Cocaine/Crack What is the difference?
 

Hi everyone,

I am new to the site. I am trying to find out what are the main differences between a Cocaine and Crack addiction. I suspect my boyfriend is addicted but not sure to which drug. He binges and is gone for several days at a time, and then shows up broke, tired, congested, coughing, no libido, and often irratable. He always sleeps a lot after these epsidoes. I thought it was cocaine because he told me years ago he had an addiciton to it but was over it now and in recovery for 2 years. Long story short he isn't and I just relaized he is using again and probally has been for awile now. Does crack smell when it is smoked? becuase he has spent a lot of time in the bathroom and i would assume if it was crack the bathroom would have smelled and it never did. Thanks for any help you can provide.

My fiance just went to rehab yesterday due to his crack addiction. Crack has a most disgusting smell. Even some who smoke crack cant stand the smell. I'd describe it personally as like a burnt chemical smell..but theres a hint of sweetness in the smell..it goes away after a while but if he was just smoking crack in your bathroom and you happened to walk in right after him you'd DEFINATELY smell it. When my fiance was getting high he'd take off for hours, sometimes even for the night. He'd come back broke, paranoid..tired and irritable. If your boyfriend is having an issue with crack he should try and get himself some help as soon as possible, and so should you. I have been in your position for the past year and some odd months and it has ruined my life as well as our relationship. Not only my life, but his as well. I am hoping with all of my heart that his journey to rehab will give him another chance. If you need me I am here.

He spent a lot of time in the bathroom with the water running and the fan on. He always carried water with him as well. I thought this was all strange but he always had excuses that sounded feasible. He was in the bathroom so long becuase he wasn't feeling well etc. etc. The couhing could be becuase he smokes ciggarettes and if he was using crack that would explain it. He also had no libido and was very tired and broke after these "disappearing acts" . During these binges he would be incredibly mean to me and call and say horrible things....then when he was okay again it was like a different person very loving and sexual. We are broken up now and have had NC for the past week I am scared now that I know i am most likely dealign with a crack addiction. I have never used any drugs other than an occasional drink so when i would question his behavior he would create arguements and blame me which at times I questioned my own sanity he could be so convincing that I was the problem..I was overly suspicious I was overreacting etc. etc. I am staying away and will not contact him but I am fearing now for my own health reading about some of the horrors that can go on with this addiction. I am certain he is using and it seems like crack from what i am reading but again i can't be totally sure which one it is at this point,,,but in the end it doesn't really matter i just need to stay away.

I have to say I never smelled anythign in the bathroom...i never went in right away but shortly after and I didn't smell anything however he would always have the fan on in there and shut the door when he came out claiming he "went to the bathroom" and that is why he came out and kept the door shut and the fan on to be considerate of me....unbelievable what a fool i have been to believe this but I did. If he was snorting cocaine he would not need to have the fan on and the water running in there.....would he? Sounds funny but he would also use lots of toilet paper too.

I mean I know I've smelled it..it could have possibly been whatever it was cooked up with or the type of stuff he's using in his stem to smoke it. You are NOT alone playing the fool. Before my fiance went into treatment I would do anything and everything for him. I believed all the lies too for a while. So we all play the fool when falling in love with an addict. And as far as the no libido I can totally relate that to the drug use because when smoking crack it does something to their sex drive my fiance and i were intimate pretty much everyday before he started using..its like it consumes their every thought. Coughing may not be directly related to the smoking but to clear his throat rather..ive noticed that before. Perhaps its not crack if you say he was carrying water all of the time? That sounds more like a drug youd mix with water and shoot up rather than smoke. but we'll never know for sure. Message me if youd like and your NOT alone

I hate jumping to conclusions because obviously I do not know this guy from a hole in the wall...all I can tell you is my own experiences and past behaviors. I could be 100% off base ....with that being said....

My drug of choice was heroin and not crack..but a lot of the people I dealt with would also always be smoking crack so I was around it a ton and pretty familiar with it. Let me just start out by saying, a fan in a small bathroom would not cover up the smell produced from smoking crack. That stuff REEKS like burnt rubber and a mere few minutes of a fan on is not going to suck up the entire smell of it. Especially if you are going into the bathroom right after he gets out.

Another thing...being that I was a heroin addict ( IV ) I always carried my 'tool kit' with me wherever I was. This included, a small pack of q-tips, a soda can , and a bottle of water. I don't want you to jump to conclusions but as we all know, addiction is a progressive disease. I know many crackheads who switched from smoking to shooting because it was just a lot better of a feeling and addicts are always looking for a better, more intense rush.

Again, this is only my experiences while I was out using...might want to take a glance at his arms // hands for small red circles (probably the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen). Hope that I am wrong, but it never hurts to be informed. I hope you and your boyfriend make it through these tough times, there are better days ahead.

If he had been shooting the cocaine what would he need to do that? I know he carried water but he was always drinking it that I saw but again i am not nor ever used drugs so i have no idea. He did go in the bathroom and the water woudl run a lot i would hear it and also he would always run the fan....seemed strange to me. but if he was shooting he wouldn't need to do that i don't think anyway. Also, I would find these tiny rolled up pieces of tissue that were wet looked like something you might wipe your nostril with to clean it out that is just my guess...also his eyes were also bloodshot......i just knew he was doing something.

