Drugs and Health

Former Member

does anyone else worry about the effect of drugs such as ecstasy and coke has on their heart?
sometimes it feels like my heart is beating so fast i can actually feel it without putting my hand near it. so i figured either everyone gets this from time to time or my heart is under too much stress.

i did a lot of coke on sunday night/morning and then yesterday the severe lack of sleep, food and heat at the hairdressers caused me to faint and i passed out for at least a minute hitting my head on the sink on the way down obviously i overdid it but i'd just like some feedback on how other people feel about drugs and if they ever worry about their health? more specifically their heart

Former Member

Palpitations as a result of using cocaine are pretty damn common I think, most of the cokie monsters I know complain about them from time to time. Not so sure about pills as I never experienced any heart-related worries with 'em, they were more of a head-issue for me.

But yeah, the palpitations (and tremors) I used to get with coke were so bad - and scary - sometimes that I had to knock it on the head for that very reason. Damn hard to enjoy yourself when you think you're going to suffer heart failure every time you do a bit of blow

Former Member

yeh im more into pills but was starting to get into coke a lot more but i don't think i'll bother now. but i'm glad i'm not the only one whose heart palpitates. my problem is.. i always get offered free lines by men when i go out and i end up doing the same amount as them which is stupid because im much much smaller

Former Member

I took my ex to hospital when he thought his heart was pumping way more than it should have been. He'd cained it all wknd, so I told them that.
It turned out it was his muscles spasming in his chest and around his heart. He had been overdoing it so had a break. He gets them if he does too much still.

Former Member

If you have any record of dodgy tickers in your family then cocaine really isnt a wise idea, it thins the viens, thickens the blood, increases the blood pressure and increases heart rate. So you've got thicker blood going through thinner viens at a higher pressure, faster. A large chunk of the people who get hospitalised because of chest pains are because of cocaine.

Former Member

Hmm yeah, in theory it's a bit of a jackpot moment when some blokes cuts you a fat line of coke but you're definitely right that you shouldn't be doing the same amount as them.

Especially so if you're feeling the effects you are, I know from experience that it's really unpleasant! Well all I can say is listen to your body, we all give ourselves a bit of a bashing on nights out but there is definitely a line (boom boom) that you shouldn't cross... especially when it comes to the ol' ticker

Former Member

my chest on the right kinda hurts.. more so when i press it. but i think that may be because i was pole dancing on sunday and its made my leg and arm muscles ache

Former Member

there are serious heart problems in my family, so much so i have to go get my BP checked every month or so, doctor specifically said stay away from these kind of things, i dont do them anymore anyway, and never heavily did, just the odd special weekend, but i wont be doing them again, dont wanna die just yet.

Former Member

VinylVicky wrote:

I took my ex to hospital when he thought his heart was pumping way more than it should have been. He'd cained it all wknd, so I told them that.
It turned out it was his muscles spasming in his chest and around his heart. He had been overdoing it so had a break. He gets them if he does too much still.

when you took him to the hospital, did you or him tell the doctors he'd been on drugs that weekend?

Former Member

lipsy wrote:

when you took him to the hospital, did you or him tell the doctors he'd been on drugs that weekend?

You certainly should if you take someone to A&E.

ETA - ideally giving them one of the tablets/powders too, just in case.

Former Member

budda wrote:

If you have any record of dodgy tickers in your family then cocaine really isnt a wise idea

Hmm...no offense but when is it ever a wise idea? :no:

Former Member

lipsy wrote:

when you took him to the hospital, did you or him tell the doctors he'd been on drugs that weekend?

Yeah I did. He didn't want ot but I was having none of it. They aren't there to get you arrested. The nurse's face dropped when I told her everything he had taken. Better to be safe than sorry. He has had Ket and Cocaine over the wknd and the thing they warned him about was the Ket.

Former Member

silverhalo wrote:

Hmm...no offense but when is it ever a wise idea? :no:

I can see your point, but I used it more as a phrase, rather than to suggest that cocaine use for others is wise.

Vicky; its always best to tell them exactly what you have been doing, they cant help you properly otherwise. And they cant (yet) arrest you for drugs in your system. And of course, who gives a toss about a possible criminal record if you are sick enough to be in A&E!

Former Member

budda wrote:

Vicky; its always best to tell them exactly what you have been doing, they cant help you properly otherwise. And they cant (yet) arrest you for drugs in your system. And of course, who gives a toss about a possible criminal record if you are sick enough to be in A&E!

My sentiments exactly.
But what's this about they can't arrest you for drug taking, is that something in the pipeline or assumption?

Former Member

Sometimes, not fussed usually because I know I'll ride it out. More concerned about my mental health though these days.

Former Member

Yerascrote wrote:

Sometimes, not fussed usually because I know I'll ride it out. More concerned about my mental health though these days.

That's why I have stopped with all the Pills and Weed, the two most popular mentally affecting drugs in my oppinion.

I don't mind a few lines of Coke once in awhile, but as has been said before, If you have an addictive personality or have a history of heart problems etc then you should be really careful.

With Coke you can do way to much and before you know it the experience can become much less enjoyable, moderation is seriously the key with this drug!

Also I have found that a really bad combo, for me anyway, is Coke and Weed. Heart rate increased something crazy and pretty much brought on a semi panick attack which is not good! One of the many reasons Weed isn't for me anymore.

It's also good to note that it is much better to be drinking water than alcohol at some stages through the night if not all, as this will reduce some negative effects including the transformation of Cocaine to Cocaethylene which exerts more cardiovascular toxicity than either drug alone.

Take care and remember to go steady and don't over-do it!

