Cocaine Withdrawal

alegory · Aug 3, 2011

I've already done quite a bit of research on this but I've run across some conflicting information and just wanted to check a few things.

My MC has been taking cocaine for a few years and is forced to stop when he moves in with his brother. He'll suffer withdrawal and I know this includes things such as depressive moods, anxiety, fatigue, slowed movement... etc, but some sources say that withdrawal doesn't involve physical symptoms like shaking and vomiting whilst others say it does. Can anyone clear this up for me?

Also, would the severity of the withdrawal be affected by how much he was taking? I envisaged him being a regular (most likely daily) but not a particularly heavy user (if that's possible)... And how long would it take for the withdrawal to set in? Any info appreciated.

Thanks.

Snick · Aug 3, 2011

Strictly speaking, there are no withdrawal symptoms when one stops taking cocaine, because it does not cause a physical addiction, only psychological habituation. Heavy users of cocaine sometimes abuse their bodies in other ways, no sleep, poor nutrition, etc., and those things can cause trouble when the person stops using cocaine.

alegory · Aug 3, 2011

Ah, I see. Thinking about it, I remember seeing something which suggested a similar thing in a less obvious way.

Thanks for your help

Snick · Aug 3, 2011

And, oddly enough, about twenty percent of people are not effected by cocaine.

Wayne K · Aug 3, 2011

I used to shake for days after stopping. I have a chemical imbalance so that may have caused it, but I looked worse when I crashed than when I was high. People react differently

alegory · Aug 3, 2011

Snick said:
And, oddly enough, about twenty percent of people are not effected by cocaine.

Hmm, interesting... I think this guy might need to be part of the other 80 percent for the sake of the plot but interesting to know all the same. Damn plot!

(I've got a horrible feeling this comes across as sarcastic but it's not meant to at all!)

Wayne K said:
I used to shake for days after stopping. I have a chemical imbalance so that may have caused it, but I looked worse when I crashed than when I was high. People react differently

Yeah, I guess that can be said for how people react to a lot of things...
Maybe that explains why it's a symptom that's mentioned in some places but not others. I suppose if it's possible for one person to react in that way then it's unlikely to be exclusive but perhaps not as common as other symptoms.
Thanks for the insight.

Snick · Aug 3, 2011

alegory said:
Hmm, interesting... I think this guy might need to be part of the other 80 percent for the sake of the plot but interesting to know all the same. Damn plot!

(I've got a horrible feeling this comes across as sarcastic but it's not meant to at all!)

There was nothing sarcastic seeming there, but you might want to use a character of the twenty percent as a contrast, if coke is a major part of tat character.

missesdash · Aug 3, 2011

Yeah there really is no withdrawal. This sounds odd, but after I stopped, and even still sometimes now, I'll be sitting around and suddenly "smell" cocaine. Like it's sitting in front of me or something.

So that could be an interesting quirk to add.
Also, that kind of use means he'd probably have a pretty thin if not perforated septum. And chronic sinus issues. (assuming he railed it)

alegory · Aug 4, 2011

Snick said:
There was nothing sarcastic seeming there, but you might want to use a character of the twenty percent as a contrast, if coke is a major part of tat character.

Oh good!
Yeah, I did think about that when you first mentioned it but as all but the first chapter will be concerned with his life 'after cocaine', I'm not sure how much room there will be for that sort of thing. Unless it's something he mentions to his brother when talking about his past... Hmm, I will have a think about that.

missesdash said:
Yeah there really is no withdrawal. This sounds odd, but after I stopped, and even still sometimes now, I'll be sitting around and suddenly "smell" cocaine. Like it's sitting in front of me or something.

So that could be an interesting quirk to add.
Also, that kind of use means he'd probably have a pretty thin if not perforated septum. And chronic sinus issues. (assuming he railed it)

Not odd at all- I read that in some other accounts too. And yeah, I'll definitely consider working that in somewhere. I don't think his past should just disappear and never affect him again so that'd be a good way of having it come back to him (as well as some other things connected to his childhood...).
Ah, yeah. I did wonder if that sort of usage would bring about those problems. I was hoping to avoid them so might have to rethink his usage or my plot a bit... Thanks for pointing it out.

ViolettaVane · Aug 8, 2011

People don't take cocaine on a consistent basis, or they would die. They go on binges and then crash and then repeat the cycle over and over again.

There are intense psychological withdrawal symptoms. Desire to do cocaine again, mainly. The person may feel sick with need, and try to satisfy the craving by other means (food, alcohol, coffee, cigarettes) but probably wouldn't be vomiting or shaking.

Cocaine withdrawal starts the second the cocaine wears off.

alegory · Aug 8, 2011

ViolettaVane said:
People don't take cocaine on a consistent basis, or they would die. They go on binges and then crash and then repeat the cycle over and over again.
Fair point. The period in which he takes cocaine happens prior to the story and I hadn't given it too much thought at present so thank you for bringing this too my attention.

There are intense psychological withdrawal symptoms. Desire to do cocaine again, mainly. The person may feel sick with need, and try to satisfy the craving by other means (food, alcohol, coffee, cigarettes) but probably wouldn't be vomiting or shaking.

Cocaine withdrawal starts the second the cocaine wears off.
Yeah, I don't think I'm going to go down the vomiting/ shaking route, even though some people report these symptoms. It seems it's not the typical response so I'll go with what's most likely to be recognised as cocaine withdrawal.

