Heroin and Cocaine: What is a Speedball?
If you mix heroin and cocaine, you create a speedball, the street name of the dangerous mixture. Speedballing occurs when you inject or snort both drugs back to back. What is the effect? You will feel an intense, long-lasting high that is far greater than you can get from each drug individually.
Heroin is a depressant that slows down brain activity and relaxes you. Cocaine is a stimulant that has a polar opposite effect. It increases your brain activity and heart rate. Users who speedball believe that using both drugs simultaneously will either cancel them out or balance their effects. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 63% of all cocaine overdoses involved an opiate, with the main culprit being heroin.
For help with overcoming the effects of cocaine and heroin, a South Florida detox center can help.
What Happens When You Speedball?
The truth is, neither drug balances or cancels the other. What actually happens is that their negative side effects are amplified. Furthermore, mixing heroin and cocaine increases the risk of overdose and long-term psychological or physical problems. When you take two different drugs, you force the body to process both drugs at the same time.
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If both drugs counter each other, then it can cause confusion in the central nervous system’s processes, which is one of the major dangers of heroin and cocaine. This counter-balance creates a “push-pull” reaction. For instance, cocaine causes the body to consume more oxygen. However, heroin slows down the respiratory system. So, the body doesn’t know whether to breath more or less. This is the same effect that speedballing has on other systems and organs in the body.
What Are the Side Effects of Speedballing?
When mixed, there are several dangers of heroin and cocaine, including:
- Disorientation or confusion – you may feel incoherent
- Blurred or poor vision
- Feeling drowsy or heavily fatigued
- Paranoia and irritability
- Hypersomnia or insomnia
Some of the more serious side effects of speedballing include aneurysm, heart attack, stroke, and respiratory failure. Furthermore, you may experience long-term psychosis or a mental health disorder. If you feel any of these side effects, seek medical help immediately.
For those struggling to stop using heroin and cocaine, a stimulant and opiate detox center in South Florida can help set the foundation for lasting recovery.
Detox for Dual Addiction
Both heroin and cocaine can produce severe withdrawal symptoms if you attempt to stop using them after a long-term addiction. Some of the withdrawal symptoms can be life-threatening since the brain is reacting to a sudden halt in use. For this reason, you should never try to detox on your own. It could cause harm to your body.
A better solution is to go to a detox center in Florida. A detox center has everything you need to start your recovery safely. You have access to comfortable and safe facilities, full staff, 24/7 monitoring, and medication-assisted treatment. Detox professionals in South Florida can monitor your health and progress at all times. If anything goes wrong, the staff can respond quickly and provide medical attention.
Get Started with Your Recovery from Heroin and Cocaine Today
If you are ready to get on the road to recovery, Summit Detox can be your first step. We offer detox for heroin and cocaine, as well as opiates, alcohol, and benzos. To find out more about our South Florida detox programs, call us at 866.341.0638. A treatment specialist can answer your questions and go over your treatment options.