Former Member

As someone who used to snort at least a gram of Cocaine every week and still has the occaisional coke mash up, I often get stabbing pains in my chest and my heart which don't last long but sometimes become unbearable for the few seconds that they last. I assume this is because of my Cocaine use and not my Ecstasy use because since I cut down on the Coke I don't get it as much. I also think Speed plays a big factor in heart problems, as I said in another thread for my mates 20th birthday he was on loads of pills which he was used to but when he snorted fuck loads of Speed he had a heart attack and had to be rushed to hospital.

Former Member

yea ive felt like my hearts going to explode a few times (either that or missing a few beats every other beat!) and there has been a few times its got a bit frightening

one thing ive found a bit alarming is the amount of sweating ive done in the few hours after coming down off a fuck load of e's, head and face completly drenched, despite wiping it off every minute or so.. had a few towels saturated.. is a bit unnerving!

ive collapsed a few times and hurt myself but that was from too much speed, body was completly drained, wasnt very much fun at all!

like turlough said the mental health is a bit more worrying.. you can definitely notice your head startin to work a wee bit differently after a while!

Skive

I have cained a serious amount of pills. This worries me a bit.
I have never been a big coke user though, and stopped smoking weed as soon as I realised it was making me paranoid.

Former Member

VinylVicky wrote:

But what's this about they can't arrest you for drug taking, is that something in the pipeline or assumption?

They are planning to make it a criminal offence to give a positive piss test for heroin, you can assume once they have done that the other drugs wont be far behind.

Former Member

budda wrote:

They are planning to make it a criminal offence to give a positive piss test for heroin, you can assume once they have done that the other drugs wont be far behind.

Great. Less people seeking medical help then.

Former Member

pill 'ed wrote:

As someone who used to snort at least a gram of Cocaine every week and still has the occaisional coke mash up, I often get stabbing pains in my chest and my heart which don't last long but sometimes become unbearable for the few seconds that they last. I assume this is because of my Cocaine use and not my Ecstasy use because since I cut down on the Coke I don't get it as much. I also think Speed plays a big factor in heart problems, as I said in another thread for my mates 20th birthday he was on loads of pills which he was used to but when he snorted fuck loads of Speed he had a heart attack and had to be rushed to hospital.

Would it make you feel better if I said i got the symptons you describe before I even started taking drugs? Its like a sharp pain in the heart to chest area when you breathe in right? You have to take small short breaths untill it goes away.

Former Member

VinylVicky wrote:

Great. Less people seeking medical help then.

The theory is, you pull someone in for shoplifting, and you think they are a drug user, so you test them, and once its positive you can force them into treatment. Its sort of in force at the moment with DTTO's (or have they changed again?) Blagsta would know more about this than me.

Its the follow on from the Birt report where he said the drug war has failed, will continue to fail and there is little we can do. So, they are planning to basically force people into treatment, except the money isnt there for the treatment.

Former Member

budda wrote:

The theory is, you pull someone in for shoplifting, and you think they are a drug user, so you test them, and once its positive you can force them into treatment. Its sort of in force at the moment with DTTO's (or have they changed again?) Blagsta would know more about this than me.

Its the follow on from the Birt report where he said the drug war has failed, will continue to fail and there is little we can do. So, they are planning to basically force people into treatment, except the money isnt there for the treatment.

So if the money's not there how will they enforce this treatment? What a farce!
So if they follow suit with other drugs, recreational drugs where people are using for pleasure not addiction, what kind of treatment would they enforce? I'm sure whatever treatment they'd come up with would be a total waste of time and money. It defo would be for me anyway!
I'm not necessarily asking for answers here, just raising some points.

Former Member

I doubt they will introduce anything like that for recreational drugs, in fact I think we will continue to see what we already have de facto decriminalisation for most drugs while the police concentrate on heroin and crack.

They are a bit heavy, but you should have a read of the Birt reports, they are very interesting, basically because they tell the government that the law is failing and will continue to fail.

Former Member

budda wrote:

I doubt they will introduce anything like that for recreational drugs, in fact I think we will continue to see what we already have de facto decriminalisation for most drugs while the police concentrate on heroin and crack.

They are a bit heavy, but you should have a read of the Birt reports, they are very interesting, basically because they tell the government that the law is failing and will continue to fail.

Sorry I missunderstood, I thought you meant that this systen could be introduced to other drugs.
Where can I read these reports and who writes them?

Former Member

VinylVicky wrote:

Sorry I missunderstood, I thought you meant that this systen could be introduced to other drugs.
Where can I read these reports and who writes them?

Basically the government had Lord Birt look into the drug laws and how they are working with a wide open brief to report back. This was supposed to have been done in top secret but it was leaked, when you read it you will realise why they wanted it kept secret.

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/downloads/work_areas/drugs/drugs_report.pdf

This first one sums up the situation at the moment.

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/downloads/work_areas/drugs/drugs_phase2.pdf

This one suggests possible solutions, even if they are mad.

Former Member

Thanks for the Budda, I'll take a look at that this evening.

Former Member

VinylVicky wrote:

Thanks for the Budda, I'll take a look at that this evening.

Dont be put off by the number of pages, its more a slide show than a report, so there isnt much to read on each page.

Former Member

budda wrote:

They are planning to make it a criminal offence to give a positive piss test for heroin, you can assume once they have done that the other drugs wont be far behind.

A criminal offence to give who a +ve piss test?

Former Member

Blagsta wrote:

A criminal offence to give who a +ve piss test?

Its one of the ideas put forward by the Birt report that if someone is brought into a Police station for questioning and they are tested, then if its positive they could be charged with that and therefore it would be easier to push them into treatment. If that makes sense.