the cocaine fiending thread

Jingleballicks · #1 18-03-2005, 00:07

http://www.onlinemedicalforum.com/fo...php?act=Search &CODE=simpleresults&sid=b76ba2b5d377c94ea15ba04ebd 6d3b7c&hig hlite=cocaine

Cocaine craving clue identified

The research could help understand the addition process
Scientists say they now know more about what happens in the brains of former drug addicts when they crave cocaine.
Tests on rats by US National Institute on Drug Abuse researchers found a way of blocking craving messages in their brains and preventing a relapse.

Nature Neuroscience says the findings suggest the danger time is not straight after addicts stop taking the drug, but after they go long periods without it.

The study found a protein in the brain plays a part in triggering cravings.

Behaviour pattern

In their study, the team trained rats to press a lever to receive an intravenous injection of cocaine.

We have to be careful about drawing too direct a comparison with the nature of human addiction.

Martin Barnes, DrugScope

The rats were also trained to associate certain cues, such as a light, with the availability of the drug.

Once this behaviour pattern was established, the researchers withheld both cocaine and cues associated with the drug from the rats for a month.

When the rats were again exposed to the cues after 30 days of withdrawal, they showed much higher levels of craving than they did after just one day.

When the researchers examined the rats, they looked at the activation of a protein called extracellular-signal regulated kinase (ERK) in the amygdala, a part of the brain involved in motivation and emotion.

Cocaine-seeking

ERK is also known to play a role in learned fear, where someone can feel frightened even when they only see or hear something that they connect with the actual fear trigger, rather than the trigger itself.

This study found ERK activation in the amygdala was higher 30 days after withdrawal than one day after withdrawal.

The researchers also found that blocking ERK activation decreased cocaine-seeking behaviour in the rats, while activating ERK one day after withdrawal increased the rats' cocaine-seeking behaviour.

The researchers say they have identified a specific biochemical pathway in the amygdala which underlies latent cocaine cravings which, they add, gives an insight into the mechanisms of drug relapse.

Martin Barnes, chief executive of DrugScope, said: "This research is interesting, but we have to be careful about drawing too direct a comparison with the nature of human addiction.

"Making the obvious point, there is little correlation between the brain patterns and behaviour of mice and humans."

He said relapse was often linked to external social factors such as lack of housing and unemployment

Iggypoop · #2 18-03-2005, 01:21

I think, no i'm sure there are chemical reasons for behaviour patterns like cravings but at the same time if doing a drug makes you feel good you ARE going to want to do it again. It could be that people who are unhappy get so much more out of a substance than a happy person becauseif you were happy to begin with then the need wouldn't be so great, of course this is only my thoughts on phsycological addiction not the other type. As the man says above mice and rats brainsand perceptions are hella different from our own. Nice one for bringing this to our attention jingle!

If there are any recovering addicts out there i'd like to hear their thoughts as the only substance i'm really addicted to is nicotine!

Toria · #3 18-03-2005, 03:10

ONLY nicotine? nicotine has proven to be as or more addicting that coke and heroine! I quit two weeks ago

Sk2005 · #4 27-05-2006, 05:16

Swim posted here quite a while ago, during his heavy coke use. Now, following a diagnosis of PVC's (Premature Ventricular Contractions) at the age of 21 Swim decided enough is enough. Swim will never again touch the stuff (even if it was waved in his face) but he finds himself obsessing over it by doing constant research on its production, distribution patterns, effects, etc. Anyone else find it soothing to read about coke (and surf this forum) when they've given up the stuff (or don't have any connections)? Swim also notices "cocaine flashbacks" every once in a while. When he walked into a barber shop the other day he was hit by the EXACT smell of coke. It was so powerful he had to walk out for a second to recouperate! Swim wonders if some kind of barber shop substance was used to cut his stuff (he can't think of any).

Bladerunner · #5 30-05-2006, 20:44

Just following on from what was previously posted about cocaine obsession there's an article about a mum of twos' coke lifestyle. Can anyone relate or empathise with her....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4246225.stm

klaatu · #6 31-05-2006, 01:42

Oh purleease Bladerunner!

That article (apart from being almost 18 months old) is just such an obvious work of journalistic fiction - you can almost hear Bridget Jones herself - and is wholly in keeping with the furore in the UK media after Ian Blair's comments just after he got the top job at the Met.

Sorry, if I sound just ever-so-slightly cynical (of the article), but I am.

Klaatu

Bladerunner · #7 31-05-2006, 13:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by klaatu

Oh purleease Bladerunner!

