The addictive nature of cocaine is no secret. This stimulant is illegal, but it’s still widely used recreationally in Indiana and the rest of the U.S. According to the most recent report from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 15% of adults in the United States have used the drug once or more over the course of their life.
Cocaine is extremely addictive
When cocaine is used regularly, it’s easy to become physically dependent on the substance. And if a regular cocaine user suddenly stops the habit after they have been hit with drug charges, withdrawal symptoms are likely.
Dealing with withdrawal is an essential part of recovery. No matter how long the symptoms last, it’s important to know that it’s only temporary. Cocaine withdrawal is sometimes intense, but as bad as you’re feeling now, it will get better.
Heavier usage may lead to longer withdrawal
The length of a cocaine user’s withdrawal period depends on a variety of factors. Your own body chemistry comes into play as well as the tolerance to the substance that you’ve built up. But the biggest determiners are how long you’ve been using, how often you used, all of the drugs you used and the method by which you consumed them.
At its mildest, cocaine withdrawal may be as short as a few hours. More likely, it will at least be a matter of days. In other cases, it takes weeks or months before the symptoms subside. This is called PAW, or post-acute withdrawal syndrome.
The crash that users experience after the effects of cocaine wear off comes from the happy chemicals in the brain being depleted. The substance tricks the brain into flooding those receptors all at once, and withdrawal is when the brain becomes confused because the substance isn’t there anymore.
Drug addiction changes a person’s brain chemistry, and it can take some time for the body to recover from that. However, making a full recovery is possible.