Does Cocaine Make Your Stomach Hurt?

How Cocaine Affects Your Digestive System and Body

Many people know cocaine’s effects on the brain, but its impact on your body, including various health consequences, is less understood. You may be unaware how this drug can cause abdominal pain and also damage your digestive system.

Cocaine use can start as a seemingly fun and controllable experience, but it’s highly addictive. As users build tolerance, they may feel like everything’s fine until their body starts sending warning signs. One often-overlooked consequence is the impact on the digestive system. So, does cocaine make your stomach hurt?

The short answer is, yes. Cocaine abuse can lead to severe abdominal pain and other stomach issues and this blog will break down all the details.

If you’re struggling with cocaine use and experiencing stomach problems, expert help is available. Icarus Behavioral Health Nevada specializes in addiction treatment to help you break the cycle and prevent further complications.

Read on to learn why cocaine can cause stomach pain and what to do when this happens.

How Cocaine Affects the Digestive System?

As mentioned earlier, cocaine use affects both your mind and body. A School of Graduate Medical Education study states that cocaine abuse can wreak havoc on your gastrointestinal system.

If you ingest cocaine by mouth, you’re likely to experience its effects on the digestive system. Even though pure cocaine doesn’t immediately affect your gut health, its frequent abuse can result in severe bowel decay.

It can cause diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and/or abdominal pain. Cocaine users may experience these symptoms as early as one hour after use. These symptoms can last up to 48 hours after using the drug.

Sometimes, cocaine use can lead to severe consequences that require immediate medical attention. These complications include:

• Reduced blood flow to the intestines (ischemic colitis)
• Internal bleeding in the abdomen (intraperitoneal hemorrhage)
• Hole in the intestines (bowel perforation)
• Dead intestinal tissue (gangrene of the bowels)

In some cases, these complications can be life-threatening.

How Does Cocaine Cause Stomach Pain?

Cocaine ingestion as a whole has the potential to irritate the stomach lining, causing inflammation that results in discomfort. It also alters your digestive system function, causing nausea and vomiting, which also increases your stomach pain.

When Stomach Pain Means Something Worse

In some instances, this pain could indicate a more serious underlying problem related to cocaine abuse.

For example, extended use of cocaine often damages your liver, which could lead to gastrointestinal symptoms, and feature abdominal pain.

You must seek immediate medical attention if the stomach pain persists or worsens, accompanied by other symptoms.

Cocaine and Bowel Decay

Cocaine can also cause Bowel Decay, which is the death of the cells on the intestinal wall lining. This happens because cocaine can restrict blood flow to the wall of the intestine. Symptoms include loss of appetite, stomach pain after eating, weight loss, severe belly pain, fever, nausea, and vomiting.

Long-Term Stomach Problems

Extended cocaine use can result in ongoing stomach pain. This powerful stimulant damages your stomach and intestines, causing long-term discomfort. It can also lead to food aversion, which can cause nutritional deficiencies. This may cause malnutrition and general weakness.

Moreover, you may suffer from life-threatening infections when damaged intestinal walls of the stomach allow harmful bacteria to enter. Continued cocaine use will worsen the damage, further complicate the recovery process, and decrease the chances of healing.

How to Cope with Cocaine-Related Stomach Pain

To prevent cocaine induced stomach pain, you need to stop using cocaine altogether. However, this may not be easy if you are dealing with cocaine substance abuse.

In this case, stopping the use of cocaine requires a unique, multifaceted approach that identifies the root cause of the addiction before helping the client overcome it.

If you’re experiencing stomach pain induced by cocaine, there are a few things you can do to relieve it. These include:

Try to Rest

Rest is one of the best things you can do for yourself when experiencing stomach pain. Try to relax by lying down in a comfortable position until you start feeling better.

Drink Plenty of Water

Hydration works wonders when you’re trying to alleviate stomach ache symptoms. It flushes out toxins from your system, reducing inflammation.

