Cocaine acts as a stimulant to the brain as it mimics the actions that the brain produces. It also transmits pleasure signals to the brain’s reward centre. The effects produced are not unlike those produced by adrenaline. These effects being increased blood pressure, breathing rate and heart rate. If the stimulation reaches a level that is too high, there can be other feelings produced such as paranoia, panic, hallucinations and rage. There can even be potentially fatal stokes and seizures.
There are various forms of cocaine addiction treatments and these are based on numerous factors such as how long the symptoms have been present and the severity. Also, the recovery rate and the amount of damage done.
The most common symptoms which can be found are fearfulness, depression, loss of energy, irritability, drug cravings, hyperventilation, sweating, palpitations, nausea, shaking, increased appetite, and a needing to sleep or difficulty in sleeping. It is not uncommon to find these symptoms present for several weeks and they don’t always cease once the user has stopped taking cocaine.
Although medical research is being undertaken and non-stop, medication to treat drugs is not presently available, Selegiline is the treatment considered to provide the most promise but has thus far failed to secure an appropriate method of administration. Disulfiram, used to treat alcoholism has also showed signs of promise during trials. There are other methods of treatment which are being developed as we speak with the sole aim of handling cocaine abuse.
Nurses, physicians and counsellors are usually found to be caring and considerate when dealing with addicts. There is recognition that the treatment is the common purpose and their actions are generally aligned to achieving that aim. The programmes themselves are designed to observe and record the level of addiction and deliver a programme based on that discovery. This then offers real hope to the treatment of cocaine addiction.
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