Hi Jackie,

Research into the physical dependency of cocaine use is still ongoing, but there's undoubtedly a strong psychological dependency.

My advice would be to search out your local Drug & Alcohol service. Counselling and education for your step brother would certainly be helpful, if only to help him see the adverse affect his drug use is having on his private life. Sometimes talking to someone outside of the family is the best way forward.

Regular cocaine users can be "jumpy" They can find it difficult to sleep, become depressed, irritable, suffer mood swings, become increasingly paranoid and suffer weight loss. There's also the obvious damage done to the nasal passages. Long term users can also develop muscle "twitches".

You could see if there's a project such as Addaction in your area ?? www.addaction.org.uk

Hope this helps

meridianmoon xx

cocaine

Hi,
i work in a stimulat service in London, send me a PM and I wiill find a service in your area.

Hi jackie,
The replies here seem to be from those that are involved in this arena in a professional capcity and clearly know this area very well.

I was just posting as an ordinary person and the opinions I've formed from 'people watching' over the last 30 years, and I know some people that are well into their 6th decade that are still taking coke or heroin and are even considered upright pillers of society. 😮

So from what I’ve seen (in few words and only my observation) coke and heroin addiction are easier to kick physically than alcohol, however the psychological hold they have can be very very strong.
Too much coke over long periods of time can destroy certain receptors in the brain that release natural ‘happy chemicals’ – so eventually it becomes almost impossible to ‘feel good’ naturally.
But I also do believe that coke (like many drugs) can be taken occasionally now and again and still prove to be far less harmful than alcohol.
But it's really all about the individual's constitution (and I mean mental too).

So my advice would be not to get too hyped about it but talk to him normally and see if he also thinks it's a problem, coz if he does... then you can deffo get it sorted.

Good luck and love to them kiddies x

(i pasted this form an earlier post of mine today)

Hiya,
I've been living with addiction for many years. Culminating in a pretty severe Cocaine one.

Through the want for help, i became a qualified yoga teacher, and also a Reiki teacher. I'm pretty familiar with lots of energy therapies, including Quantum Touch, And EFT.

For some time, Reiki was what really seemed to change things. I was of drugs for years. Over the last couple of years, the cocaine use resumed. It is only now, within the last few months, that the tide really has turned.

Reiki, and indeed other energy therapies/spirituality continue to play a huge part, i must though mention what has been very effective of late.

To understand addiction, to find it's weakness, i had to study it. To understand why i want that line of coke, what was driving me to do something that i didn't even enjoy, even when i was on it.

when a person uses coke, the coke makes the brain produce far more dopamine than usual. As well, it severely inhibits the brain re-absorbing it. The result of which is far more dopamine swimming around the brain as usual (this gives the high). Many more neurons are made to try to cope with this abundance.

The level of dopamine is directly related to the level of serotonin. When we put our dopamine 'factory' into over-drive, we actually weaken it's capability to make dopamine. This impacts on our ability to make serotonin also. So, we feel sad after our binge. Our sub-conscious then tells us to go seek the thing it knows will make us happy (by making a lot of dopamine), i.e. coke. This is called 'craving'. Thing is, after a certain amount of use, our capacity for making dopamine, even with coke, is almost non-existent. Hence we never get the same high. The mind/body doesn't understand this, so will continue to crave coke, and trick us into getting it.

There is good news though! Amino acids are very effective in reducing the cravings of coke. L-tyrosine will help sort out our dopamine, and also gives a little 'kick' that may slightly substitute for a coke buzz. 5-HTP will sort out or serotnin. n-acetyl cysteine (NAC), is an amino acid that has been shown in lab experiements to reduce cravings for coke. vitamin b6 helps absorb some of these amino acids.

The above things are available at all godd health shops, such as Holland & Barrat. And, they really do work. I'm fortunate, i am sorting out my chemical imbalance in my brain over coke, and i have other things like Reiki, etc. For others, i'd suggest that reliance on amino acids on their own isn't recccomened. Thought they aure as heck are fanatastic!

Wayne