Speedball Drug What Is Speedballing & How Dangerous Is It?

Data from county coroners’ reports show that poly-drug use is driving that increase. There are also long-term side effects of speedballing on the major organs of the body, including the lungs, heart, and liver. There are reports of individuals who experience manic episodes, paranoia, or depression after speedballing as well. Mixing heroin and cocaine increases the risk of overdose or permanent damage to the body. When people die from heroin, it’s usually the result of respiratory depression, while with cocaine it’s because of cardiotoxicity, also called damage to the heart.

Treatment Options for Speedball Addiction

Speedballing can have various effects on the body, depending on the type and dose of drugs used and the individual’s physical and mental condition. Outpatient addiction treatment offers many of the same beneficial programs and activities but does not require the patient to stay overnight. Detoxification can occur in a hospital, a residential facility, or an outpatient setting, depending on the individual’s needs and preferences. It may involve a gradual tapering of the drugs, a rapid detox under anesthesia, or a medically assisted how to stop drinking out of boredom detox with medications. Speedballing is injecting or ingesting a combination of a stimulant and a depressant drug. For informational purposes only, a link to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments web page is provided here.

What Is Speedballing?

1. People experiencing heroin or cocaine addiction can receive evidence-based treatment .
2. Nonpharmacological treatments for speedball abuse may also exist.
3. Heroin is a highly addictive opioid and is classified as a Schedule I drug in the US.

Colombian cartels increased cocaine production by 100% between 2013 and 2015. If you’re caring for someone else, get them to lay slightly on their side while you wait. Have them bend their top knee inward if they can for added support.

Long-Term Effects of Speedballing

Heroin is a common illicit opioid (derived from morphine) that slows breathing and can lead to respiratory failure, especially when combined with another depressant, such as alcohol. Cocaine, a stimulant, has nearly the opposite effect (such as increased heart rate and energy, rapid breathing, etc). It is a common misconception that mixing heroin with cocaine will either balance or cancel out the negative side effects of heroin. In reality, combining these substances is more dangerous than using either alone because their negative effects can be amplified when combined. The two drugs combined to create speedballs, cocaine and heroin, are highly addictive and can result in withdrawal when no longer taken at the same frequency. Heroin is one of the most addictive substances available today, and cocaine can cause immense psychological dependence in users in a very short time.

Polydrug use can also make diagnosing and treating substance use disorders harder, as the user may have multiple drug dependencies and withdrawal symptoms. Speedballing produces a unique high that is more intense and longer-lasting than the effects of heroin or the effects of cocaine on their own. Medications like buprenorphine attach to receptors used by opioids.17 They ease withdrawal symptoms, helping people to get sober safely and effectively. Speedballs increase the likelihood of seizures, as the combination of heroin and cocaine can disrupt the brain’s electrical activity and lead to convulsions.

Other names or slang terms for combinations of heroin and cocaine include H & C, goofball, he-she and smoking gun. The mixture of heroin and crack cocaine also has slang terms like moonrock, eightball and chasing xanax vs ambien the dragon. Then there’s serial speedballing, which refers to ingesting a sequence of cocaine, heroin and cough syrup over several days. Snorting heroin and cocaine together is sometimes called bipping or crisscrossing. Cocaine is a stimulant that increases your respiration and heart rates.

While heroin is a depressant that slows your breathing and impairs respiratory function, cocaine is a stimulant that increases your heart rate and energy level, so your body requires more oxygen. Rather than canceling each other out, as some people assume, this combination puts added strain on the heart, lungs and brain. A speedball is a combination of 2 powerful drugs, heroin and cocaine, usually taken intravenously or through other means of ingestion. mixing shrooms and alcohol Despite their potentially fatal consequences, people who use speedballs seek out the simultaneous rush of euphoria and energy they provide. 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.

Various drugs are sometimes taken together when users are seeking a different kind of high than the individual substances provide. It’s a combination of heroin and cocaine, which are both illegal drugs. Different types of drugs express themselves in a uniquely in different individuals. Polydrug use– taking more than one drug at a time — is particularly dangerous because when drugs like heroin and cocaine are used together their negative effects can be amplified. Polydrug use is most common among those suffering from some form of addiction.

What Occurs During a Speedball Overdose?

Heroin affects the brain differently from way cocaine does, and not much is known about how these two drugs interact. Methadone, a medication used to treat opioid addiction, has only proved moderately effective in reducing speedball abuse. Many people self-administer a concoction of cocaine and heroin to enhance the effects of both drugs and in hopes that they decrease the negative side effects of each other.

Effects become even more unpredictable when you start mixing substances. If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please contact at If you would like to learn more about heroin, cocaine, or their potential side-effects when used together, contact us at AddictionResource.net. We will help you find the information you need and assist you with figuring out what treatment would work best for your situation.