Many people who have never done drugs do not know what it feels like to do them, which is why many people do not understand addiction. So, here is what cocaine feels like to a person…
Acute Effects of Cocaine Use:
The half life of cocaine is 1hour. Cocaine has binding for the dopamine reuptake transporters that mainly effect the mesolimbic dopamine pathway in the brain.
After someone snorts a line of cocaine they feel a powerful burst of energy (or rush), a general sense of well-being, the sympathetic nervous system is activated. Sometimes it can cause an immediate panic attack and irregular heart beats, making someone feel like they are overdosing. Generally cocaine users who sniff that first line of cocaine will feel a numbness in the back of their throat and a dripping sensation, the kind of sensation you would get if you used a nasal inhaler to clear you sinuses.
The primary feeling, which last for only about 30 minutes after the first line of cocaine, is a feeling of excitement. The person becomes excited about everything. Excited to talk to people, excited about future possibilities, excited about life. The problem is that as soon as the peak is reached, it is all downhill from there. The excitement will dissipate. As soon as the person feels it dissipate the craving for another line will begin and they will snort another line of cocaine. This will happen over and over again at shorter and shorter intervals as the night goes on. The cocaine user will do this until he or she finally runs out of cocaine and then the real pain starts.
There is an equal and opposite reaction for everything in life. It’s just physics. The same happens with the brain. The brain will rebound after the incredible high experienced from cocaine and people will experience an equally incredible low. These highs and lows experienced from the affects of cocaine initiate the addictive response.
