How Long Does Cocaine Addiction Treatment Recovery Take?

How Long Does Cocaine Addiction Treatment Recovery Take?

Cocaine use has taken a serious toll on the health of Americans. In 2018, a national survey found that almost 1 million Americans meet the criteria for cocaine use disorder. Since that time, cocaine use has been on the rise–wreaking havoc in American communities and increasing deaths by overdose.

If you or a loved one is thinking about getting treatment for cocaine use disorder (CUD), determining what kind of treatments you need and how long they will take are primary concerns.

If you have spent time on addiction forums, you may have seen phrases like “inpatient”, “detox” or “residential inpatient treatment” being thrown around and wondered how these terms fit into addiction recovery. Today we will be discussing the timeline for cocaine addiction, recovery as well as providing you with useful information about addiction treatment programs for cocaine abuse and addiction.

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Cocaine addiction treatment

Addiction treatment for people with cocaine use disorder and other drug addictions is designed to address the needs of individuals as they continue their journey on the path towards recovery. People who first enter addiction treatment, might attend a drug detox program or go straight to an inpatient or an intensive outpatient program depending on what best fits their overall needs.

After the intensive phase of addiction treatment ends, addiction recovery for cocaine use continues. Many people find that a weekly outpatient program, joining a 12-step program, or attending some other weekly addiction counseling group helps to keep sobriety in perspective.

Cocaine Detox

Before the bulk of treatment can begin, it is important for the body to readjust to being without the drug. In medical detox, a person is evaluated to determine their physical and psychological condition. This helps to determine any potential complications to detox treatment early on.

In medical detox, trained staff are available 24/7 to consistently monitor the patient’s condition, keep them hydrated, nourished, and comfortable as the body experiences a range of cocaine withdrawal symptoms.

Cocaine detox, despite being less physically intense than other abused substances, has some caveats.

  • There are currently no FDA-approved medications used for cocaine withdrawal.
  • Cocaine users often abuse other substances like alcohol or marijuana, sometimes in the same setting.
  • Initial withdrawal symptoms appear in the form of a crash whereby a person experiences extreme exhaustion.
  • Acute (or severe) withdrawal symptoms for cocaine users typically last 5-7 days.
  • People who abuse drugs commonly also have mental health conditions. These co-occurring disorders can cause additional discomfort and increase the likelihood of relapse as a post-treatment outcome.
  • Once these more severe symptoms have subsided, the individual experiences less severe post-acute withdrawals symptoms or PAWS.

Inpatient Rehabilitation for Cocaine Addiction

At a residential inpatient treatment center, patients live in a 24/7 medically managed facility usually for 1-3 months. While in treatment clients have access to:

  • Individually tailored treatment plans
  • A safe relapse-free environment
  • Set treatment end dates
  • Medication management services
  • Group and individual counseling (including 12-step and other alternative counseling programs)
  • Evidence-based therapies have been shown to improve recovery outcomes
  • Recreational and Holistic therapies (such as art therapy, yoga, and meditation)
  • Access to recreational areas (gyms, pools, and tennis courts)

After completing an inpatient cocaine detox program, patients are encouraged to step down to either a partial hospitalization or intensive outpatient program.

Sometimes if a person has financial constraints or does not need an intensive program, they may opt for a regular outpatient program. These programs can provide greater flexibility and a lower weekly commitment.

How Long Does Cocaine Recovery Take?

In the early stages of addiction treatment, programs have set start and end dates. Because of this, people tend to associate the end of recovery with the end of their rehabilitation program. This, however, is not the case.

Life can present challenges that put people at low points. When things are going well, sobriety is easier to manage. When it isn’t, self-doubt can find its way in. This by no means suggests that sobriety is unattainable, but rather that recovery takes a lifetime of commitment.

Rather than seeing recovery as the endpoint of addiction treatment and relapse as a failure to change or succeed, we are instead encouraged to view recovery as a life-long journey and commitment to avoid the self-sabotaging behavior of drug abuse.

Get Help Today with Overcoming Cocaine Addiction

If you or a loved one are looking for an addiction rehab or detox program for substances All American Detox Center is here for you. Call addiction helpline number. We are an accredited addiction recovery center serving Los Angeles County, California.

Cocaine Addiction Statistics: How Dangerous Is It?

Cocaine Statistics: How Dangerous Is It?

Classed as a schedule II drug by the government, that alone should paint a stark picture of just how hazardous cocaine is. For those not well versed in drug scheduling, II is defined as, “drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse, with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence. These drugs are also considered dangerous”. Cocaine Addiction

While there are medical uses for it, one being as a topical anesthetic, when used as recreational drug cocaine leads to disastrous effects.

It’s a powerfully addictive stimulant that works by flooding the brain with dopamine and providing a fleetingly brief euphoric high. The fact that it lasts a short time leads people to use it again to achieve hit those same levels of dopamine eventually leading to building up a tolerance which can quickly turn into an addiction.

If you’re struggling with cocaine addiction or know someone who is, reach out to us at All American Detox, and let’s get you the help you need.

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History of Cocaine

Oddly enough, cocaine has technically been in use for millennia. The indigenous people of South America have been ingesting and chewing on coca leaves, Erythroxylon coca being the source of cocaine, for thousands of years because of their stimulant effects.

It’s essentially one of the oldest known natural stimulants and it wasn’t until the mid-19th century that a German chemist, Albert Nieman, isolated cocaine from those coca leaves.

Famed neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, thought cocaine to be a miracle drug and published a paper on it called “Über Coca”. What he was less aware of at the time were the addictive properties of the drug and thus ended up with addiction.

In that same era, in 1886, a drink invented by John Pemberton was just hitting the soda fountains and eventually the stores. A cocaine-infused beverage known as Coca-Cola with the cocaine itself was removed in 1903.

The 1914 Harrison Narcotics Tax Act heavily regulated cocaine and opiate products and things remained relatively quiet until the explosion of cocaine/crack cocaine in the ’70s and ’80s. From that high watermark, usage has declined quite a bit.

Cocaine Use Statistics in America

While usage is down, it’s by no means under control or at an acceptable level.

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2014, about 913,000 Americans met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for dependence or abuse of cocaine (in any form) during the past 12 months.

Additionally, over 1 in 3 drug misuse or abuse-related emergency department visits involved cocaine.

A 2018 study showed that by far the highest use prevalence for the drug is among those in the 18 to 25 year old demographic with 5.8% saying they’ve used in the past year.

Disconcertingly, 2.2% of high school seniors say they’ve used cocaine in the last year, and with roughly 3.7 million high school seniors in America, that works out to about 81,400 that have used cocaine.

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How to Get Help with A Cocaine Addiction

Getting help with cocaine addiction is easier now than ever before and will hopefully get even easier as the stigma associated with addiction fades.

All treatment programs start with detox (for the most part), treating the mind and the mental aspects of addiction can’t be done in any robust way until the drug, aka toxin, is out of your body completely. From there you’d either enter an inpatient treatment program where a team of licensed professionals would develop an evidence-based program tailored to your needs.

Inpatient care focuses on counseling and group therapy to help you work through what led you to addiction and also to lay the groundwork for a life of sobriety. To equip you with the tools you need to overcome cravings and distractions and stick with recovery long term.

 After that, you’d be on your way to outpatient care, a stripped-back version of inpatient care that doesn’t require a long stay, and then transitioning back to your day-to-day by way of aftercare or a sober living home. Whichever suits you best.