When you think about “hyperactivity”, a child who ate a bunch of sugar might come to mind. Maybe you think about that one time you drank a couple of energy drinks in college and stayed up for over 24 hours. Bouts of energy and hyperactivity can be caused by many different things, but did you know that there are substances out there that can do this?
Being informed about substances and their side effects is important to helping you make informed decisions regarding your health. Here at Pinnacle Peak Recovery, we’re continuously trying to lower the stigma around substance use and give access to educational information to our whole community. Today we’re going to be talking about drugs that make you hyper.
What Drugs Can Make You Hyper?
There are two primary types of illicit substances: depressants and stimulants. Depressants include things like marijuana, opioids, and alcohol. They slow down the body and its messaging system, the central nervous system. Stimulants, on the other hand, include things like cocaine, meth, and ecstasy and primarily impact your sympathetic nervous system.
It’s these stimulants that can cause a person to act hyper. When you have stimulants in your system, they increase your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. This combination can make you feel jittery or energetic.
The Symptoms and Side Effects of Cocaine
Cocaine is a stimulant that is derived from the coca plant which is primarily found in Southern America. It comes in a powder that people either snort or rub on their gums. In some cases, people might inject it directly into their veins. Finally, some people use another form of cocaine commonly known as “crack”, which is a crystal form that’s mainly consumed via smoking.
Any use of cocaine can impact your body. While some symptoms might be short-term, with continued or frequent use, you can develop other long-term effects. How exactly does cocaine affect you, however?
Substance use can impact you both physically and mentally. Due to its stimulant nature, cocaine can cause tremors, dilated pupils, and a quickened heart rate. With long-term use, especially those with a cocaine use disorder, you can also start to see damage to parts of your body depending on how you primarily consume cocaine. If you snort it you can damage your nasal linings, if you rub it on your gums you can experience tooth and gum decay, and if you inject it you can damage your blood vessels.
The Emotional Effects Caused by Cocaine
During the time that cocaine is present in your body, it's common to feel things such as elation and happiness. It’s also not uncommon to feel a burst of energy. These emotions tend only to last the duration of your cocaine consumption for that sitting. This is because cocaine impacts your dopamine system, which is the reward chemical in your body.
Dopamine is produced when you do something that makes you happy like eating or sex, for example. Normally it sticks around for a short time before being recycled back into your system. When you have cocaine present, however, it boosts the dopamine product while not allowing it to recycle as easily, making it build up and stick around longer. This can elevate your dopamine levels drastically and make you feel almost euphoric. This does have a downside, however, as when this feeling stops, the drastic drop in dopamine can make you feel sad or emotionally empty.
How Cocaine Affects the State of Your Mental Health
Cocaine can impact your mental health, both short-term and long-term. Here are some of the most common mental health-related side effects of cocaine use.
- Paranoia
- Hallucinations
- Anxiety
Luckily these and other symptoms caused by cocaine use can be treated and managed with proper help.
The Symptoms and Side Effects of Meth
Methamphetamines, commonly referred to as meth, is also a stimulant. It normally comes in a crystal form and is sometimes then crushed down into a powdery substance. It’s most commonly consumed by smoking, snorting, injecting, or something ingesting a pill form.
Meth processes through the body rather rapidly. It causes a rush of dopamine but it then fades rapidly. In order to continue to feel this “high”, people will often repeatedly consume meth which is known as a “binge and crash” pattern. These sessions can last hours or days sometimes. This can lead to side effects such as increased blood pressure and body temperature, irregular heartbeat, dental problems, weight loss, skin sores, and decreased appetite.
The Emotional Effects Caused by Meth
With continued or frequent consumption of meth, your dopamine system can be altered. This can lead to reduced coordination and impaired learning. With long-term consumption, the emotional systems within your brain are altered. This commonly leads to sudden mood swings and violent behavior.
How Meth Affects the State of Your Mental Health
Long-term meth consumption has been shown to actually change your brain structure and function. This can lead to other concerns such as confusion, memory loss, anxiety, and sleeping problems.
