The Dangers of Cocaine and Alcohol Abuse, and How You Can Avoid Them

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Ingesting cocaine and alcohol together can be more dangerous than consuming the substance separately. Cocaine when injected, snorted, or smoked can result in a number of health conditions – from minor conditions, such as increased heart rate to more severe problems like kidney damage. Many addicts view alcohol as a great companion for cocaine and will oftentimes combine them to ease the unpleasant side effects of the drug or to “sober up.” However, despite any perceived or “real” benefits that addicts seek from combining the substances, the effects can be lethal.

Reasons Addicts Combine Cocaine and Alcohol

Although it’s a powerfully addictive stimulant by itself, it’s not unusual for cocaine to be combined with other substances. Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate (GHB), meth, and ecstasy are just a few of the terrifying substances that cocaine is commonly abused with. Rave concerts and similar social settings are common venues where a combination of these substances is abused. Complicating this issue further, suppliers at these events will sometimes combine cocaine with amphetamine to improve its euphoric effect and enhance the party atmosphere. Adding alcohol to the mix can be deadly. Regardless of this, people will combine cocaine and alcohol in order to:

• Achieve a great high
• Sober up faster
• Ease the unpleasant symptoms of coming down from a high.

Dangers of Consuming Cocaine and Alcohol Together

When taken alone, cocaine can affect one’s health drastically resulting in increased heartbeat, nausea, high blood pressure, tremors, and muscle twitches. If consumed along with alcohol the effects are intensified and they can exacerbate cardiovascular health creating issues, such as angina, endocarditis, myocarditis, and heart attacks.

As revealed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse  many people who abuse cocaine will simultaneously drink alcohol, putting themselves at risk of severe health consequences and overdose – a deadly effect that can cause heart attack, stroke, seizure, and even death.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adds that alcohol such as isopropyl and ethanol was involved in 15% of drug overdose deaths in 2014 due to its concurrent use with drugs such as cocaine by addicts.

Negative effects of consuming cocaine and Alcohol Together

Before we move on it’s important to understand that smoking, injecting or snorting cocaine alone is harmful in itself. That’s because it can result in:

• Irregular heart rhythms
• Ischemic chest pain
• Damage and inflammation of the heart muscles
• Heart infection such as endocarditis
• Bleeding in the wall of large body arteries
• Loss of life

Therefore, combining it with alcohol is like adding fuel to an already blazing fire. Here are a few issues that can arise from consuming cocaine and alcohol.

Short-term Side Effects

• Irritability
• Anxiety
• Dilated pupils.
• High body temperature
• Rapid heart rate and palpitation
• Migraines
• Abdominal pain
• Nausea and vomiting
• Loss of appetite
• Chest pain.

Long-term side effects

If cocaine and alcohol abuse continues for a long period, users can possibly suffer the following consequences:

• Inability to smell
• Frequent nosebleeds
• Constant runny nose
• Malnutrition
• Hallucinations
• Difficulty swallowing
• Hoarseness
• Stroke
• Seizures
• Confusion
• Coma
• HIV or hepatitis due to increasingly reckless sexual tendencies
• Stroke
• Seizure

Consuming cocaine and alcohol together can result in sudden death, whether it is used for a short-term or long-term period. Cocaine use is in itself dangerous and when mixed with alcohol, it is even more unpredictable.

Do Not Combine Cocaine With Other Stimulants

This does not only go for alcohol….

Cocaine when combines with a number of other drugs can lead to serious health issues. Mixing drugs together can cause far greater problems that will take an even greater toll on your body than if taken alone.

A mixture of cocaine and heroin or cocaine and ecstasy can be just as harmful as mixing it with alcohol and can amplify health problems.

BLVD Treatment Centers – The Safest Way To Protect Your Health

Cocaine and alcohol consumption will not only take a toll on your body it can also harm your loved ones. Therefore, it is important to seek professional assistance as early as possible. At the BLVD Treatment Centers we have years of experience in helping people regain their life from cocaine and alcohol and we pride ourselves in accepting those in need of help with open arms. Our recovery programs are flexible and designed to meet the needs of individual patients.

Like some competent rehab centers, we offer:

• Accurate physical and emotional evaluation: In doing so our treatment team is able to gather sufficient information to formulate effective treatment plans that are designed specifically for the patient. They will identify any root cause for the addiction, the severity and any emotional and physical conditions that may have developed as a result.
• Detoxification: This allows patients to better cope with withdrawal symptoms they may experience after cocaine and alcohol use is discontinued under the supervision of a trained medical practitioner.
• Residential rehab program: The primary aim of the residential program is to provide patients with medical and therapeutic assistance in a drug free environment. This allows them to focus on improving themselves and get away from external worries.
• Intensive outpatient rehab program (IOP): This form of treatment is usually not recommended to long-term addicts but can help people dealing with less severe forms of drug dependency to maintain their daily lives while receiving treatment. It’s a great option for qualified working individuals.

Are you or a loved one struggling with cocaine and alcohol abuse? If so contact BLVD Treatment Centers at 1-888-744-0789. We’ll work diligently to come up with the best treatment plan for you and you’ll find comfort in knowing that, with us, your mental and physical health comes first.

• Additional features of our facility include:
• 12-step, non-12 step, and LBGTQ rehabilitation treatment tracks
• Daytime and nighttime rehab programs
• One on one individual therapy sessions
• Group treatment therapy
• Treatment covered by PPO insurance
• Affordable private payment plans

Call or visit any one of our outpatient rehab centers located at:

• Hollywood
• Portland
• Orange County
• San Diego
• West Los Angeles

Sources

1. Leri, F., Bruneau, J. & Stewart, J. (2003). Understanding Polydrug Use: Review of Heroin and Cocaine Co-use.
2. Parsons, J. T., Grov, C. & Kelly, B.C. (2009). Club Drug Use and Dependence Among Young Adults Recruited Through Time-Space Sampling.
3. Overdose Death Rates. (2015, December 10). National Institute on Drug Abuse
4. Alcohol Poisoning Deaths. (2015, January 6). Centers of Disease Control and Prevention
5. Cocaine (2013). National Institute of Drug Abuse
6. Drugs Most Frequently Involved in Drug Overdose Deaths: United States, 2010-2014, (2016, December 20). Centers of Disease Control and Prevention