Learn The Effects and Risks When Mixing Cocaine and Xanax
Mixing Xanax and cocaine is tremendously dangerous – it’s just that simple. If you are facing a Xanax and cocaine addiction in your life, reaching out for professional help as soon as possible is critical to move away from this substance use disorder and toward a life with a brighter future.
Abusing either Xanax or cocaine individually would be an issue that warrants professional treatment. When you combine the two, however, treatment programs become even more important. This habit poses significant health risks and a tragic outcome is entirely possible unless a change is made.
At Ingrained Recovery, we work hard to provide customized drug addiction treatment to every individual who comes to our facility. Whether you are using two drugs at the same time such as Xanax and cocaine – which is known as polysubstance abuse – or just a single drug, we are here for you. Call today to talk to our friendly team and learn more about the next steps.
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The Fundamentals of Xanax and Cocaine
To make sure we are on the same page, let’s start by defining these two types of drugs.
Xanax is actually a brand name for the drug alprazolam. This is a benzodiazepine that is legally prescribed to patients who need help with anxiety and panic disorders. When used properly, it can be an effective tool in the battle against those conditions. Unfortunately, it can also be abused, and can lead to trouble as it is a central nervous system depressant.
Cocaine, on the other hand, is a powerful stimulant. When cocaine is used, it acts to rapidly increase the level of activity taking place in the central nervous system. This happens because the levels of dopamine in the brain are increased significantly while cocaine is present.
A feeling of euphoria, along with an ample supply of energy, comes along with cocaine use for most people.
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What Happens When You Mix Xanax and Cocaine?
You may already be able to see what is so dangerous about mixing these two drugs. Since they have opposing effects, one will effectively mask the other. That means that your central nervous system won’t really know what’s going on and it won’t be able to regulate itself like it normally would.
Mixing Xanax and cocaine is playing a dangerous game with your body and you can’t really be sure how that game is going to end.
What we do know, however, is that there are some common and dangerous consequences that are likely to be experienced when using both drugs at the same time. Explore the list of serious health risks below to see how troublesome this situation can be.
Irregular Heart Rhythms
While the Xanax you are taking is depressing the activity of your heart, the cocaine is stimulating it. This is a terrible position to put your heart in, as it won’t necessarily know what to do. This can lead to cardiac arrhythmias and heart attacks. Combining cocaine with anything has the potential for danger, but it’s particularly bad to pair it with something like Xanax.
Severe Respiratory Depression
Xanax abuse is likely to slow your breathing dramatically. Normally, you would notice that slowed breathing as a result of misusing this prescription medication. However, if you are also on cocaine, you might not realize anything is wrong.
So, you may continue to use more than one drug, and your breathing may continue to slow. Soon enough, it’s possible that you will stop breathing altogether as a result of this substance abuse.
Increased Risk of Overdose
This is another risk that stems from the fact that the drugs tend to cover up for one another. Cocaine use and Xanax addiction individually are dangerous but not as bad as when you use more than one substance at the same time and put yourself in a position to potentially overdose on the combination.
These two substances mask the effects of the other, so you could end up taking more than you would have otherwise. And, when you dramatically increase the amount of drugs you consume, an overdose is always possible.
Seizures
When people seek the euphoric effects of cocaine, they sometimes end up having a seizure. The Xanax isn’t necessary for seizure risk, but it can enhance it by a potentially toxic interaction with the cocaine. This is why mixing substances of all kinds is so dangerous – you never really know what is going to happen.
Unpredictable Behavior
There is also the risk of unpredictable behavior when you are under the influence of two substances that are each so powerful. Yes, Xanax is commonly prescribed, but that doesn’t mean it can’t lead to surprising and unsettling behaviors when mixed with a drug like cocaine.
Panic attacks are possible while using multiple substances like these. You may also experience heightened anxiety or other negative feelings. Taking cocaine can have some of these same effects on its own, but you might wind up with higher doses while also using Xanax.
