When cocaine enters the body, it affects the brain and central nervous system rapidly. The drug is most often snorted, smoked or injected, so it enters the bloodstream quickly. If you are a frequent or heavy user of cocaine, the buildup how long does cocaine stay in your system of metabolites in your system will significantly extend the period when the drug can be detected. Urine screens following a period of heavy use may test positive for up to two weeks.

Blood Test

For chronic users or those who use large amounts of cocaine, the drug may be detectable in urine tests for up to two weeks. Saliva testing isn’t as invasive as blood testing, but the detection window is short, as is true with blood. Saliva tests alcoholism treatment are typically only useful to identify cocaine use within a day or two. We are dedicated to transforming the despair of addiction into a purposeful life of confidence, self-respect and happiness. We want to give recovering addicts the tools to return to the outside world completely substance-free and successful. Cocaine’s main metabolite in urine is benzoylecgonine, followed by ecgonine methyl ester.

How Is Cocaine Metabolized in the Body?

• Cocaine dependence can cause drug withdrawal if you’ve gone a certain amount of time without taking more cocaine.
• Smoking and injecting it bypasses all that and gets it into your bloodstream almost instantly.
• Extensive epidemiological studies show that roughly half of a person’s risk for addiction to cocaine or other drugs is genetic (Goldstein, 2001; Nestler and Malenka, 2004).
• Often, cocaine users who have an extended cocaine crash will seek out more of the drug to relieve the negative feelings leftover from a cocaine crash.
• When consumed, cocaine quickly enters the bloodstream and is transported throughout the body, including the brain, where its effects are most pronounced.
• Cocaine produces dopamine buildup wherever the brain has dopamine transporters.

Cocaine is metabolized by enzymes in the blood and liver, and can itself be rapidly eliminated from the system. Cocaine can be detected in a person’s system through various types of drug tests. Preferred drug tests and screening types vary among different medical providers. An essential composite resulting from the breakdown of coke is benzoylecgonine. Even with a minimum amount of cocaine, it takes 4-5 days to eliminate benzoylecgonine. A single but large dose of coke leads to 10 days of detox from its metabolites.

Cocaine Overdose: Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment

Every 15 to 30 minutes, users of the drug may snort, smoke, or inject the substance in order to maintain a high. In addition, the short-acting nature of the drug means that many users combine the use of cocaine with the use of other illicit substances. Under the influence, a person can easily lose track of the amounts of each substance that they have in their system. That is, someone who snorts cocaine and drinks alcohol, or injects both heroin and cocaine, may find that the effects of both together are greater than the effects of each one on their own.

These factors should be taken into consideration when evaluating the reliability and accuracy of drug test results. Long-term cocaine use can have serious consequences for physical and mental health. Chronic use of the drug can lead to cardiovascular problems, such as high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes.

We aren’t going to cover the high you get from cocaine in much detail, other than to say that cocaine use can lower your inhibitions and make it harder to make decisions the way you normally would. That means that you’re a lot more likely to engage in risky behavior while taking cocaine, especially if you don’t have someone keeping an eye on you and making sure you’re okay while you’re taking =https://ecosoberhouse.com/ the drug. Even the unrefined version can be dangerous, depending on how you use it and whether you’re vulnerable to using other drugs when you use cocaine. Cocaine is one of those drugs that has a bad reputation for a reason, but sometimes that reputation can get in the way of the actual facts about the drug. At Agape Behavioral Center, we have a team of dedicated addiction specialists and trained professionals ready to support you or your loved one on the path to recovery. Over time, the natural dopamine production of the brain changes, leading to a dependency cycle where larger and more frequent doses are needed to get the same euphoric effects.