Cocaine Cocaine OD questions and concerns

[buriedlies]

Here's the deal, I don't know a whole lot about cocaine. All I know is that I do it on occasion if offered at a party.. Probably do it once or twice (tiny binge) every three months, idk. <-- Easily at the very least. Here's my worry.. My friend, on the other hand, is a bit more.... Out of control with her cocaine use. I am getting a bit worried and would just like some general information.

She bought a gram about three days ago. Finished it that day, with help of others, but mostly her. Next day, she buys another gram, this time she finished the whole thing by herself that day. NOW yesterday she goes and buys an 8-ball. She started the 8-ball at about 3pm yesterday, she has been doing lines nonstop every 15 (most times less) minutes and finally stopped at 4AM today. There's still plenty left of the 8-ball from what I can see, but this is definitely a HUGE flag.. Obviously she NEEDS to back off the shit. I already know that, that's not what Im asking.

Here's my worry and question:

How much cocaine does it generally take to OD? Am I worrying too much, is the amount of cocaine she's insufflating not nearly the lethal danger zone?
-- so I guess like 1/2 gram (three days ago), 1 gram (the next day), and an 8-ball [prob like 2 grams of it] (yesterday) basically nonstop throughout all three days. Am I over worrying? Is that not nearly close to OD status orr..? Is that a normal amount?



not sure if her weight, age, etc would play a part.. but just in case -- She's 19, 120lbs, 5'8".

If I can at least get a general estimate, I'd feel a lot better. I can also at least tell her and/or scare her (bring her to reality) so she won't do more than that. I just want to make sure if she is in any huge danger at this very moment.. Especially if she finished that 8-ball today.

Also,
what exactly causes the death via cocaine? Is it heart attack, heart failure, the cocaine itself, what?



TL;DR
Basic rundown. Friend has been snorting cocaine three days straight almost nonstop. How many grams nonstop will generally lead to an OD?

Thanks so much.
And yes, I again realize she definitely has a problem. I've got that part covered, Im already helping her with that. Any answers to the other questions would be very helpful and appreciated.

 

[madog11]

Yes i've been down this path, it's definately a path to self destruction and addiction. I got to the point where i didn't stop until i was so phsyically unwell i couldn't get out of bed. A week and a serious amount of money 2/3 grams a day and barely any sleep got me there. Never done an 8ball so can't judge on that. But not everyone had the willpower to stop even if it makes them sick.

ODing is a tough one because the main factor is tolerance rather than body type and theres no way we can know what her tolerance is. The deaths i have heard about from cocaine are from heart faliure. I knew someone who got so fucked up after a night of cocaine they felt the need to run. They ran until they had a heart attack. They didn't make it. And thats someone in their 20s!

 

[buriedlies]

Jesus fuck. Im really glad you're better now, that's some scary shit. What exactly do you mean by tolerance? She has a pretty high tolerance if that's what you're asking. Is that good or bad for her situation?

I know she has a pretty good heart, so I hope that'll help. She seems to do so much and be just fine, it's crazy. No symptoms of overdose or anything, but she's doing so much (or idk, I feel like it's a lot). How many grams is it gonna take nonstop for her to OD?

Any, any, ANY general number of grams nonstop to = OD would help me.. I just want to at least make her promise me she won't do any more than that. I already know I can't stop her from doing it, but I can at least let her know how serious this is and that she'll die. Maybe then she'll at least hesitate to go over that certain amount.. Idk.. Sorry, I know it's hard to tell, but I'd like to at least have a danger zone estimate if possible.

 

[madog11]

I don't think health of her heart will play any part in it. Good heart or not it can happen to all of us. Tolerence is both good and bad. It will prevent her from ODing hopefully. But it means she has to take more and possibly has to take it to feel 'normal'.

ODing is probably the least of her worries. The toll it's taking on her body is the real problem. As i said the amount for OD is different per person. Thats not a concern at her current dose, her health however is a concern.

She will have to keep taking more to get the same effect at the rate she's going so her tolerance is going to rise quickly and therefore so is her usage. I've never heard of a cocaine OD, only of heart faliures. You can tell her any number, if she's anything like i was she won't care if shes not getting high below that number.

 

[madog11]

Just found this it helps explain my point better:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine_intoxication#Overdose

 

[buriedlies]

That last paragraph. Could've have said it better myself and that's what Im afraid of. In fact, she's exactly down that path. Im quite sure she realizes even.

The toll on her body? How so? I've honestly no clue how cocaine OD kills, so I apologize Im not very educated on the matter. So at her current dose she most likely won't have to worry about ODing? Weirdly enough that eases my mind at least a little. I am well aware her health is very much at risk though, which if I read your post correctly is what I should worry about more than the OD part.

Thanks so much for the info and for that link,
I'll have to take a look at it.

 

[redsweater]

Deaths from coke are usually caused by heart attacks and therefore it is impossible to say what amount she would need to 'OD'.

