Alex Atwood's Blog: How Cocaine Stay in the System

Definition of Cocaine

Cocaine is a strong stimulant mostly used as a recreational drug. It is commonly snorted, inhaled as a smoke, or as a solution injected into a vein.

Historically speaking cocaine is being used as a topical anesthetic in eye and nasal surgery. Also as a result of improper use, one of the major disadvantages of the drug can cause vasoconstrictor activity. As well as a threat for a potential for cardiovascular toxicity. To control cravings of cocaine, Western medicine has long since replaced it with synthetic local anesthetics such as:

benzocaine
proparacaine
lidocaine
tetracaine

Apparently, it remains available for use if specified or prescribed by an authorized person. Doctors need the vasoconstriction properties of cocaine for medical procedures. They combine anesthetic with a vasoconstrictor such as phenylephrine or epinephrine.

For medical purposes topical cocaine, doctors use a local numbing agent to help with painful procedures in the mouth or nose.

Cocaine is a powerful nervous system stimulant. The duration of its effects can last from fifteen or thirty minutes to an hour. Its effects depend on the amount taken and the route of administration. Cocaine takes the form of a fine white powder which bitters to the taste. When inhaled or injected in a person body, it can cause a numbing effect on the body.

Cocaine also increases different sensations in the body, which may include:

alertness
feelings of well-being and euphoria
energy
motor activity
feelings of competence
increased sexual desires

It has stimulant effects that are similar to that of amphetamine. However, these effects tend to be much shorter lasting and more prominent.

Drug injection refers to the procedure turning the drug or the cocaine into a solution. This provides the highest blood levels of the drug in the shortest amount of time. Subjective effects not commonly shared with other methods of administration may include a ringing in the ears moments. This happens after injection of more than 120 milligrams and lasting 2 to 5 minutes including tinnitus and audio distortion.

This is colloquially referred to as a “bell ringer”. An average time to reach peak subjective effects takes about 3.1 minutes after taking the drug.

Cocaine contains properties that make it addictive intoxicant. It produces intense stimulating effects that can cause long-term damage to the body and brain.

Duration of Cocaine in our System

Cocaine is a very fast-acting central nervous system stimulant that produces an intense but short-lived euphoric high, lasting for only 15 minutes to an hour.

Usually, cocaine levels peak in the blood about 30 minutes after in gestation.

However, this depends largely on how it’s taken.

Intravenous use: Effects felt within 5 minutes.
Snorting: Effects felt within 30 minutes.
Smoking: Effects felt within 45 minutes.
Oral ingestion: Effects felt within 60 minutes.

Other factors may include the amount taken at once, body chemistry, and how long and heavily the individual uses it. Though it takes time for the levels of the drug to peak, the effects can be felt instantly with:

injection or snorting,
and immediately with smoking.

This initial high is often referred to as a rush.

This fades after a short period of time, resulting in an unpleasant crash. The cycle of high, crash, and then seeking more of the drug to counter the crash can easily lead to an increase tolerance and eventually addiction.

Cocaine’s half-life is nearly just as short at only an hour and not more than that. This means that it will take about an hour for half of the cocaine consumed to leave the body. However, heavy, long-term use will cause the drug to start to accumulate in body tissues, allowing certain tests to detect the drug in the system for an extended period of time.

What to test in order to obtain if someone has used or using cocaine?

Cocaine can also be detected in the blood and saliva for an average of 12-48 hours after last use. Unlike many other intoxicants, cocaine will stay in a person’s sweat for an extended period of time, up to several weeks. It can also be found in a user’s hair for years after an individual stops taking the drug. However, urine is the most preferred method of testing for most medical facilities and in any legal situations.

Anyone who regularly needs to be tested for cocaine is likely to have an addiction disorder.

After a single use of cocaine, metabolism creates agents of the drug which are detected in a person’s urine for 2-4 days. However, for some chronic users, or if it follows a heavy binge, cocaine can be detected in urine for up to 12 days.

The length that urine tests are effective also depends on the size of the dose and the purity of the substance. Extremely high doses can cause cocaine metabolites to be detectable for up to 3 weeks.

If you’re wondering how long after last using cocaine that a drug test will be able to detect the drug in the body, the answer to that will depend on:

How long you’ve been abusing cocaine.
Your average amount used each time.
The functionality of your liver.
The type of test used to detect cocaine in your system.

Cocaine and its breakdown products may be detected after last use of the drug in 1 of 5 different ways – each of which has varying detection duration times:

Urine = 2-3 days (or 2 weeks, for chronic cocaine users)
Blood = 12-48 hours
Saliva = 12-48 hours
Sweat = several weeks
Hair = a few months to years

In non-emergency situations, urine testing is often the most preferred testing method. It has a wider detection window than blood or saliva and also offers a non-invasive testing approach.

Blood testing is more commonly used in scenarios of some acute cocaine intoxication. Hair testing has the widest detection window but requires a more advanced detection technique, as there are many factors that can skew hair testing results.

The amount of time that you will continue to experience the immediate effects of cocaine on the body varies by the route of administration – in other words, how you used it:

Intravenous administration = 15-30 minutes.
Inhalation (Smoked) = 15-30 minutes.
Intranasal = 1 hour.
Gastrointestinal = 3 hours

Detox of South Florida is committed to providing educational articles to help those who are struggling with addiction, to make the change to living an addiction free life.

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