The session is on! You're on the sofa but a little bit uncomfortable, and your back is aching. Undeterred, you keep trying to get in a good position, but you can't get comfortable no matter how you contort yourself. You put it down to a back strain or assume you must've pulled a muscle at work.  

But that back pain might not just be the result of a hard week at work. If it doesn't go away, it may be that the drugs you've been using are affecting your liver. This condition is something we call Drug-Induced Liver Toxicity or Hepatotoxicity. In short, it is chemical-driven liver damage.  

The Role of the Liver in your Body 

Our liver plays a vital role in cleaning up the shit that we put in our bodies. Food, alcohol, drugs – it cleans it all up and keeps us safe. The drugs themselves, toxins present in pharmaceuticals, the cutting agents and the adulterants all need to be cleaned out. The liver does double duty, ensuring that the shit for blood that we have when using is cleaned.  

How Cocaine use Impacts the Body 

We know that cocaine use has many consequences, positive and negative. The positive would be the high, and the negatives are serious threats like heart issues, seizures, and hallucinations. But what is not spoken about frequently is the impact that cocaine has on the liver, or 'acute liver injury'. This is even more noticeable when mixing cocaine with alcohol. When we mix alcohol and cocaine, it interacts to become cocaethylene, a psychoactive substance associated with seizures, liver damage, and compromised immune system function. This increases the toxicity of both alcohol and cocaine. Your liver must work much harder to clear the impurities you've just banged up your nose. Specifically, it has to clean all the harmful substances and metabolise them to get rid.  

Worrying is that when the liver tries to process alcohol and cocaine simultaneously, it slows the process down for both substances. If you continue to drink alcohol, this has a negative effect on how the liver works, and instead of processing the cocaethylene, it has no choice but to release it back into the bloodstream. This affects all your other major organs and stays in your body for up to three times longer than just using cocaine on its own.  

What are the Risks? Surely you just Stay High Longer? 

One risk or condition from cocaine use is called Rhabdomyolysis. "Rhabdo" can be seriously life-altering or potentially fatal. Rhabdomyolysis is caused when damaged, or necrotic muscle tissue releases protein into the blood system. Because cocaine decreases blood flow, you are more susceptible to muscle death.  

Another issue is viral Hepatitis. Hepatitis is a Blood-borne virus (BBV), but you don't have to be injecting or slamming drugs to catch Hepatitis. When using cocaine, you can catch this by sharing tooters, straws, or notes. It only takes a microscopic amount of infected blood to infect you. Hepatitis is an inflammation in the liver which cause long-term or chronic liver damage.  

And it Doesn't Stop There. 

There is also the issue of renal (kidney) failure! Kidney failure is usually a secondary issue after cocaine use causes liver damage. If your liver can't function as it should, the blood flow to your kidneys is reduced, which can cause your kidneys to fail.  

And it doesn't stop there, either!  

Ever Heard about Arterial Hypotension?  

If not, you should be aware of it. Arterial Hypotension is caused by low blood pressure. Cocaine affects the blood flow around the body and causes the blood flow to slow – it doesn't pump around as fast as it should.  

If you have dizziness or fainting episodes, this could be a sign of arterial Hypotension. The dizziness is due to a lack of oxygen, which can lead to heart failure and brain damage. 

What a collection of fun, eh? Liver damage, low blood pressure, and kidney failure!! And that's just from pure, unadulterated, uncut pharmaceutical-grade cocaine. Imagine all the cutting agents or contaminants that are in your '3 for £100' bags of coke!  

With 'street' cocaine, your liver has to work more than ever before because the shit that it's cut with is the shit that will cause your organs to shut down.  

Six Ways to Stay Safe

1) Don't mix alcohol with drugs
2) Drink water
3) Listen to your body - if it doesn't feel right, then it's probably not right
4) Take a break - don't use every weekend
5) Test your drugs, and know what you're taking
6) Get immediate medical attention if you're peeing blood or if your urine looks like Coca-Cola

Liver damage from cocaine use IS reversible. You must take a break from it. It may be hard, live for tomorrow and live for the moment. You got this.  

Testing your Drugs is a Big Part of Staying Safe 

Knowing the purity of your drugs can be the difference between a good experience and a very, very bad one. While it can be tempting to take a bump and look forward to the high, you can't always guarantee that what you've been offered is safe.  

The EZ Test Cocaine Purity Drug Testing Kit is something no one should be without. In a matter of seconds, the kit can analyse a small product sample and tell you whether it's safe or contains a high quantity of adulterants. 

For more information and to order your EZTest Cocaine Purity Drug Testing Kit, visit the EZ Test website at EZTestKits.com