Cocaine is a stimulant that makes you feel good by stimulating the ‘feel-good’ chemicals in the brain, like dopamine.
Though not specifically a Chemsex drug, cocaine is commonly used by men socially and when having sex. Cocaine comes from the coca plant in South America and usually comes as a powder, as crack (small rock formations), or as freebase (crystallised powder). It is also known as coke, Charlie or blow.
Cocaine can be taken by:
The effects of cocaine, like other stimulants can make you feel alert, happy, excited, wide awake, confident, self-assertive and very horny. Cocaine can make you feel more confident when flirting with other men and even lead to you having sex with people you wouldn’t normally have sex with.
A lot of guys use coke when they are having sex because it makes them feel confident about themselves. It can also help in areas where guys have a lack of self-confidence with the sex they have. In addition, cocaine can affect the sex you have in the following ways:
Though cocaine is a widely used drug, it does have several downsides to it, some of which can affect your health.
Those who have underlying mental health problems find that using cocaine can make them worse. In addition, if you're using cocaine regularly, you may have feelings of anxiety, paranoia, tiredness or depression, during or after use.
There is no evidence of cocaine reacting with HIV medication. It is important to be aware, however, that using cocaine may have unintended consequences on other parts of your health and wellbeing, which may impact on how you manage your HIV medication. Cocaine can also reduce your appetite which could become an issue for men who take HIV medication with food. Some men can also forget to take their meds when high on coke or having a comedown afterwards.