Cocaine is a highly addictive drug. Cocaine abuse is one of the leading health problems around the globe. A significant question arises from using cocaine: can a person die from using too much cocaine? The answer is yes. Intoxication and overdose of cocaine can lead to death.
You will likely die when you use too much cocaine at once. Cocaine overdose has led many users to emergency rooms, and others died instantly. When you use too much cocaine, you may experience these symptoms, rapid heartbeat and acute chest pain.
How can cocaine kill you?
When you use too much cocaine, you risk to overdosing. Overdosing on cocaine results in fatal outcomes. It is not unlikely that you can overdose during your first time.
Blood pressure
The use of cocaine makes your heart beat faster. Cocaine also causes your blood vessels and capillaries to narrow. When your heart is beating fast, more blood is being passed through the blood vessel. Since your blood vessels have been restricted, your vascular system experiences more stress.
Pressure on the vascular system leads to your blood pressure rising. Also, your heart pumps blood harder and faster to reach other organs in the body leading to increased stress. The rapid increase in your blood pressure can be fatal, leading to stroke and even death due to heart attack.
High body temperature
Too much use of cocaine can make you experience hyperthermia. Your body temperature can shoot to very high levels, especially when you use cocaine, leading during high weather temperatures. Hyperthermia leads to severe and excessive sweating.
Severe sweating can lead to dehydration. When you become dehydrated, your sodium, potassium, and calcium ion levels decrease and are imbalanced. The imbalance of ions in the body leads to organ failure leading to fatal outcomes such as death.
Atherosclerosis
The use of too much cocaine for a long time can lead to atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a condition where your arteries become thickened and hardened. The hardened arteries obstruct the flow of blood oxygenated blood from your heart to other parts of your body.
The obstruction of the free flow of oxygenated blood limits the amount of oxygen reaching your organs. When your organs do not receive enough oxygen, they start to die. Extensive death of your tissues leads to multiple organ failure, which causes death.
Atherosclerosis is one of the major causes of coronary artery disease. When you use too much cocaine, you can develop coronary artery disease. CAD causes the poor flow of blood in arteries that take blood to your heart.
When your heart does not receive enough blood, oxygen, and nutrients, it becomes unhealthy. Poor health of the heart makes you experience a heart attack and eventually death.
Heart muscle inflammation
The use of cocaine can lead to inflammation of your heart muscles and walls. The inflammation of your heart walls will constantly see your heart injured. Also, when your heart muscles are inflamed, over time, they become hardened.
Hardening of the walls and muscles of your heart leads to inefficient blood pumping. Your heart is therefore not able to pump blood well throughout the body. This increases the stress and pressure experienced by your heart, leading to heart failure, a condition that can result in death.
Aortic dissection
When you use cocaine, your body responds immediately by increasing your heart rate. This leads to increased pressure and stress on the walls of the muscles of your heart. This incident happens abruptly and suddenly and can lead to tearing a section of your aorta wall.
Aortic dissection leads to blood flowing out of your aorta into the cavity around your lungs and your heart. The collection of blood in your pleural cavity leads to increased pressure on your lungs. When your lungs experience increased pressure, they collapse.
Additionally, the flow of blood from your raptured aorta to your pleural cavity can lead to excess air volume in the cavity, causing a condition known as pneumothorax. Pneumothorax is caused by the trauma of the chest that is due to the collection of blood in the chest cavity.
Collapsed lungs and pneumothorax can make you experience many health complications. The adverse health problems that you will experience are stroke, respiratory system failure, shock, and cardiac arrest leading to death.
If you or your loved one struggle with cocaine use and addiction, ‘Our counselors are available 24 hours a day. Call 855-936-4435.
