How Long Does Cocaine Stay in Your System?

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Have you used cocaine recently? Do you often use the drug when you party late into the night or do you use it regularly to get through the day? Often people who abuse the drug are concerned about how long it will stay in their system and how long it will continue to affect them. Others are concerned about traces of the drug registering on a mandatory drug test.

If cocaine abuse or addiction is an issue for you and you are concerned about its effects on your life, contact us today to learn about how cocaine rehab can change your life through detox and psychotherapeutic treatment and support. Counselors are standing by.

How Long Does Cocaine Stay in Your System?

According to WebMD, the length of time that cocaine will stay in your blood is about 12 hours from the time that you last use it. However, if a drug test is your concern, few people use blood tests to check for cocaine abuse because their ability to check for traces of the drug are limited to a small window. Most people will utilize a urine test because the byproducts of drugs will be in the system for days after use – for cocaine, that means that urine tests can detect cocaine for two or three days after use. Drug tests that test hair to find byproducts can detect cocaine use for several months after you use the drug.

Cocaethylene

Combing any substances can be deadly but the combination of cocaine and alcohol is not only one of the most common but one of the most insidious. The two substances, when combined, create a new chemical inside the body: cocaethylene. This substance can wreak havoc on the kidneys and liver, creating deadly effects that can hit years after chronic use and abuse of the two drugs together.

How Long Does It Take for Cocaine to Hit Your System?

Different methods of ingestion create highs of different intensities in varying amounts of time. The most rapid high occurs when you smoke or inject the drug; peak levels of the drug are reached in the bloodstream within just a few minutes. When the drug is snorted, it takes about 15 minutes for the blood to register peak levels of the drug. The high lasts up until the time that peak levels are reached and as those levels begin to diminish, the cravings for more cocaine set in. In a single session, people often inject, smoke or snort cocaine multiple times in an effort to maintain that high.

Effects of Cocaine Abuse

No matter how you ingest the drug, it can have a damaging effect on multiple body systems. Most often compromised are the:

Respiratory system: especially nasal passages when snorted and mouth and throat when smoked

Cardiac system: no matter how ingested

Liver and kidneys: no matter how ingested

Blood vessels and circulatory system: especially if injected


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The Have I Got A Problem website is a free online resource to help people better understand any issues or concerns they may have about mental health or addiction. The website includes resources specifically focused to; general Mental Health, Depression, Stress, Anxiety, Insecurities, Self-harm Schizophrenia, Bipolar, Anger Management, Eating Disorders, Coping, general Addiction, Alcohol, Smoking, Gambling, Drugs, Cocaine, Heroin, Marijuana (Cannabis) Ecstasy, PCP, Mephedrone, Ketamine & Crystal Meth.

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