I had originally thought that if there were physcial symptoms (eg: shaking...) then the order of some of my chapters might be affected but, knowing this, I don't think I'm going to be restricted in the way I thought I might be.

Prior to moving in with his brother, my MC lived with some dealers (dealt a bit himself), and so had easy access to a number of different drugs. He's generally quite unhappy and has a tendency to want to 'escape' and so takes drugs. I'm still working out his relationship with drugs (as I'm sure is obvious) but I suspect he'll take whatever he can get hold of so is it more plausible that he could be quite consistent with his drug use but take different things (I'm not thinking that he's mixing them up)?

Long response finished! Thanks for your help

ViolettaVane · Aug 8, 2011

If you start doing one hard drug you often end up doing a lot of them, in combination, so I don't see how he would keep his drug use so neat.

I would suggest conducting research at this website: http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/psychoactives.shtml

It's got TONS of drug experiences.

This is another huge drug experience repository.
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/

alegory · Aug 8, 2011

Hmm, good point. More thought needed, me thinks... Or perhaps less thought... Maybe I'm over thinking/ planning all this...

And wow, such a lot of information! Thank you so much for those- I had looked at a couple of sites with similar experience pages but had seen nothing to that scale or detail. I'm sure they'll be really useful so thanks again

DrZoidberg · Aug 9, 2011

I had a crazy period when I did cocaine daily for three months straight. Coke and champagne. I stopped cold turkey and nothing. No physical or psychological withdrawal symptoms of any kind. It should be mentioned that cocaine isn't really my drug of choice. I only did it because it was free and readily available and I was young and wanted to be cool. I stopped because I got bored with the sensation. I didn't stop the champagne though. That's still one of my favourite drugs

Anyhoo... my story.

alegory · Aug 9, 2011

DrZoidberg said:
I had a crazy period when I did cocaine daily for three months straight. Coke and champagne. I stopped cold turkey and nothing. No physical or psychological withdrawal symptoms of any kind. It should be mentioned that cocaine isn't really my drug of choice. I only did it because it was free and readily available and I was young and wanted to be cool. I stopped because I got bored with the sensation.
I'd guess that might be considered quite heavy usage...? Interesting then that you had no withdrawal at all... Something to think about.

And your info on why you took it/ stopped is interesting too... Not so useful for my research for my MC but I might be able to bring something like that in for some more minor characters. I've not thought too much about portrayals of his dealer friends or customers but with information like this, there's the potential to flesh them out a bit.

I didn't stop the champagne though. That's still one of my favourite drugs
I'm sure many would agree with that

Anyhoo... my story.

Thanks for your help

DrZoidberg · Aug 29, 2011

alegory said:
Thanks for your help

Not necessarily heavy usage. It might vary from user to user, but in the circles I was in we took lines typically 0.1 grams or even 0.05, ie tiny amounts. Really strong coke though. Enough for a little buzz, but we weren't really "high". The heaviness on the use depended on how many times a night I'd top up. Often just once, but usually it was only two or three times a night. Coke has a fairly short half-life. A couple of hours and any sensation is completely gone. There's also the, lick your finger, put it in the bag/envelope and rub it on your teeth routine. We did that a lot. Maybe 0.001? Hardly enough to get noticeably buzzed by.

A good thing to keep in mind is that coke is always cut. There's a lot of talk about "this stuff being uncut" and so on. All bullshit. I had the misfortune to try some uncut coke once. I knew it was uncut because it came as a large crystal rock right out of a huge newly smuggled package. We had to smash it with a hammer. It was like getting hit in the face with a mallet. I just sat vibrating in cold sweats waiting for the world to stop spinning. Nothing enjoyable about it in any way. The dealer told me in advance I wouldn't like it, but I wanted to give it a go anyway for the experience. Clearly an honest businessman

Anyway... depending on what and how much it is cut it can vary tremendously on how it effects the user. One dealer told me that he cut it with an analgesic called phenazone. The only reason was that it tasted and smelled like cocaine. I forget how much he said he cut it. But it was quite a high percentage.

One time I took about half a gram before feeling remotely any buzz. It also tasted strongly of baking powder. It probably was... mostly.

But like I said. I only took it socially. At no time have I ever gone looking for some. I only took when it floated past my nose and it would have been considered rude to reject it. I was simply working in an industry, fashion, and a place, London, where where it was the norm to do a lot of coke. I stopped working there. That was also a major foctor in me not doing it any more. I had no real incentive not to do coke when it was around and freely available.

stray · Aug 29, 2011

Cocaine abusers don't seem to suffer from PAWS (post acute withdrawel syndrome) unless they are using other stuff besides coke which is highly likely. I know of no cocaine users that don't for example abuse alcohol also. Some use barbituates or heroin to come down. Paranoia and anxiety have been mentioned and I'd say these are the big two - hence the use of barbs and skag after a binge. You will expect your character to have a noticable change in personality and make decisions he wouldn't otherwise make once he gets clean if he stops coke and/or any other drugs. It is rare to find someone that just uses coke, normally its used alongside other drugs including alcohol and nicotine. Worth keeping this in mind.

Cocaine Withdrawal

alegory

Snick

alegory

Snick

Wayne K

alegory

Snick

missesdash

You can't sit with us!

alegory

ViolettaVane

I'm living in a silent film

alegory

ViolettaVane

I'm living in a silent film

alegory

DrZoidberg

aka TomOfSweden

alegory

DrZoidberg

aka TomOfSweden

stray