Author: Alex Thompson

Speedball Drug What Is Speedballing & How Dangerous Is It?

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. Respiratory failure or depression is particularly likely with speedballs. This is because the effects of cocaine wear off more quickly than the effects of heroin. Speedballing can cause your breathing to become dangerously slow, and the risk of overdose is especially high. This combo significantly increases your chance of experiencing respiratory depression or respiratory failure.

Speedballing can also result in an increased risk for contracting HIV, the development of heroin addiction or cocaine addiction, and a lower chance of completing treatment. The amount of the drug combination that’s taken is less indicative of how a person is affected than a few external factors. Where you are, who you’re with, your mood, personality and medical history all play a role in how speedballing affects your mind and your body. Since cocaine and heroin have opposite effects on the body, it’s possible you might not feel that high from it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not having a physical impact on your body. The risk of overdosing is increased because people often redose if they don’t feel a strong enough high.

1. Cocaine use requires the body to take in and use more oxygen while Heroin slows breathing — putting a strain on overactive lungs, heart, and brain and causing confusion and turmoil in the body.
2. The amount of the drug combination that’s taken is less indicative of how a person is affected than a few external factors.
3. Cocaine is supposed to cancel out some of the sedating effects of heroin.
4. Speedballing has many street names, depending on the drugs used and the location.
5. This combo significantly increases your chance of experiencing respiratory depression or respiratory failure.
6. There are still questions about exactly how the two drugs interact and impact one another’s effects.

When this happens, the full respiratory-impairing effects of heroin hit the body. Mixing Heroin and Cocaine increases the risk of overdose or permanent damage to the body. A Speedball is a mixture of the illicit drugs Heroin and Cocaine. Typically, Speedballing involves both substances being injected into the bloodstream via needles, but they are sometimes snorted nasally together as well. Individuals who Speedball claim to experience a more intense, longer lasting high than that experienced when taking either drug alone. A significant concern for people who speedball is the increased risk of overdose.

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That’s why the major aspects of cocaine addiction recovery include abstinence, rehabilitation and preventing a relapse. There’s a misconception that taking these two drugs together can balance out their opposing effects. In reality, the combination of heroin and cocaine can result in permanent damage to the body and increases the risk of overdosing.

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). Dr. Hoffman has successfully treated hundreds of patients battling addiction. Dr. Hoffman is the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of AddictionHelp.com and ensures the website’s medical content and messaging quality. These prescription medications help to ease withdrawal symptoms, lessen cravings, and prevent relapse. American Addiction Centers (AAC) is committed to delivering original, truthful, accurate, unbiased, and medically current information.

The information we provide is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers. The cocktail of drugs in a speedball can result in serious side effects and sometimes death.

Mixing Heroin and Coke

Many researchers believe the real number of deaths is actually higher due to the way counties report drug deaths. By the first half of 2015, Fentanyl-related deaths in Florida that involved Cocaine increased to 42% (up from 17%). In theory, heroin is meant to reduce cocaine-induced agitation and jitters. Cocaine is supposed to cancel out some of the sedating effects of heroin. BetterHelp can connect you to an addiction and mental health counselor. Additionally, the effects of each drug may be muted when someone speedballs.

Cocaine use requires the body to take in and use more oxygen while Heroin slows breathing — putting a strain on overactive lungs, heart, and brain and causing confusion and turmoil in the body. In particular, Speedballing makes it more difficult for the body to receive the amount of oxygen needed to keep itself safe and balance out the effects of Cocaine. Even worse, because Cocaine wears off much faster than Heroin, people who Speedball tend to inject more often than those who use either Heroin or Cocaine separately. The opposing side effects of this combination lead to a push-pull effect.

FAQs About Speedballing

This false sense of sobriety may result in frequent re-dosing. A 2019 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlights several cases of unintentional fentanyl overdoses by people who thought they were just snorting coke. Coke and heroin aren’t always pure and can contain other substances, including fentanyl. Plus, since the effects of each substance might be muted when you speedball, you might not feel like you’re that high.

However, many people were not aware of the presence of Fentanyl in counterfeit pills (like Oxycodone) and Heroin. In 2014, Cocaine was involved in the second-most number of overdose deaths; use has increased each year. This increase comes directly after a steady decline in Cocaine-involved overdoses between 2005 and 2009. Data from county coroners’ reports show that poly-drug use is driving that increase. Speedballing is especially risky because it forces the body to process more types of drugs simultaneously. Taking a Depressant and a Stimulant together causes a “push-pull” reaction in the body that can be very dangerous.

Speedball (drug)

Copyright © 2024, AddictionHelp.com The information provided by AddictionHelp.com is not a substitute for professional medical advice. View our editorial content guidelines to learn how we create helpful content with integrity and compassion. In general, the stimulant component of a speedball can increase heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and alertness.

Following periods of Speedball abuse, detoxing can be uncomfortable and even fatal if done without medical care. Contact a treatment provider today to learn about rehab-related options. Some purposely took Fentanyl because they knew of its deadly, potent properties.

The two drugs have opposite effects on the body and can increase the risk of adverse effects and fatal overdose. Polydrug use is the use of two or more drugs at the same time or in close succession. It can include combinations of illegal drugs, prescription drugs, or alcohol, increasing the risk of adverse effects and overdose.

What is Coke?

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. Heroin (in theory) is supposed to cut down the cocaine-induced agitation and jitters. On the flip side, cocaine is supposed to dampen some of the sedating effects of heroin so you don’t nod off. Has been an expert in addiction medicine for more than 15 years.

The combined effects of the stimulant and depressant create a push-pull effect on the body, straining the central nervous system and other organs. When there are no Opioids involved in Cocaine-overdose deaths you see an overall decline in recent years. But when you look at Cocaine and Opioids together, we see a more than doubling in the number of overdoses since 2010, with Heroin and Synthetic Opioids increasingly involved in these deaths. The buildup of dopamine leads to intense feelings of alertness and energy. The effects of cocaine wear off after 15 to 30 minutes, depending on how it is used (IV or snorted – not mixed but used consecutively). Heroin and cocaine overdose are two of the top ten most common causes of overdose deaths in the United States.