Speedball: What is Speedballing?

Studies have suggested that methadone reduces a person’s desire for cocaine but not the speedball combination. Detoxification from cocaine can result in withdrawal effects including irritability, sleep problems, intense cravings for the drug and decreased appetite. The psychological aspect of the addiction is more challenging to overcome than the physical symptoms. That’s why the major aspects of cocaine addiction recovery include abstinence, rehabilitation and preventing a relapse. The opposing side effects of this combination lead to a push-pull effect. When taken together, the drugs will create a drug interaction that will give you an intense rush while also stopping each other’s adverse effects.

What Are Speedballing Drugs?

If you think you are suffering from a substance use disorder, it’s time to consider attending addiction treatment. In some cases, medication-assisted treatment can be useful during recovery. Medications may be prescribed to help manage cravings, reduce withdrawal symptoms, and prevent relapse. MAT is often combined with therapeutic interventions for optimal results. In contrast, heroin use can cause a decrease in blood pressure, heart rate, and cardiac output, inducing a state of relaxation and sedation.

Why Do People Try Speedballing?

Speedballing is also highly addictive and can cause physical and psychological harm to the user. For starters, most fatal overdoses result from using more than one substance at a time. Outside of their more pleasurable effects, both coke and heroin can produce some intense, negative side effects. This mixed bag of reviews isn’t surprising since a lot of factors determine how a substance will affect you. Effects become even more unpredictable when you start mixing substances.

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This is because the effects of cocaine wear off more quickly than the effects of heroin. Factors like the purity of the drugs, the setting, and the person taking the drug influence how speedballing affects someone. The same individual can use the same amount of the same drugs on different occasions and experience different effects each time. As such, it’s important to detox from speedballs in a medically supervised setting. It’s also important to remember that detox is only the first step and should be followed by a comprehensive opioid treatment program. However, combining heroin and cocaine, or other similar drugs, can be dangerous and even deadly.

1. An experiment showed that the combination of stimulants and opioids, especially cocaine and heroin, could result in increased risk.
2. Long-term side effects of speedballing include heart issues, damage to blood vessels, and severe mental health consequences.
3. The term also works for other drug combinations, like benzodiazepines and opioids or alcohol and cocaine.
4. Because of cocaine’s short-lived high, adding heroin helps with the inevitable crash.
5. For example, you are engaging in polydrug abuse if you drink alcohol and smoke weed at the same time.
6. In addition to managing a successful family medical practice, Dr. Hoffman is board certified in addiction medicine by the American Osteopathic Academy of Addiction Medicine (AOAAM).

Heroin is an opioid that can slow breathing and lead to respiratory failure, particularly if it’s consumed along with depressants like alcohol. This was the lethal combination that resulted in the death of actor Cory Monteith in 2013. East Coast Recovery doesn’t believe in just providing medication or keeping clients overnight so they don’t relapse.

This combination is much more likely to result in fatal overdose because cocaines chemical reaction requires the body to use more oxygen than normal. While heroin acts to suppress the respiratory system, making it more difficult for the body to obtain the amount of oxygen needed to balance ambien dosage out the effects of cocaine. First, because of the mix of two drugs, the user doesn’t feel the extreme effects of either. This is one of the most prevalent dangers of speedballing and means users won’t be able to tell if they’re approaching lethal levels of either heroin or cocaine.

While you wait, lay the person overdosing slightly on their side and bend their top knee inward to keep their airways open. But some factors can influence how powerful a dose can be and the serious reactions it can cause. Surrounded by hills and forest, Serenity Knolls is a private campus providing rustic cabins, 12-Step treatment approach, and a family program.

At the same time, heroin causes breathing to slow down – putting a strain on the overactive lungs, heart, and brain. The speedball causes confusion as the body tries to receive enough oxygen to balance out the effects of cocaine – a tough task when heroin actively works to slow down breathing. This combines the stimulating effects of cocaine with the sedative effects of heroin. Other drugs are sometimes substituted, such as using crystal meth as the stimulant and other opioids, like fentanyl, instead of heroin.

Dr. Hoffman is the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of AddictionHelp.com and ensures the website’s medical content and messaging quality. Withdrawal symptoms can vary in intensity and duration depending on the drug(s) used and the individual’s history of use. Overdose a proclamation on national impaired driving prevention month 2022 can occur suddenly and without warning, especially if the user is unaware of the potency or purity of their drugs. Adrienne Santos-Longhurst is a freelance writer and author who has written extensively on all things health and lifestyle for more than a decade.

These two drugs are significantly risky to use on their own, but combining them is even more dangerous. Buprenorphine produces some heroin-like effects, while indatraline causes effects similar to those of https://sober-home.org/can-you-overdose-on-lsd-acid/ cocaine. Buprenorphine and indatraline minimize and prevent cocaine and heroin withdrawal symptoms, have a long duration of action and have a lower potential for abuse when compared with heroin or cocaine.

Rather than canceling each other out, as some people assume, this combination puts added strain on the heart, lungs and brain. Thus, users get the stimulating rush of cocaine while also getting the euphoria and relaxation from heroin. Some users combine these drugs to negate the adverse side effects of each.