Mixing Cocaine And Hydrocodone: Effects And Risks

Cocaine and hydrocodone are two powerful drugs that are frequently abused in the United States. Cocaine is an illegal stimulant that speeds up your heart rate and makes you feel energetic and alert, while hydrocodone (found in prescription painkillers like Vicodin and Lorcet) is an opioid that slows down your body and creates feelings of relaxation and euphoria. Both drugs are highly addictive on their own, meaning people who use them can quickly develop a physical and mental dependence that makes it extremely hard to stop. Even though these drugs have opposite effects on the body, some people intentionally mix them together, which creates serious and potentially deadly health risks.

When someone combines cocaine and hydrocodone, they’re often trying to create what’s called a “speedball”, a dangerous drug combination where the stimulant and depressant are supposed to balance each other out. Individuals believe that the cocaine will prevent them from feeling too drowsy from the hydrocodone, while the hydrocodone will ease the anxiety and jitteriness caused by cocaine. However, this is a dangerous myth. Mixing these drugs doesn’t make either one safer. Instead, it puts enormous strain on your heart, brain, and other organs, dramatically increasing the risk of overdose and death.

Find out more about the dangers of mixing opioids and stimulants.

What Happens When You Mix Cocaine And Hydrocodone?

Cocaine works as a stimulant and provides short-acting euphoria and high energy. When combined with an opioid such as hydrocodone, cocaine mitigates drowsiness and may amplify hydrocodone’s euphoric effects. Hydrocodone is a prescription opioid typically used to treat chronic pain and acute post-surgical pain. Hydrocodone eases symptoms of anxiety and calms down the extreme energy from cocaine use.

Though cocaine works to stimulate the CNS and hydrocodone works to depress it, mixing the drugs does not mean they will cancel out each other’s effects. Instead, this can mean more dangerous effects.

Why Do People Mix Cocaine And Hydrocodone?

People mix cocaine and hydrocodone for different reasons, but most are trying to create a drug combination called a “speedball.” The original speedball was made by injecting heroin and cocaine together, which created an extremely intense high that many drug users found appealing. Today, some people substitute hydrocodone (a prescription opioid painkiller) for heroin because it’s easier to get, but they’re chasing the same dangerous combination of effects. They believe that taking a stimulant like cocaine along with a depressant like hydrocodone will give them the best of both worlds, the energy and confidence from cocaine mixed with the calm, pain-free feeling from hydrocodone.

The reality is that this combination doesn’t work the way users hope it will. While the drugs might seem to balance each other out at first, they’re actually fighting against each other inside your body, putting extreme stress on your heart and brain. Once the effects of both drugs wear off, users experience a severe “comedown” that includes intense fatigue, anxiety, depression, and strong cravings to use more drugs.

Effects Of Combining Cocaine And Hydrocodone

In general, mixing hydrocodone and cocaine can produce effects ranging from dizziness to sweating and tremors. Hydrocodone works to stop people from feeling pain, and this mechanism also alters the central nervous system’s regulation of breathing, brain activity, and cardiovascular abilities.

Some effects of hydrocodone or cocaine use include:

• euphoria
• high blood pressure
• anxiety
• agitation
• muscle tremors
• restlessness
• back pain
• slowed heart rate
• respiratory depression
• sore throat
• drowsiness
• nausea
• low blood pressure
• dizziness
• constipation

Although pills containing hydrocodone are made in quality-controlled facilities, some drug dealers will sell counterfeit hydrocodone pills. These pills can contain stronger opioids, like fentanyl, that are very dangerous. The effects of combined cocaine and hydrocodone intake may also vary, because cocaine may contain adulterants ranging from baking soda to fentanyl.

Find out more about polydrug abuse.

Risks Of Mixing Cocaine With Hydrocodone

Long-term abuse of opioids and cocaine may cause lasting damage to major organs, impact mental sharpness, or result in addiction and dependence. Short-term chronic abuse of these drugs together is a major risk factor for overdose and behavioral issues.

Effects On The Mind And Body

Key risks of continued cocaine and opioid use include persistent mental health and behavioral issues, even after drug use has stopped. Many people find that certain behavioral therapies can help manage the effects of mental health and neurological decline following years of heavy drug use.

Mental health effects of hydrocodone and cocaine abuse include:

• irritability and aggression
• memory loss
• anxiety and depression
• psychosis

Both cocaine and hydrocodone have dangerous effects on the heart and respiratory system. A less-discussed, but serious effect of hydrocodone medications involves acetaminophen-induced damage to the liver and kidneys.

In both the short term and long term, people that use cocaine and hydrocodone pills may experience health problems, including low blood pressure, acute coronary syndromes, heart attack, stroke, seizures, paralysis, increased sensitivity to pain, and constipation.

Increased Risk Of Addiction To One Or Both Drugs

Both cocaine and hydrocodone impact dopamine pathways in the brain. Many people associate the positive feelings of either drug with the dopamine reward, which is a key basis for addiction. The good memory that is tied to a neurochemical release can often reinforce addictive behavior. People can also become tolerant to certain amounts of either drug so that they need to take more of the drug for the desired effect.

Experiencing Cocaine Or Hydrocodone Withdrawal Symptoms

As this dependence builds, a person may begin to experience uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms distinct from the “comedown” off either substance.

Some withdrawal symptoms associated with cocaine and hydrocodone abuse include:

• insomnia
• depression
• nausea and vomiting
• severe drug cravings
• irritability
• aggression
• fatigue
• shaking limbs
• high blood pressure
• increased heart rate
• diarrhea
• chills

Withdrawal symptoms that are either physical or emotional responses to the absence of a drug are understood to be the result of drug dependence.

Can You Overdose When Mixing Hydrocodone And Cocaine?

When people take drugs that have strong, opposing effects, it carries the potential for deadly overdose. The combination of a short-acting stimulant with long-lasting opioids is especially dangerous if the person binges these drugs or takes other substances also. Overdoses can also occur when people that had a high tolerance for cocaine or opioid drugs stops using these drugs then resume at the same rate they used to. Not being able to process it, they may overdose. Crushing and snorting hydrocodone pills may also increase the possibility of overdose.

Symptoms of a cocaine overdose include:

• rapid breathing
• trouble breathing
• chest pain
• high blood pressure
• hyperthermia
• cardiovascular tachycardia, dysrhythmia, and arrhythmia
• unawareness of surroundings
• excessive sweating
• seizures

Symptoms of a hydrocodone overdose include trouble breathing wheezing, slowed heart rate, vomiting, agitation, coma, confusion low blood pressure, lethargy, or clammy skin.

Treating A Polydrug Overdose

Opioid overdoses can be treated if naloxone (Narcan) is promptly administered. This drug binds to opioid receptors as an antagonist, which rapidly restores respiration after reversing the opioid effects. Cocaine overdoses are generally treated with organ-supporting medication, IV fluids, and breathing support as needed.

If you or a loved one are battling a substance use disorder, you can get help overcoming it today. Reach out to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for more information about addiction recovery.

Written by the Addiction Resource Editorial Staff