Cocaine Relapse

Recovery from cocaine addiction can be challenging for an individual because it is a highly addictive substance. Some people might even recover from addiction only to relapse again because they were not properly fortified with the necessary knowledge and coping skills to keep their addiction at bay.

With the help of counseling during addiction recovery, your journey to sobriety could be less complicated and easier because you have external help.

Here are some of the roles of counseling in cocaine addiction recovery

To understand the cause of your addiction

Sometimes, one of the reasons why people find it hard to break free from addiction is that they don’t understand how it develops.

When you know the fundamentals of addiction, it becomes easier for you to follow through with any instruction you are given which would make you sober in the long-run.

To develop coping skills

Counseling also helps you to develop the right coping skills to fight off triggers that might come up during your addiction treatment or after you become sober.

The primary essence of coping skills is to help you make the right decisions when you are at crossroads between making healthy and unhealthy decisions.

To recognize your triggers

Not everyone is great at recognizing what can trigger their addiction. For some people, it might be the places they go to.

While others may need to watch what they eat so that they won’t get addicted. When you undergo counseling, you will learn how to spot your triggers and make better-informed choices.

To live a healthy life

One of the reasons why some people get addicted to cocaine is because they don’t live healthily. Counseling sessions will teach you the importance of a nutritious diet, enough sleep, and other vital health choices.

If you know someone struggling with cocaine addiction, it is best to recommend counseling for them so that they can begin their journey to sobriety. Sometimes, counseling can be a game-changer when putting all the measures in place to fight off addiction.

Cocaine is a highly addictive stimulant that is sometimes used recreationally. When cocaine is used almost every time, it can cause physical dependence which leads to addiction in the long run.  

The implication of the long-term use is, when they stop taking cocaine, they will experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms that force them to resume their addictive habits.

This means that willpower is not enough to recover from cocaine addiction. Professional help is needed to keep cocaine addiction at bay.  

Here are some recovery tips that work for cocaine addiction

• Detoxification

Detoxification involves the removal of toxins in the body. This treatment method is important because cocaine is a substance and since the individual has taken lots of it, there will be toxins build-up in the body.

With detoxification, it would be easy to control the withdrawal symptoms that come with stopping cocaine usage.

• Counseling

Counseling is important in cocaine addiction because it helps you spot the root cause of your addiction. More so, for individuals who had fallouts with their families and friends because of their addiction, counseling helps to mend it.

Counseling also teaches the individual how to develop profound coping skills that help them keep addiction at bay.

• Residential treatment

People who undergo residential treatment for cocaine addiction have to live within the facility till they are sober. Hence, they will be away from work, family, and friends while they go through intensive treatment.

The duration of residential treatment varies, depending on the stage of the individual’s addiction.

• Outpatient treatment

Outpatient treatment is the opposite of residential treatment. A schedule is created for individuals who come in for this, and it is centered around their work or school. Hence, they come in during the day and receive treatment but they do not live within the facility.

When seeking cocaine addiction treatment, individuals need to realize that their addiction journey is unique and should not be compared to anyone.

In addition, a solid support system is needed for you to pull through the recovery phase successfully.

Cocaine is a psychostimulant that produces an intense effect on the brain. These effects produce feelings like motivation, pleasure, reward, etc.

Cocaine is a very addictive substance that makes people relapse because of the profound cravings and unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.

Cocaine relapse occurs when an individual who is either out of recovery or in recovery, goes back to their addictive habit.

Here’s how you can prevent cocaine relapse:

• Enroll in an addiction aftercare program

When some individuals are done with their addiction recovery program, they usually don’t see the need to attend aftercare sessions.

An aftercare program provides the individual with coping strategies to help them defeat triggers that can make them relapse.

For anyone who doesn’t want to return to their addictive habits, opting in for an aftercare program is beneficial.

• Spot the possible signs of a relapse

You need to be sensitive to the signs that could make you relapse after recovering from cocaine addiction. When you recognize these signs, it would be easy for you to either help yourself or seek help when you are faced with temptations to relapse.

• Identify your triggers

Before the completion of an addiction recovery program, you must have learned the possible unique triggers that can make you relapse. Hence, after addiction recovery, do well to avoid these triggers.