 

[madog11]

That last paragraph. Could've have said it better myself and that's what Im afraid of. In fact, she's exactly down that path. Im quite sure she realizes even.

The toll on her body? How so? I've honestly no clue how cocaine OD kills, so I apologize Im not very educated on the matter. So at her current dose she most likely won't have to worry about ODing? Weirdly enough that eases my mind at least a little. I am well aware her health is very much at risk though, which if I read your post correctly is what I should worry about more than the OD part.

Thanks so much for the info and for that link,
I'll have to take a look at it.

I'm not sure you're understanding completely, don't feel at ease. Just because you can't OD on coke means nothing. She could have a heart attack, when i say health problems i dont mean long term, i mean immidiate. Death. Heart Faliure. Read the wikipedia page i posted, it explains it better. She NEEDS to slow down or bad things will happen. It took me a week of constant use to get very unwell. So i stopped. Your friend may not.

 

[Swain]

There is no set number that will 'make her OD.'

ODing is more a matter of taking more than one's body can tolerate at once. There are no set amounts for each drug that will cause a person to OD. Not only does tolerance play a huge role but also body size/type/etc... If she gets used to doing 1 gram a day over time it becomes normal for her.. but if one Saturday instead of doing 1g that day she decides to blow through an 8 ball (or try) in one night, she could very well OD b/c she is only used to 1g and whatever individual dose size she regularly does.

The frequency/amount she uses plays a big role too.. an OD means some type of heart failure (for cocaine). If she is using all day every day she is putting a lot of strain on her heart (not to mention her brain).. really if it was being used in moderation I would say she is ok.. but if she has gone from occasional use to using every day she is definitely heading toward jails institutions or death (I know..corny NA line lol).

We can't tell you if she is anywhere near ODing.. But I will say it sounds like she is forming a bad habit. It's best she takes care of it now before it's too late..

 

[buriedlies]

I'm not sure you're understanding completely, don't feel at ease. Just because you can't OD on coke means nothing. She could have a heart attack, when i say health problems i dont mean long term, i mean immidiate. Death. Heart Faliure. Read the wikipedia page i posted, it explains it better. She NEEDS to slow down or bad things will happen. It took me a week of constant use to get very unwell. So i stopped. Your friend may not.

Yeah, I had a huge feeling I interpreted that wrong, sorry. Maybe "at ease" wasn't the right word, but yes, I am definitely going to take action asap. I don't even know how I'd begin an intervention, what the fuck do I do in this situation? Sorry, Im just panicking ugh. She's exactly as you explained, knows the consequences yet continues.

I am on my phone right now, so the wiki is a bit difficult to read all tiny and shit, but I plan to read every last bit later. Thank you.

Also,
thanks everyone else for your extremely helpful answers.

 

[madog11]

I'm not sure you can help her unless she wants you to. I wouldn't have let anyones nagging or intervention stop me when i was using, i was either having fun or numbing out, neither of which i would be willing to give up.

 

[GBM]

No one can really say "it will take this much" to OD. A huge factor that comes into play is your location + the quality of the product there. I usually go thru 300-600mg of fairly high quality coke in a day, a real eighth can last me anywhere from 2-4 weeks (depending on how much I use it daily). Your main worry should be about addiction not ODing. You need to maybe have a talk with her see if she understands what shes getting into before she starts spending all her money and doing bad things to get money for more.

I've done half gram lines of very high quality flake cocaine before, so unless she's doing insanely big lines bigger than that (and a half gram line is easily 4 feet long by half a millimeter) You shouldn't have to worry too much about ODing, but its never a good idea to redose every 10 minutes with coke.

 

[tricomb]

Make sure your friend is getting adequate sleep and nutrition.

 

[Albion]

I've done half gram lines of very high quality flake cocaine before, so unless she's doing insanely big lines bigger than that (and a half gram line is easily 4 feet long by half a millimeter) You shouldn't have to worry too much about ODing, but its never a good idea to redose every 10 minutes with coke.

Half a gram lines stretch out over 4 feet?

I don't think so.

Not unless you somehow got tweezers and placed each grain side by side, and that'd be pushing it.

 

[J.D.]

I'm not sure you can help her unless she wants you to. I wouldn't have let anyones nagging or intervention stop me when i was using, i was either having fun or numbing out, neither of which i would be willing to give up.

Me too. I used coke every day for 6+ months, increasing my dosage exponentially. I was doing crazy amounts, but that's all I did. I didn't work, eat, sleep...nothing. It can get crazy. And nobody or nothing could have stopped me. Then one day I decided I was done, did my last line and walked away from it. Fortunately there are very few physical withdrawal symptoms. (My nose got really sore, I suppose from being numb for so long? lol ) Actually, I don't really think about it much anymore. But my point....about all you can do is tell her what you think and/or feel about her usage, and she'll either listen or not. I hope she listens, but don't count on it. Good luck.