Some of the more intense symptoms that can occur, however, are paranoia and hallucinations. Hallucinations are so common, in fact, that there’s a condition called “meth mites” which are coined after the sores that are frequently seen on people with a meth use disorder. Meth hallucinations cause individuals to pick at their skin, normally trying to get rid of a bug or other sensation that isn’t actually there.
The Symptoms and Side Effects of Ecstasy
3,4-Methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) is the full name of what is commonly referred to as molly or ecstasy. It’s a synthetic substance that is somewhere between a stimulant and a hallucinogen. When consumed, it alters both your mood and perception.
This substance is commonly seen in the “party” scene at places such as nightclubs and raves. It’s normally taken in a capsule or tablet form, but can also be found in powder or liquid form. While on ecstasy you can experience side effects such as nausea, cramping, blurred vision, chills, and sweating.
The Emotional Effects Caused by Ecstasy
Despite its name, the feeling of “ecstasy” isn’t the only thing you might experience during and after consuming it. The effects of MDMA tend to last 3-6 hours on average, but a person might experience side effects for up to a week after consumption. This includes symptoms such as:
- Irritability
- Impulsive behaviors
- Aggression
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Attention problems
- Sleep problems
- Memory problems
You might also feel a decreased interest in things that normally bring you pleasure. Two of the most common ones are food and sex.
How Ecstasy Affects the State of Your Mental Health
While you can experience some mental health symptoms during and shortly after consumption of MDMA, you can also have mental health symptoms during withdrawal. One of the most common mental health symptoms related to withdrawal is depression. This occurs primarily due to the highs that your body becomes used to during ecstasy consumption.
Luckily, there is help and you can recover from any mental health symptom that comes with substance use.
Getting Treatment for a Substance Use Disorder
If you are managing a substance use disorder (SUD), you’re not alone. Here in Arizona, over 400,000 people over the age of 12 are reported with having an SUD. At Pinnacle Peak Recovery, we’re no strangers to SUD treatment. We offer programs for a variety of substance recovery, including meth addiction treatment, cocaine addiction treatment, and more. At our facility, manned by licensed and trained medical professionals, we offer everything from detox programs to inpatient and outpatient treatment.
Detox allows you to be in a medically safe environment while you go through the withdrawal side effects that can come from long-term substance use. Some side effects can be unpleasant or even harmful, but with our team by your side, we can help you manage symptoms so that you can focus on your recovery.
From there, we will assess your needs to determine what level of care is going to be best for you. Inpatient allows clients to stay on-site in a safe environment surrounded by people who are in a similar boat as them. It can help you realize you’re not alone as you go through therapy to help give you the tools you need to manage your recovery.
After inpatient, some clients move on to outpatient. This program allows you to continue to have access to many of the same support systems while adjusting back to your life outside of the facility. There are weekly meetings and program extensions available as you apply your new skills to other aspects of your life.
If you have any questions about our programs, substance use, or anything else, our staff at Pinnacle Peak is always happy to help. Feel free to give us a call at (866) 377-4761.
Is A Loved One Has A Substance Use Disorder Addiction. Call Us Today!
FAQs
Does cocaine change your mood?
Cocaine impacts your dopamine system, which is the reward chemical in your brain. It’s responsible for the feelings of happiness and pleasure that you receive from doing a variety of things like eating or having sex. So yes, cocaine can change your mood to make you feel more elated or euphoric during its short lifespan.
What drugs make you super energetic?
Stimulants are known to have a side effect of high energy levels.
What drugs act like stimulants?
If a drug acts like a stimulant, there’s a chance it’s partially a stimulant. Some common stimulants include cocaine, meth, and ecstasy.
What drugs keep you awake for days?
No single dose of a substance will keep you awake for days, but often times people who consume meth are known to continually partake in it for hours upon hours, these binge and crash sessions sometimes lasting days.