For instance, some individuals’ triggers might be the friends they keep. Hanging out with these friends might make them revisit their addiction especially if their friends are not sober individuals.

• Have a routine to prevent relapse

You need to check in with your therapist if your previous routine can make you revisit your addiction. It is important to create healthy routines that would reduce the prospects of a relapse.

• Practice self-care

Sometimes, people relapse when they don’t live healthily. After recovering from cocaine addiction, you need to take care of your physical health. Focus on stepping up your nutrition, undergoing physical exercise, having good sleep, and trying to reduce stress to the barest minimum.

There are a whole host of symptoms associated with taking Cocaine and they vary from physical, emotional and psychology problems.

During the long-term, the individual who is recovering from the struggle of cocaine might experience a decline in some of these symptoms.

Struggling from addiction is not a piece of cake, it is quite tough and there are tendencies for the individual to relapse. The reason for this is, the body and the brain have adapted themselves to the use of cocaine, so they will need ample time to come back to the default setting.

People who are struggling with cocaine need help because all by themselves, they cannot be helped. There is a need for professional help to step in when treating cocaine abuse and addiction.

Self-will is not enough, there is a need for external help. Cocaine use provides happy and positive feelings that addicts love and this is what keeps them hooked.

So, they would typically imagine how their lives would look like when they do not take cocaine again.

For people who need cocaine to perform difficult tasks, they feel they would not be able to perform these tasks again because of the absence of cocaine. Hence, it is safe to say that people who are struggling with addiction have taken it to be their “all-in-all.”

One tough challenge that would be met is, people who are struggling with addiction do not want to be helped. They do not like being told that they have a substance abuse or addiction problem.

So, they would rather wallow in their abuse and addiction privately so that no one gets to know about it. However, someone who is very observant would be able to tell if they are addicted or not.

For such individuals to live a better life, it is best for them to refrain from addiction. One easy way to achieve this is to implement healthy life practices and make choices that would help them live healthily.  

Cocaine is a white powdery substance that is commonly referred to as crack. It is a very addictive and powerful substance that people can easily get addicted to.

However, cocaine has been found out to have some therapeutic effects, acting as a pain relief and vasoconstrictor which comes in handy during medical procedures.

The method of cocaine abuse determines how the effect of cocaine would be dished out. People who inject their blood streams with cocaine will experience the rushed feelings of high within few seconds. But people who snort theirs or smoke it, will get the effect within some minutes.

Cocaine functions to step-up the dopamine release in the brain. This hormone is responsible for the production of happy and positive feelings.

So, the rushed increase of dopamine is what cocaine does. So, basically, when an individual uses cocaine, he or she gets rushed feelings of euphoria, boosts of energy and a happy mood.

Some people use cocaine with the intent of meeting up with a particular performance and eventually they become addicted in the process.

Cocaine has the tendency to prevent you from sleeping so some people use it when they want to study or remain alert at night. Similarly, some of them use cocaine when they want to achieve a stressful and strenuous task.

There are some dangerous side effects that are associated with using cocaine.

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Some of them are: Paranoia, Muscle tics, tremors, increase in blood pressure and temperature. Other functions include, inability to perform sexually and increase in the heart rate.

People have been found to die due to an overdose on cocaine. Others are known to suffer stroke, heart attack and respiratory problems.

There are also some long-term health consequences attached to using cocaine such as abdominal pain and extreme tiredness. The individual might also experience a notable loss in weight and nosebleeds.

People are advised to refrain from cocaine use because of the detrimental effect that it comes with. For those who are addicted, it is advisable to see your health care provider to help you out. 

The use of cocaine creates a variety of emotional, psychological and physical symptoms.  Over time, the recovering addict may experience a decrease or even cessation of these symptoms.  In the meantime, however, recovery may bring its own sufferings.  The body and brain have adapted to the presence of cocaine and will take time to return to more normal functioning.  Some of the symptoms that the recovering addict may experience are depression; chills; body aches; tremors or shaking; an inability to experience pleasure; anxiety; difficulty concentrating and bodily pain.  Most of these symptoms will begin to disappear after a week or so.

