the cocaine fiending thread

[Jingleballicks]

[Originally there was a URL to an article: That link is no longer working. This is also a merged thread, so might not have perfect continuity - Dickon]


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

Reputation Comments on this post:

[Iggypoop]

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!

[Sk2005]

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).

[Nicaine]

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]

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.

[eniacoc]

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.

[slamball89]

SWIM has done cocaine about 4-5 times since August when he first indulged in cocaine. SWIM believes he has very good self control and before he started doing cocaine promised himself he will not buy it more than once a month, and not to use more than twice a month except for special occasions (birthdays, etc). After SWIM started using the drug, he promised himself never to do it by himself as he believes it is a waste of money and is much more enjoyable with other people. So far this has been extremely easy. SWIM has had bag of cocaine leftover from Halloween still in his room right now. He has done it twice from this bag since, and still has some left over and SWIM has no real urge to do more. SWIM also has little cravings to do more while coming down and comedowns generally seem to be not too bad at all.

SWIM hears people talk about cocaine "if it's around me, I'll do it" which seems to be common to some extent with most people. What I'm wondering is why exactly SWIM feels little to none of this effect. I can attribute it to a few possible reasons. One is that maybe SWIM has not used the drug extensively enough for his brain to realize he is about to crash and doesn't send signals of "you're about to feel like shit, do another line." But then again crashes and hangovers which normally seem a pain in the ass to most people, seem to effect SWIM much less.

If SWIM decided to binge over the weekend and then go back to his old habits of once a month or so, will the crash and desire to do more be irreversibly higher in later indulgences? SWIM has no desire to do so, merely a hypothetical question.

[Jessica_Raven]

SWIM is somewhat between, if it's around her she'll do it, but if it isnt she wont make TOO active an attempt to go find it, thus she'll go on binges for a few days, then wont do any for months at a time

Swim just finished off the second 8-ball in 2 days as this is written and she is feeling REALLY good

[crunchyblack]

Just wondering if anyone can relate to this fictional story. Swim has just purchased a small amount of yayo for experimentation. So Swim does a few lines Fri night and has good experiance. The next day was not feeling so good kinda run down and very grumpy. 2 More nights go on like this (come down and sleep was helped with .25 of Alprazolam worked great too ) and on the forth night Swim Started early so he could go to bed at a reasonable time. Swim just got finished with the last bit and spent the first 10 min of his buzz searching around for any lil small speck that was spilled . The sad part after the 3rd day Swim was bragging about how he could put it away and save some for another time, yet on the 4th day Swim was searching for specks like a crack head wishing he had another bump

[trptamene]

swim knows exactly what swiy means...it is a lot easier to put it away and not do it knowing that you could have it at anytime if you wanted; but when you are totally out, the realization of this makes swim search high and low making sure he got it all.

[Bajeda]

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.

[Bajeda]

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.

[Nicaine]

SWIM can't do much after a 24+ hour cola binge but sit in front of the weather channel and listen to bland music + soothing female announcer's voice... that's the extent of what he can handle, at least until he's able to sleep. It's sort of a feeling of emptiness, or more like nothing is the least bit enjoyable and just about everything grates on one's nerves to one extent or another. The feeling is generally gone when he wakes up, but there's an unpleasant hangover for a couple-three days sometimes.

SWIM currently has a problem of near zero sexual response unless high on stimulants... typically a longer term side effect for SWIM that could take a full month off stimulants to cure. Beyond that he doesn't really get cravings or other nasties in between.

[MrG]

SWIM and his wife had a regular "party" night every friday and saturday at home. Usually about a g between them each night mixed with *some* alcohol and mj for a serious 7+ hours sex session (plus 20mg Cialis to maintain wood without all the effort cos coke seriously messes with SWIMMERS mechanics!) leaving SWIM having to dab it on his johnson to stop it from feeling sore! (Helped SWIM's wife "kiss" it better too )

Anyhoo, after a period of about 8 months of doing this semi regularly (as long as they had the cash and the supply), SWIM found that when they finally went to bed around 4am he couldn't sleep whilst his wife would quickly start snoozing happily (what's *that* about?!). Whilst this initially wasn't a problem as SWIM was happy to just chill out for a few hours he eventually found that he couldn't chill anymore and used to lay there with waves of guilt and anxiety about their partying washing over him. He would end up convincing himself that he should lay off the coke for a while and just stick to chilling with mj instead.

Trouble is, as we've discussed, coke has a way of making SWIMMERS remember just how much *fun* they had and, at the end of a long week, SWIM and his wife would end up talking each other around to the idea of another party (even though SWIM's johnson hadn't fully recovered from the previous weekend!).

Well, a couple of months ago and yet another guilty pleasure indulged in, SWIM ended up having a little emotional breakdown with his wife because SWIM felt that he had pretty much reached the beginning of a serious addiction (SWIM has always been proud of having a non-addictive personality and has *never* partied for too long on one thing).

That was enough for him and he decided to lay off coke regularly and save it only for special occasions (Xmas, birthday's and the such). Now, cos he hasn't had to resort to saying that he will never do it again and is allowing himself the luxury of a *treat* every now and then, it doesn't become a big issue of denying himself anything and the associated cravings that come with the idea of not being allowed to have something (as they say - tell someone they can't ever have something and they usually want it more!)

SWIM hasn't had any coke for a couple of months now, even though where SWIM lives is currently awash with the fucking stuff cos the dealers are looking at the same penalities for coke as they do for mj and figure they are gonna make more money off coke for the same risk (stoopid fucking government).

SWIM is now looking into GHB for parties now, having read through all the crap he finds that it has been demonised for no good reason other than hysteria - no need for coke, alcohol or Cialis in this case!

Trouble with coke is that, apart from leaving you grumpy and short tempered following a party, it is a bit of a slow-burn addiction.

1. Occasional Use - No guilt following use as it was for a special occasion
2. More frequent use - Feeling a bit naughty but still able to have it in the house during the week without using
3. Habitual Use - Feeling guilty on the comedown but still justifying its use *every* weekend - None left to store for next week
4. Addiction - Serious alarm bells as scoring on a weekday meant using it that evening
5. Dependency - Unable to have a weekend without it

SWIM got to 4.5

SWIM still loves the weed tho

[humble]

from the literature ive read, cocaine is only MENTALLY addictive.

there should be no physical cravings.

[quili]

That is wrong. It's LARGELY mentally addictive, but also Very physically addictive when done too much. Probably if you haven't done it for too long- it just starts as a mental addiction. But then the person does it more, (because they are mentally addicted) and becomes physically addicted. Withdrawl symptoms aren't actually that bad though (sure they can be, but something like alcohol is typically a lot worse- from what swim has read)- and yeah, swim thinks in terms of withdrawl that the lasting addiction is the mental addiction. It makes sense that there is a physical addiction because you are messing with your dopamine receptors and your body adapts to that and then needs cocaine to feel happy/good/etc.

[Vestafire]

I am an addict trying to get off coke, and here is my mantra that may help some:
1. coke only lasts 15 minutes and the high is not worth the crash
2. It costs too much
3. It is mentally very harmful, as well as physically
4. Get ready to be miserable for 3 days during a crash
5. There are better things to do with you time