Photos of a Mexican Drug Lord's house after being raided

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by flameswin

Don't feel bad about preaching. I've heard some of the things that can happen due to cocaine use, and would rather know as much as I can, rather than bury my head in the sand (which is what a lot of people who do drugs tend to do).

I don't do it very often, but I still realize there are dangers, both short term and long term.

I've heard that heavy cocaine use over a long period of time can lead to schizophrenia in some people. Is that true, or is that fearmongering?

Heavy cocaine use can cause the user to temporarily have schizophrenia-like symptoms such as paranoid delusions. Cocaine use is also VERY detrimental to anyone who already has a mental disorder; causes symptoms to worsen, disease to become more severe, and limits the effectiveness of treatment.

However, there is no evidence to suggest that cocaine use causes permanent schizophrenia.

[Ice]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

$55,000

Each of those full bundles is 100,000.00, so I also see 550,000.00 right there.

If you look at each large bundle, you'll see that there are also small rubberbanded sections, each of those contains 100 x one hundred dollar bills, which equals 100,000.00 as there are ten straps worth of hudreds in each bundle.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

Heavy cocaine use can cause the user to temporarily have schizophrenia-like symptoms such as paranoid delusions. Cocaine use is also VERY detrimental to anyone who already has a mental disorder; causes symptoms to worsen, disease to become more severe, and limits the effectiveness of treatment.

However, there is no evidence to suggest that cocaine use causes permanent schizophrenia.

Interesting. I don't have any disorders or diseases, but there was one night where I woke up and was having some kind of convulsion type thing, and felt like my heart was going to explode.

Question: When patients come in with problems stemming from cocaine or other drugs, and their condition is serious, are police called in to talk to the person, or do you guys just treat the person and send them on their way?

[FlamesPuck12]

Originally Posted by flameswin

I've heard that heavy cocaine use over a long period of time can lead to schizophrenia in some people. Is that true, or is that fearmongering?

I'm not an expert on this topic but this is what I learned in university.

Edit x2:
I just realized that I mixed up the two extremes of dopamine so high level gives you schizophrenia and low gives you Parkinson's.

Methamphetamine blocks the neurotransmitter receptors for dopamine which causes the dopamine to be left in the synaptic gaps inside the brain. The additional dopamine in your system gives you the effect of the drug and consequently, due to the high level of dopamine in your system, your body makes less dopamine to balance it out. If you keep taking cocaine, your body will learn to cut back on the dopamine production and low level of dopamine in your system causes schizophrenia.


Edit:

However, there is no evidence to suggest that cocaine use causes permanent schizophrenia.

Technically it wouldn't be "permanent" but when the baseline of dopamine level drops low enough to cause schizophrenia, the chances are, you're dependent on the drug (your brain is expecting you to supply dopamine through cocaine). To get your baseline of your dopamine back up to average level, you would have to go through withdrawals and chances are you probably can't break the dependency on the drug and since you need more cocaine to get the same effect you got when you first started, it just keeps spiraling down.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by FlamesPuck12

I'm not an expert on this topic but this is what I learned in university.

Methamphetamine blocks the neurotransmitter receptors for dopamine which causes the dopamine to be left in the synaptic gaps inside the brain. The additional dopamine in your system gives you the effect of the drug and consequently, due to the high level of dopamine in your system, your body makes less dopamine to balance it out. If you keep taking cocaine, your body will learn to cut back on the dopamine production and low level of dopamine in your system causes schizophrenia.

*Just nod your head and pretend you understand, flameswin.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by FlamesPuck12

Technically it wouldn't be "permanent" but when the baseline of dopamine level drops low enough to cause schizophrenia, the chances are, you're dependent on the drug (your brain is expecting you to supply dopamine through cocaine). To get your baseline of your dopamine back up to average level, you would have to go through withdrawals and chances are you probably can't break the dependency on the drug and since you need more cocaine to get the same effect you got when you first started, it just keeps spiraling down.

So basically, you could get to a point where you're not "officially" schizophrenic, but your body would basically be mimicing that of a schizophrenic?

[FlamesPuck12]

Originally Posted by flameswin

So basically, you could get to a point where you're not "officially" schizophrenic, but your body would basically be mimicing that of a schizophrenic?

Low level of dopamine in your body causes schizophrenia and high level of dopamine causes Parkinson's.

So when you do so much cocaine that your body is producing lower than average dopamine, you're not mimicking schizophrenia, you are schizophrenic.

I guess the only difference between the "permanent" schizophrenia is that when you do cocaine, you caused it yourself, where as for some people its genetic and their body can't adjust the dopamine production (one of the causes of genetic schizophrenia could be too many dopamine receptors so you don't have enough dopamine in your brain).

Again, I'm not an expert on this topic (maybe a doctor could provide more information or correct me if I'm wrong). These are just some of the stuff I learned in university psychology in mental disorders.

Edit: Prescription drugs for genetic schizophrenia targets the dopamine receptors so I'm assuming they do the same thing that cocaine accomplishes, except you take the prescription drugs in moderation just enough to bring your dopamine level to average.

