If you take part in a heavy night of drinking, you expect you’ll pay for it the morning after with a horrible hangover. And by taking drugs, you may think you are saved from any harmful effects after a binge session – but this is not the case.
The drug equivalent of a hangover is the comedown. This is a crash that happens after taking psychoactive drugs, especially stimulants. People experience comedowns due to changes the body and brain go through due to the drugs they are ingesting.
Experiencing a comedown can be unpleasant and may play a role in a drug addiction developing. To help avoid this, you should know what a comedown is, what the symptoms are, and how you can prevent one from occurring.
What is a Comedown?
A comedown is the low after a high. After taking drugs, such as MDMA, cocaine and other stimulants, you will be in an elevated place – happier and more energetic. When the drug begins to clear from your bloodstream, you start to crash or comedown before settling back at your usual level.
Many drugs can cause a comedown. Most commonly, stimulants cause comedowns. To a lesser extent, taking opioids and sedatives can leave the risk of a comedown happening.
Feeling bad after taking drugs may sound more like withdrawal. Experiencing a comedown is different from going through withdrawal. If you are going through withdrawal after a detox, this is an indication of a more chronic problem with drugs. A comedown is a short-term experience that disappears after a day or so.
Signs and Symptoms of a Comedown
The symptoms of a comedown are often quite challenging to endure. Being aware of comedown symptoms is helpful as it can make you better prepared. Taking drugs is never healthy, but if you are safer about your use and the after-effects, you lessen the chance of addiction to cocaine or other stimulants from occurring.
Physical symptoms:
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Aches and pains
- Exhaustion
Emotional & psychological symptoms:
- Depression
- Mood swings
- Irritability
- Unable to think straight or concentrate
- Anxiety
A comedown lasts from 2-3 days, but many factors can affect this timeline and the severity of the symptoms you will experience. With a meth comedown, you will be exhausted and depressed for up to 2 days before other symptoms start to take over.
A comedown from MDMA will last 24 hours but can go on longer. With cocaine, it can be as quick as a few hours, or symptoms can persist for days after.
The worst part of a comedown will likely last for several hours, but lingering symptoms like feeling low and tired may persist for much longer.
What Causes a Comedown?
The causes of a comedown revolve around the effects that psychoactive drugs, such as MDMA and cocaine, have on the brain.
Both drugs affect neurotransmitters, especially serotonin and dopamine. MDMA releases more serotonin in the brain – inducing euphoria and increasing energy and empathy. Due to this increased release, the brain’s reserves of serotonin are depleted – resulting in a comedown.
Cocaine has a stronger impact on dopamine. With increased dopamine levels, you feel more pleasure and are more energised. The excess dopamine gets broken down and reabsorbed by your body, leaving you with lower dopamine levels. A day or more is needed to get back to your usual levels.
Lifestyle factors can also be causes of a comedown. Sleep deprivation, dehydration and physical exertion can all have an impact on whether you experience a comedown.
Risks Associated with Comedowns
Generally, comedowns are just unpleasant and not dangerous. However, you should know the risks of a comedown as in some ways they can be harmful to your health and life.
In the short term, the fatigue and physical weakness you feel can be dangerous. This can lead to accidents and impair your judgement – leading you into potentially dangerous situations.
In the long term, a comedown can exacerbate existing mental health issues. Trying to deal with this can lead you to take more substances – creating a vicious cycle that leads to addiction. The presence of repeating comedowns is a sign of an escalating addiction also.
Many people practice polydrug use to help with comedowns – trying to offset the impact with other substances. Mixing substances is very dangerous, increasing the risk of heart problems, mental health issues and serotonin syndrome.
Managing and Recovering from a Comedown
When a comedown is unavoidable, there are things you can do to help manage the effects and recover.
Immediately, it would help if you made yourself feel physically better. Staying hydrated, eating well, and getting enough sleep will help offset the fatigue, nausea, and headaches you will experience.
Long-term recovery strategies are important to better manage your drug use and comedowns. You should prioritise eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly. Getting outside and being physically healthier will help relieve stress and keep your energy levels up.
You should seek mental health support as well as comedowns can be not just physically draining. If you are experiencing severe symptoms, then you should seek out medical advice.
Preventing Severe Comedowns
The best way to manage a comedown is to prevent one. This is not always possible, but you can prevent the ones you have from becoming severe.
Harm reduction strategies are helpful in situations like this, and these include (but are not limited to):
- Practising dosage control
- Avoid mixing substances
- Test drug purity
- Use the drug less
Being in a safe and supportive environment, surrounded by people you trust, can also have a significant impact on your comedown.
Most importantly, you should educate yourself on the effects of drugs, addiction, and addiction treatment and learn how to minimise the risks of drug taking.
When to Seek Professional Help
Suffering comedowns is not always an indication of a developing addiction, but it can be a sign of more serious problems. It may have come to a point where you need professional help, so knowing the signs is important.
The signs of needing professional help include:
- Loss of interest in hobbies
- Comedowns have turned into withdrawal
- Worsening mental health
- Financial, social and behavioural problems
Professional help will come in the form of rehabilitation. At rehab centres such as Cassiobury Court, you can gain access to detox programmes, individual and group therapies and a wide array of well-being treatments.
Professional treatment is good for treating substance abuse and comedowns as it can help you learn better coping techniques, improve your health, give your life structure and address underlying issues that led you to addiction.
Get Drug Abuse Support Now
If you have been experiencing comedowns and are worried about your drug use, you should consider reaching out to us at Cassiobury Court. We are a drug rehab that can give you the support you need and provide premium addiction treatment.
To get help, call us at 0800 001 4070 or text HELP to 83222.
