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Cocaine Addiction Treatment

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a woman listens in a cocaine addiction treatment programAccording to The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), cocaine is among the top five drug-related emergency department visits in 2021. Cocaine is a stimulant drug that is highly addictive. It can raise blood pressure, body temperature, and heart rate to dangerous levels, potentially causing strokes and cardiac arrest.

Michael’s House offers various substance abuse treatment programs, including a cocaine addiction treatment program in Palm Springs. A cocaine addiction treatment program can help people to stop abusing cocaine and return to a healthy and productive life. Treatment usually starts with detoxification, followed by counseling and therapy to address the underlying issues that led to cocaine abuse. Call 760.548.4032 to connect with a cocaine rehab center in Palm Springs. 

What Is Cocaine?

Cocaine comes from the coca plant, which is currently illegal in all forms in the United States. Cocaine is abused as a white powder by snorting, smoking, or dissolving and injecting it. However, it can also be abused as a rock form called “crack,” which is generally smoked, although sometimes inserted into bodily orifices. 

Short-Term Effects of Cocaine Use

Cocaine is quick to take effect, making users feel high. The drug increases energy levels and suppresses appetite and the need to sleep by flooding the brain with “happy cells” or dopamine. It also wears off quickly, resulting in a crash that includes sleeping for prolonged amounts of time, depression, and feeling low. Users may seek to avoid this crash and continue to take the drug or take it in binge patterns wherein more and more drugs are taken at a time and in higher doses. 

Cocaine Addiction Treatment

Regular abuse of cocaine changes the average circulation and production of dopamine in the brain, making it harder and harder to feel pleasure without the drug. Chronic cocaine abuse may quickly lead to addiction. Cocaine addiction treatment may include the following:

  • Detox services
  • Medical interventions
  • Behavioral therapies
  • Support groups
  • Educational opportunities
  • Nutrition and health planning
  • Relapse prevention programs
  • Family counseling
  • Dual diagnosis treatment and mental health services

Rehab may be either outpatient or residential, depending on the level of care desired, and both forms of treatment can be effective. Treatment for cocaine addiction may have several different components, and a comprehensive rehab program provides various successful tools for a long-lasting recovery. 

Sides Effects of Cocaine Abuse

Cocaine abuse can disrupt sleep patterns and eating habits and wreak havoc on the body, leading to an unhealthy physical state. When an addict stops taking drugs, withdrawal symptoms may start as early as a few hours after the last dose. The sudden removal of cocaine from the bloodstream may lead to physical symptoms, such as abdominal cramps, muscle aches, nausea and vomiting, extreme fatigue, lethargy, and intense drug cravings.

Due to its stimulant nature, cocaine withdrawal may include even more heightened emotional side effects, like agitation, anxiety, outbursts of anger, aggression or violence, severe depression, lack of motivation, inability to feel pleasure or emotional numbness, and paranoia. While stimulant drug withdrawal is rarely life-threatening, drug cravings and the emotional side effects may be intense, leading to suicidal thoughts or actions. 

Medical Detox and Cocaine Rehab

Cocaine rehab may begin with a drug detox program that can provide around-the-clock medical supervision and monitoring to ensure the addict’s safety. Currently, no specific medications are approved to treat cocaine dependency and addiction. However, medical detox programs may use pharmaceuticals to help manage specific symptoms. For example, beta blockers like propranolol may be effective for reducing restlessness and anxiety, lowering the intensity of drug cravings, and helping achieve sobriety early on in recovery.

Cocaine is often abused with other addictive substances, a practice known as polysubstance abuse. This practice can complicate detox as other substances may have different withdrawal side effects and require different treatments or medications to help manage the symptoms. A detailed evaluation and drug screening should be done upon entering a cocaine rehab or detox program.

After the detox process, rehab programs can move on to addressing the underlying or root cause of addiction and substance abuse to prevent future relapse. Research is ongoing on medications to help relapse prevention during aftercare for cocaine addiction. Several GABAergic pharmaceuticals—such as topiramate, tiagabine, and baclofen—may be effective at reducing cocaine cravings or blocking the effects of cocaine if it is reintroduced to the body. 

Cocaine Addiction Treatment Programs Maintain Overall Health

Behavioral therapies are central in residential and outpatient cocaine rehab programs. Outpatient programs offer more flexible scheduling and may work best for someone with a supportive and involved network of family and friends committed to the recovery plan. With a more comprehensive approach, residential treatment programs provide 24/7 access to medical and mental health professionals within a structured and controlled environment. 

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy sessions for both programs will likely include both group settings and individual sessions. Therapy provides educational opportunities and teaches new and healthy ways to manage drug cravings and the potential life stressors that may trigger those cravings.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) examines the relationship between thoughts, behaviors, and actions—and then addresses ways to modify them in a positive manner. Another technique often used during cocaine rehab is motivational interviewing (MI) or contingency management, which offers vouchers and prizes for clean urine samples or drug tests. Lack of motivation can be a side effect of cocaine addiction and withdrawal, and MI can motivate someone to remain abstinent. 

Dual Diagnosis

Mental health disorders and substance use disorders commonly co-occur. Mental health is evaluated during cocaine rehab, and any mental health disorders that co-occur with addiction are then identified and treated accordingly. Dual diagnosis treatment plans may include structured sleep schedules, diet plans, and exercise programs to address nutrition and overall physical well-being, promote recovery, and prevent relapse. Feeling better physically also enhances emotional health and elevates self-esteem levels. 

Sober Living Communities

Family counseling and 12-Step groups can aid patients in building a healthy support network to help maintain sobriety long-term. Sober living communities serve as an in-between step from a more in-depth cocaine rehab program and returning home. In sober living homes, groups of people struggling with addiction must remain sober, submit to random drug tests, and live together in a home for some time while attending meetings and therapy sessions. Many will return to work during this time as preparations are made to transition back into everyday life. 

Get Real Help Today

Michael’s House has a cocaine rehab center in Palm Springs dedicated to healing the whole person. Contact an admissions coordinator at 760.548.4032 today for more information on the cocaine addiction treatment program in Palm Springs and other substance abuse treatment programs Michael’s House offers. 

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