[Temporary_User]

Originally Posted by flameswin

Question: When patients come in with problems stemming from cocaine or other drugs, and their condition is serious, are police called in to talk to the person, or do you guys just treat the person and send them on their way?

pretty sure if you have nothing on you, you're fine.

[FlamesPuck12]

Actually, you got me curious flameswin so I went back on my notes to re-read some stuff and here are some quotes from my notes.

Continued use of methamphetamine may permanently reduce dopamine production.

Schizophrenia may emerge gradually from a chronic history of social inadequacy (in which case the outlook is dim) or suddenly in reaction to stress (in which case the prospects for recovery are brighter).

People with schizophrenia have increased receptors for the neurotransmitter dopamine, which may intensify the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. Malfunctions in multiple brain regions and their connections apparently interact to produce the symptoms of schizophrenia. Research support is mounting for the causal effects of a virus suffered in mid-pregnancy.

[FlamesPuck12]

So yes, continued use of cocaine could result in permanent schizophrenia.

[wooohooo]

I thought it was too much dopamine that also caused schizophrenia. That's why treatment is often the same with Parkinson's?

Or maybe I'm confusing this with something else.

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by FlamesPuck12

So yes, continued use of cocaine could result in permanent schizophrenia.

Just out of curiosity. What class is this from? From the handful of Pharmacology classes I've taken, I've heard there is no substantial evidence.

[FlamesPuck12]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

I thought it was too much dopamine that also caused schizophrenia. That's why treatment is often the same with Parkinson's?

Or maybe I'm confusing this with something else.

I just checked, I just mixed up the two extremes.
Low - Parkinson's
High - Schizophrenia

Just out of curiosity. What class is this from? From the handful of Pharmacology classes I've taken, I've heard there is no substantial evidence.

Psychology class dealing with mental disorders and it was from the schizophrenia chapter.

Hmm I'm not sure if they have substantial evidence if cocaine causes schizophrenia, the psychology textbook we used had the exact quote I posted. But it would make sense since dopamine is responsible for schizophrenia and methamphetamine alters dopamine productions.

[Bill Bumface]

When I was in the hospital for atrial fibrillation (AKA my heart was going insane) I was asked at least 4 times if I was on coke, including the final time when they took my mom out of the room and told me it was ok to be honest and they needed to know to treat me properly.

Pretty freaky that it's a common enough occurrence to see people in that shape from cocaine. My heart stopped for a good 10 seconds during the whole thing. Needless to say I was extra scared of coke after that

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by FlamesPuck12

I just checked, I just mixed up the two extremes.
Low - Parkinson's
High - Schizophrenia

Actually yeah that sounds correct now. Lack of dopamine gets you the trembles. And too much makes you crazzzzyyy.

[FlamesPuck12]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

Actually yeah that sounds correct now. Lack of dopamine gets you the trembles. And too much makes you crazzzzyyy.

Haha yeah, I just remember it as too much or too little screws you up so I should stay away from any drugs that screws with the dopamine level.

[Wookie]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

When I was in the hospital for atrial fibrillation (AKA my heart was going insane) I was asked at least 4 times if I was on coke, including the final time when they took my mom out of the room and told me it was ok to be honest and they needed to know to treat me properly.

Pretty freaky that it's a common enough occurrence to see people in that shape from cocaine. My heart stopped for a good 10 seconds during the whole thing. Needless to say I was extra scared of coke after that

So were you?

You're okay now?

[algernon]

Dumb question... were you conscious when your heart stopped? Do you remember anything out of the ordinary?

[dre]

A family friend almost died of a heart attack. Luckily he was already in the hospital.
He said he remembers having it and telling the nurse. The scary part he said was when everything went black.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by dre

A family friend almost died of a heart attack. Luckily he was already in the hospital.
He said he remembers having it and telling the nurse. The scary part he said was when everything went black.

About 10 years ago, I started hearing my heart beat in my head, really loudly and it didn't sound right, it would race, pause, race, slowdown, it was all over the map.

Of course I thought its nothing heartburn whatever, my arms not in pain I'm good.

The next day I went to work, and a workmate noticed that my lips were blue. my vision went down to pinpricks, and I had the cold sweat going, so in the Captains brilliance, I hopped in my car refusing a ride, and drove through downtown to the foothills hospital with pinprick vision and the beginning of some real chest pain.

I made my way to the emergency room, and the nurse took my pulse and rushed me to a bed where they started giving me Nitro. They gave me an ultra sound took several gallons of blood, and everytime I sat up I fainted.

Not a heart attack, not angina, but I had developed an irregular heartbeat.

Going back to the drug link the first question they asked me "Do you or have you used steroids", or course just as I was admitting that I used steroids in high school my folks walked in and heard the whole thing.

After a perscription for beta blockers almost killed me, they put me on Calcium channel blockers. If those didn't work, it was the surgery option where they ram a cathetor up to your heart through your groin and start cauterizing parts of the nerve harness that are attached to your heart.

Lesson learned, Steroids are bad.