There are no medications available to ameliorate these symptoms.  If the recovering addict also suffers from anxiety, a doctor may prescribe a benzodiazepine.  These drugs are used to treat anxiety, but they can also help with the symptoms of recovery.  Benzodiazepines are not prescribed solely to treat the symptoms of recovery from cocaine addiction.  If there is any good news regarding the sufferings that accompany recovery from cocaine addiction, it is that the negative impact of cocaine on the body and mind is lessened the earlier the person enters into recovery.  In other words, the symptoms of recovery get worse the longer the person abuses the drug.  A person who has used cocaine for a year will suffer more than a person who used for only a week.  The sooner you enter into recovery, the better off you’ll be.

A former victim of addiction to cocaine will often experience symptoms that are the opposite of the experience of being high on cocaine.  If the cocaine addict felt like they had almost endless energy, they will now feel a lack of energy.  As the body and mind return to normal function, without the presence cocaine in the system, the person will have to adapt to a different experience of life.  What seemed normal while the person was using cocaine will now seem strange and even uncomfortable.

It may be difficult for the recovering addict to admit that they need help.  Recognizing that their life was out of control, they, may be embarrassed or ashamed of their previous behavior.  In addition, they may have harmed other people in various ways.  They may have stolen from others or neglected their children resulting in seriously damaged relationships.  Their families may be unwilling to trust them and their children may resent their poor treatment.  They may have to form new friendships if they formerly spent most of their time with other addicts.  Repentance and atonement, while they may be painful, are very necessary.

As difficult as these behavioral and emotional problems are, there will also be physical symptoms, such as blood-borne diseases and changes in heart rhythm.  When the addict is using crack cocaine, there will often be burns on the fingers or lips since it is smoked.  An observer may also notice white powder around the user’s nose from snorting the drug or needle tracks in the skin from using a syringe to inject cocaine in a liquid form.  Having a crack pipe is a clear sign of the use of crack cocaine.  The addict may disappear for a few moments so they can go somewhere and use the drug secretly.  Dilated pupils; runny nose and even nosebleeds will eventually develop in people who snort the drug.

Long-term use of cocaine may result in lasting damage to the body and/or the mind.  Watch for depression or for difficulty sleeping even though the person feels tired.  They may appear very unhappy with no real reason to feel that way.  Nasal perforation; increase in body temperature and gangrene in the lower intestine are also common symptoms of long-term cocaine use.  As the body and mind adapt to cocaine use, the victim of addiction will develop intense cravings for the drug.  Malnutrition, sexual dysfunction and muscle twitches are also common symptoms of long-term cocaine use.  Cocaine use is especially hard on the heart.  The victim of cocaine use usually develops a fast heart rate; increased heart rate; increased blood pressure; an enlarged heart or even cardiac arrest.  The longer cocaine use continues, the more intense the symptoms may become.

To an outsider, it may be very difficult to understand why a person would do this to themselves.  One important reason is that the drug produces strong cravings in the addict.  More generally, cocaine use has become the addict’s primary or only skill for managing their life.  It is how they cope with the difficulties, challenges and sufferings of life.  Therefore, the addict may be unable or fearful of living without this coping mechanism.  While most of us have a variety of skills for coping with life, the victim of cocaine addiction has only used one skill with any frequency:  getting high on cocaine.

If you are the addict and you are engaging in recovery from cocaine use, then you must work to learn and practice coping skills that do not involve the use of cocaine.  There will still be challenges and sufferings in your life, but you must learn new and better ways to manage those problems.

Family and friends sometimes suspect that a particular person is using cocaine but knowing for sure can be difficult.  While only a drug test will tell you for sure, there are some symptoms that indicate there is a drug addiction issue.  If you suspect a person may be abusing cocaine, you should watch for the emotional and physical symptoms discussed below.  Cocaine produces several problems for the person who uses it.  Among these problems are emotional symptoms.  The individual who is abusing cocaine may display increased energy; violence; erratic, risky, reckless or bizarre behaviors.  You may also notice that they steal or borrow money and are extremely talkative.  These are behaviors another person may notice.