Over-The-Counter Medication

OTC Medications that reduce inflammation are effective for treating cocaine induced stomach pain. Use antacids or ibuprofen for instant relief.

Eat Healthy

If you’re trying to recover from the damage cocaine has caused to your body, you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

A healthy diet will accelerate the healing process and improve your gut health. Add nutrient-rich foods to your diet, including vegetables, fruits, along with whole and lean proteins.

Stay Away from Alcohol and Other Drugs

Other drugs and alcohol can worsen your stomach pain. If you do coke while drinking, it reacts with alcohol in your system to form a different substance called Cocaethylene, which is significantly more dangerous for you. It’s cardiotoxic, and you can become addicted to it.

This can exacerbate stomach pain and hamper the recovery process. Therefore, you must steer clear of all sorts of drugs while trying to quit cocaine.

Get Medical Attention

If your stomach pain worsens or persists, you should seek medical attention. It might be an indicator of something far worse. Your doctor will evaluate your condition, identify the root cause, and prescribe appropriate treatment.

These strategies can’t replace the care medical professionals provide. Therefore, if you feel your stomach pain is unmanageable, you should immediately seek medical attention.

How to Treat Cocaine-Related Stomach Pain with Holistic Approaches

A cocaine addiction recovery plan often includes holistic approaches that relieve stomach aches and pains associated with cocaine abuse.

Some of these approaches include:

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is a Chinese medical practice that stimulates the body’s natural healing process. It promotes energy flow through the body with fine needles inserted into specific points. Research shows that this method is effective for alleviating abdominal discomfort and pain.

Herbal Supplements

Herbs with anti-inflammatory properties, including chamomile, ginger, and peppermint, can treat stomach pain. However, you should consult a healthcare professional before taking these supplements. Some of them may interact with your current medication and could worsen your symptoms.

Mind-Body Practices

As mentioned earlier, rest can improve stomach pain. Healthy mind and body practices relax your body and relieve stress, eventually reducing stomach pain. These practices also help cope with the psychological effects of cocaine abuse, such as anxiety and depression.

How to Cope with the Psychological Effects of Cocaine-Related Stomach Pain

Cocaine addiction adversely affects both the mind and body. It can manifest in various psychological symptoms. According to research, your gut and brain are connected in a two-way conversation. This means what happens in your brain can affect your gut and vice versa.

Therefore, to treat cocaine related stomach pain, you must address the psychological effects of cocaine addiction. Here are a few strategies that may help:

Get into Therapy

Coping with addiction can be emotionally challenging. Seeking professional counselling can make a big difference while dealing with addiction-related emotional highs and lows. Your mental health professional will evaluate your condition and offer appropriate treatment options for depression, stress, and anxiety.

Join a Support Group

If you’re dealing with cocaine addiction, know that you’re not alone. A great way to overcome this addiction is to join support groups with individuals who share your victories and struggles.

These safe spaces create a sense of community and accountability and remind you of your goal, which is overcoming cocaine addiction and preventing relapse.

Practicing Self-care

Choosing to overcome cocaine addiction is a form of self-care in itself. To manage the psychological effects of cocaine addiction, you should prioritize physical and mental self-care. Try to find healthy hobbies, work out, and engage in activities that bring you joy.

These strategies can help you deal with the mental effects of cocaine-related stomach pain and support your recovery.

Find Effective Cocaine Treatment Programs at Icarus in Nevada

It is important to note that stomach pain is not the only complication caused by cocaine use. The addiction can manifest in various physical and psychological symptoms such as high blood pressure, heart palpitations, anxiety, depression, and more.

This addiction can affect every aspect of your personal and professional life by contributing to financial, legal, and social troubles. Therefore, if you want to take back control of your life, you should seek professional help for cocaine addiction.

Icarus Behavioral Health Nevada helps people overcome their cocaine addiction. We offer different program lengths based on your history, not just the addiction. We aim to find the root cause of the problem and replace unhealthy habits with healthy ones.

Call now for help with cocaine recovery and support throughout the recovery process.