Effects, Tolerance and Addiction

When cocaine enters the body, it moves rapidly from the bloodstream to the central nervous system where it affects the various reward/pleasure centers of your brain– including an important pleasure chemical, dopamine. Dopamine and these parts of your brain aid with thought organization, concentration, fine motor control, sex drive and energy. Cocaine initially increases all these functions.

Eventually though, as cocaine use increases, the brain’s natural receptor sites reduce or lose their ability to produce dopamine and other chemicals. This can cause feelings of depression or a “crash”. These sites are not permanently damaged and will begin functioning again after you stop using cocaine, although it may take awhile depending on how long you used for. Your body responds to cocaine use in other ways such as increased heart rate, blood pressure and breathing. Cocaine also increases alertness, stamina and feelings of euphoria while reducing fatigue, a desire to sleep and hunger. This allows some people to work, dance or take care of business with little to no sleep.

Also, the more you use cocaine, the greater your tolerance will be. Tolerance means your body needs an increasing amount of cocaine in order to get high. Regular, heavy use of cocaine can result in anxiety, depression, nausea, agitation, insomnia, weight loss, loss of sex drive and compulsive behavior. Some users may become psychologically dependent on the effects of the drug and form a habit.