The person who is abusing cocaine may feel anxiety; depression; superiority; euphoria; panic; and fearfulness.  Psychological symptoms, which may or may not be obvious to other people, include paranoia; hallucinations; lack of motivation and violent mood swings.  In severe situations, the victim of cocaine addiction may suffer from a break from reality.  Legal problem; unemployment and relationship problems are also frequent.  As the drug wears off, many of the symptoms will be reversed.  Increased energy alternates with extended sleep.

If you notice many of these symptoms in a friend or family member, it would be a good idea to address the issue with them.  Almost always, the victim of cocaine addiction will deny using the drug.  This is due in part to shame on the part of the addict.  Because cocaine addiction produces intense cravings, they will probably resist any effort to suggest that they have a problem that needs to be treated.  That is, they will deny that they are addicted to cocaine.  Be prepared for a very uncomfortable encounter when you suggest that somebody you love is addicted to cocaine.

The addict may often become angry with the person who, as they would describe it, accuses them of having a problem with cocaine.  This is an attempt to discourage somebody from challenging them about their problem.  Nobody wants to fight with somebody they love, so getting angry will keep the other person from intervening in their drug use.  In other words, the person who suggests that the addict is using cocaine is met with anger in the hope that they will just drop the issue.

It is important that you see this anger or denial for what it is.  The addict probably doesn’t want to face up to their problem.  It’s up to you to move past these negative responses for the good of your friend or relative.  If we love one another as Jesus calls us to do, then we must bear hardships when necessary to help them.

If there is somebody in your family or among your friends who displays symptoms of addiction to cocaine, you must now decide what you are going to do about it.  Often, the necessary first step is an intervention.  In the Gospel, Jesus instructs us that, if we see your brother engaged in sinful behavior, then you should speak to them alone.  If this doesn’t work, then bring somebody with you who also recognizes that the person has a problem.  If that doesn’t work, then bring the matter before the community.  While Jesus focuses here on challenging a sinner, these steps can also be applied to a victim of cocaine addiction.

First, speak to them personally and encourage them to enter into recovery.  If they won’t listen to you, bring along somebody else who also sees the problem.  If they won’t listen to the two of you, then gather together friends and members of their family and challenge them to enter into recovery.  This intervention may also need to involve consequence, informing the addict that they must change or they will lose the support of their family and friends.

When the addict agrees to enter into recovery, the next step will be determining how that recovery will progress.  Some form of inpatient treatment may be needed, such as in a hospital or treatment center.  It may be necessary for them to reside in the treatment center continually, or they may only need to spend part of each day there.  In even less severe cases, outpatient treatment in which the recovering addict attends a certain number of treatment sessions each week may be sufficient.  Individual or group therapy may be all that is needed.  In the case of individual therapy, common models are Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Interviewing.  Self-help groups such as Narcotics Anonymous or Smart Recovery are enough for some recovering addicts.  The help of a professional may be needed to determine how intense the treatment needs to be.

Once formal treatment is concluded, whether it involved inpatient treatment or outpatient treatment, ongoing maintenance is important.  Self-help groups generally encourage continued participation in an ongoing manner.  This ongoing treatment is important in helping the recovering addict to maintain their recovery for the rest of their life.  There may be a temptation to believe that you have beaten the problem, that you are ‘cured’.  Don’t give in to that kind of thinking.  Even if you no longer suffer from cravings, the problems that initially led to your decision to abuse cocaine may still be present.  You have used cocaine to cope with those problems once, you may run the risk of doing so again unless you remain vigilant.

A relapse can be said to be a setback after a period of progress where one reverts to a previous state. When speaking in terms of drug abuse and recovery, it is a return to the drug of choice after a period of living without that drug in an effort to rid oneself of the habit. The sad truth about relapse is that for many people they will go through cycles that involve relapse for the rest of their lives, but just as many manage to live without their drug of choice for good. It very much depends on the individual. Within one year about 1/4th or 25% of individuals will return to cocaine use on a weekly basis.

Medical professionals have stressed that relapse is not a binary state where you are either sober or not sober. Rather they describe relapse as a progressive decline in which the state of sobriety deteriorates giving way to the previous lifestyle and eroding the progress made bit by bit. The notion that it is binary contributes to further relapse by convincing the recovering addict that they have succumbed completely and totally to the addiction when this is in fact not the case. Recovery is not zero sum, all or nothing. It is a process.