Sorry, if I sound just ever-so-slightly cynical (of the article), but I am.

Klaatu

Well cynical is one way of describing that. Thought I'd just like to share that with others who weren't aware....

spektor · #8 11-07-2006, 08:51

Mr. Swim is in South America and has done cola for 2 nights in a 4 hour day binge about less then half a gram. And after Swim is high he kind of get sick of it and stops.

There is two gram in Swims self and swim want some now.
And im fighting it. Ill be back in the states next Saterday. Im feinding and im fighting ithell i hate this feeling. What for Swim to do? Swim is not doing much at all very small lines.

**Bajeda** · #9 15-07-2006, 08:46

Coke is an intensely addictive drug. Swim knows what you mean, he has been through binges similar to yours but longer and more intense. Afterwards it feels like there is a void in you. You crash.

Still, don't give in to temptation. Just relax and focus your mind on other things. The longer you keep doing it the harsher the come down. Thats what makes coke so nasty. Once you go so far that you progress from binging to addiction you are setting yourself up for some really terrible withdrawal. Just remember, if you can last out until the coke is out of your mind you will be fine. If you try to get a quick fix to help you are just hurting yourself.

Nicaine · #10 27-08-2006, 07:41

Here's the deal... SWIM went on a run for about 24 hrs, and had like 1/2g left. Way, way tired & burnt out but couldn't face the crash or the call of the vial

. So instead of stopping he just took bitsy bumps every once in awhile & kept a bit of the buzz goin' until it ran out (way too long really, but not much he was able to do about it). Anyone else ever do this? Seems like the best compromise between dropping off the cliff (while still having some left) and blowing out the rest & risking a doubly serious crash + maybe health probs. He used to have kratom to help ease down, but he quit that recently & really wants to stay off it.

SWIM is sick of this sh*t & plans never to touch it again (for the umteenth time, admittedly).

matti_2003 · #11 27-08-2006, 10:55

swim knows a few people that do this but after a session and swim is feeling a bit tired, he just wants to get the drugs out of his system and return to normal as soon as possible so prolonging it for him would be a no-no. Suppose it depends on how hard the crash comes though, everyone is different but Swim doesn't usually crash too hard on cocaine compaired to other substances.

charliegal · #12 27-08-2006, 13:36

Swim used to DREAD the crash... to the point where she would go for three days because by the end of the third day she'd just easily go to sleep and not have to deal with the whole ick of it all. Then swim discovered rock and there seems to be no crash like with powder. Prolly not a good thing.........

Nicaine · #13 28-08-2006, 06:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by charliegal

Swim used to DREAD the crash... to the point where she would go for three days because by the end of the third day she'd just easily go to sleep and not have to deal with the whole ick of it all. Then swim discovered rock and there seems to be no crash like with powder. Prolly not a good thing.........

Hmm, SWIM told me with rock it depends on the length of the run... the crash is more related to sleep deprivation. Unless you want to call cravings & scouting the floor for lost pieces a "crash" LOL.

samfromillinois · #14 30-08-2006, 04:49

So with rock do you get the stuffiness of the nose and nasal problems?

ponygirl · #15 30-08-2006, 11:23

SWIM has done that before...drawing things out. Mostly she doesn't though because she gets an awful awful stuffy nose and eventually...well...she says no more will go up there. SWIM usually just tapers off when she starts getting sleepy and takes a muscle relaxer to chill when she's nearly down and curls up and has a good nap with her friends.

eniacoc · #16 01-09-2006, 13:49

This happens when one is alone I guess.

In fact, always happens. Would also happen if SWIY was with someone else, but he noticed, and "almost" feels guilty because he has done it alone.

If SWIY really had something else important to do and snorting it made him feel ok, why not?

He had a small quantity and made it last for long even though each line apparently wasnt enough? Well, SWIY used his own personal drug called Placebo.

One that can control Placebo effect to go around such inevitable situations is in a better way than one that uses real pills to do it. We're all humans, and no one is super. This is life.

**Bajeda** · #17 25-10-2006, 02:24

Swim is gong to bring this to the front of the Coke Forum again, just because he stumbled across it at a good time.

He was looking for another thread, but in any case, seeing Bajeda's comments above helped him think a bit clearer... especially after going on an especially long binge.

Intense short binges dont seem to be too much of a problem for swim. The problem comes from when swim does similar amounts spread over a period of time. Doing small amounts consistently over a period of five days seems to be worse than doing large amounts over a period of two to swim.

In any case, swim REALLY can see the addictive potential of cocaine now after this last binge, and really empathises with anyone who is addicted to it.