Why People Mix Xanax and Cocaine
There are many possible reasons for people to start using this dangerous drug combination. For example, if someone is already using cocaine and they are uncomfortable with the anxiety disorders or paranoia that it causes, they could turn to Xanax for a calming effect.
Also, Xanax slows how quickly users come down from a cocaine high, so they might opt for it as a way to avoid the jarring drop that cocaine sometimes provides after the high has worn off.
It’s also common for people who are looking to self-medicate to wind up with this combination of drugs. These people are looking for the psychological effects of the drugs and get more out of them together than apart. Of course, this is a high risk activity and anyone in this situation would be better off to seek professional help right away.
Short-Term and Long-Term Effects
All drug use comes with some type of effect on the human body. Sometimes, those effects are short in duration, while other impacts can last for a lifetime. In the case of blending Xanax and cocaine, the reality is a little bit of both.
Short-term effects will include cognitive impairment, confusion, and aggression or dramatic mood swings. Of course, there is also the rapid heartbeat and risk of cardiac arrest that typically comes with cocaine addiction. Both substances also induce withdrawal symptoms for those who have become dependent, with withdrawals from Xanax being life-threatening with our medical detox support.
Over the long term, things don’t look much better. People using this combination of drugs can have chronic anxiety, do damage to their kidneys and liver, and face heart disease. Cognitive decline is also common, with memory loss being a big issue that takes away from quality of life later on.
Any way you look at it, working toward long term sobriety is important to get away from this long list of bad outcomes.
How Our Treatment Programs at Ingrained Can Help
All hope is not lost for the individual who is mixing Xanax and cocaine to achieve a specific type of high. Starting the recovery process as soon as possible is a wise step and could be the change that is needed to finally turn life in a new direction.
The recovery journey isn’t typically something that happens alone. Rather, it is a team effort, and that team will come in the form of the staff at a qualified treatment facility. Going through the steps below can lead to significant improvement and hopefully lasting results.
Medical Detox
This is where it all starts. You can’t really get into the other meaningful parts of therapy while you still have a cocaine Xanax blend in your system. So, the drugs must go, and that’s what medically assisted detox is for. You’ll be monitored by a healthcare professional while detoxing off of these drugs. If any health complications arise along the way, you will be able to receive prompt treatment.
Developing dependence takes time and so it will also take some time to allow your body to do the work of getting rid of the multiple substances before the next steps can commence.
Behavioral Therapy
You will likely move from detox right into behavioral therapy. This is the part of the treatment process where you get to explore the underlying issues that led to addiction in the first place. Why did you turn to Xanax and cocaine and risk the overdose symptoms along the way?
There had to be something in life that led you to this point, and behavioral therapy is an effective tool for getting at that issue and then helping you to make progress on it.
Group Therapy
It’s hard to say enough good things about the value of support groups. They are simply a tremendous way to work through the addiction treatment and recovery process. Talking to others who have faced similar problems and are also working to leave addiction behind is inspiring and motivating. You can make a lot of new friends in group therapy and you’ll learn plenty from those who have come before you.
Family Counseling
Substance abuse takes a toll on families. It’s not just the addicted individual who is harmed, but also all of the people that love them. So, family counseling can be a great way to get things back on track once again. These sessions will help to repair relationships and rebuild the family unit into the strong support system that it should be.
Relapse Prevention
Finally, there will need to be ongoing treatment to minimize the risk of a relapse down the road. Addiction is never really in the past, whether it is drug abuse, alcohol addiction, or anything else. Having the tools and strategies to keep relapse at bay can make all the difference in the world.
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Break the Patterns and Get Effective Help Today
Mixing cocaine with any other substances is extremely risky. In fact, a cocaine addiction alone is already risky, even if no other drugs are used. If you find yourself with a Xanax and cocaine abuse problem and no clear path forward, Ingrained Recovery is here to help.
Give us a call today to talk to an admissions coordinator. That member of our team will gather more information about the situation you are facing in life. We have a team of treatment and medical professionals who want nothing more than to see each client succeed in their addiction battle over the long run. Make the call today and let’s get started as soon as possible.