What effects does cocaine have on the body?

Cocaine can have a number of effects on the body including the possibility that it may trigger multiple sclerosis and other dibilitating (and in some cases, fatal) neurological disorders.

The most immediate physical effects, however, are quickened heartbeat and breathing (which can lead to heart attack), extremely dilated pupils and uncontrollable shaking (called vibrating, by cocaine users). Sexual disfunction is almost universal with continued cocaine use in that the male cannot achieve erection, and neither the male nor the female can achieve orgasm. This condition can last for many months and up to two years after quitting the drug.

The psychosomatic effects are equally universal and scary. Virtually all habitual users reach the point where they no longer get high, but instead become extremely paranoid, tense and jittery, and constantly crave another hit in the belief they will get high this time.

This condition, called jonesing by users, is the end of the line. The brain, at this point, has adjusted the neurotransmitter reuptake process in an attempt at self preservation to the point where the person in this condition will never obtain a true high again from this drug. They will now either quit the drug (highly unlikely) or they will spend the rest of their (shortened) life chasing the high that is never going to come back. Or they will die of a cocktail (mixture of drugs) in a desperate attempt to get high again.

Sad but true, and all facts.