I never saw any track marks on him...though I can't say i searched him for it but i never saw anything like that but he coudl have just started that for all I know. I am so confused now I don't know what the heck he is doing but i know for sure he is doing some form of coke.

I did coke a couple times in college but have never seen or smoked crack. My guess though is that its coke. Running the water and the fan could be to cover up the sound of the snorting. You could cough after snorting coke because it goes down the back of your throat. Also I think I remember it making me thirsty (hense the water). You can get irritable and probably low libido from it too.
My understanding is that crack does not smell, but the act of smoking it (the device you use, etc) makes it smell of "sweet burning rubber" as others have described. Also I think when someone goes on a crack binge they can leave for as long as like 3 days and then come home and sleep.
I think X-dboy meant that he could be shooting up heroin, not coke or crack. I believe there are other places the track marks could be, not just the arms. There is someone on this site who also has experience with this drug that will probably respond tomorrow with her opinion. If I talk to her I will tell you to give you her two cents. Good luck- I hope you have enough self respect to be understanding, but not subject yourself to this for too long if he doesnt want to change.

I believe it was Butterfly who mentioned running water etc. I went to detox and made friends with a man who reckoned he had spent close to 90 thousand dollars in his last year of crack smoking. I made friends with this guy and I hung around with him and his girlfriend a few short weeks after detox. He said crack always made his mouth dry, made him extremly hot, and after a short while he got all twitchy and tweaky . The day after leaving the detox he didn´t show up in the Outpatient therapy. After IOP I went to his house and his girlfriend was alone crying. The guy had gone out and disappeared. She told me that she always knew he was smoking crack because of the fact that he would go to the bathroom usually at night when she was assumed to be sleeping and immediately turn on the water and let it run. She reported the chemical sweet smell as well. I myself smelled the same thing on one of my few crack using sessions. I didn´t find it offensive, rather a light odor. Why the odor smelled like it did, well... I don´t know . Thereafter I always associated the odor with crack and smelled it various other times during my drug career This running water thing is strange, but in the short time I knew this man, he would smoke crack and come out in nothing but a towel. Or go get under my car like he was working and there for close to an hour only to come in and not notice he had burned his lip horribly with the glass pipe. This drug provoked some really strange behavior in this guy. I went with his girlfriend one time to find this guy as he had been gone for a day and His girlfriend had not heard from him since the day before. He had gone to his parents empty house... as we went in his girlfriend threw a huge boulder she found on the kitchen counter down into the garbage disposal and as we drew up on the bathroom I heard the water running in the bathroom...... I often wondered why he liked that noise. I Tried to get him to come to meetings but he obviously wasn´t done yet......sadly.

Thank You Nallabelle, any help your friend can offer would be greatly appreciated. I know that he would go in the bathroom for long periods and the fan would be on and leave the water running a lot. he came out with eyes that were sometimes glassy and blood shot. When I say he had water with him he was always drinking it saying he was thirsty,,,and yes he was always clearing his throat, saying he had a lot of congestion. He woudl disappear for days ... now we do not live together so i am not sure for how long but i couldn't get him on the phone for days and then he would sleep for long periods. His behavior would be very strange at times during these absences if you did get him on the phone and you accused him of using he would get crazy mad and hang up. He would say very nasty and mean things to me. Things noone has ever said to me and call me horrible names. Then a week or so later call and want to get back together saying he was sorry and he would be okay for a few days and then by the weekend he would disappear again either creating an arguement or some crazy thing happened why he couldn't show up. Also, he does work and has a good union job but no money,,in fact he is 41 and is now living home and has a crappy truck in desperate need of repairs it makes no sense other than he is using again.....I also know he is hanging out with a guy who sells pills etc. so it isn't a far stretch to imagine he sells other drugs as well. My BF can be very deceiving becuase he is handsome and well kept so you would never know...but his behavior and mood swings are strange and scary. The bathroom thing is also weird. I doubt highly he is using heroin because he is always wired and jumpy not typical of a heroin high at least i dont' think from what I have read. I hope to god he isn't shooting coke though becuase then my health couldl be seriously at risk. We have had NC for the last week and I have ended things between us becuase i told him i know he is using and he denied it stormed out and that is hte last i heard of him. I have not called nor will I. At first i thought it was snorting cocaine but now after being on SR i think it is crack and it is really scary to me.

Thank you CJSG. Wow, that guy you speak of sounds a lot like my BF. My BF said he was hot a lot as well. The bathroom thing I just started to notice the last month or so...he could have been doing it before but since we don't live togheter I am not sure. Lately we spent more time together so these things were more noticable. I must say I never smelled anythign strange in the bathroom but i found it odd that he would come out and keep the bathroomm door closed and the fan in there running...of course he claimed it was becuase he went to the bathroom but jeeze how many times can you go,,,LOL!! Unless that was all a cover story for being in there so long I just don't know. I never saw burnt lips or fingers ...I also never saw nosebleeds and i have read you get them from snorting but he never had any that I saw. Also, one other time he came here sick drenched in cold sweats, nausea, and no appetite he claimed he had the flu well that was in the begining before i suspected anything so i believed him. I did take his temperature and it was normal...I found that odd given he was drenched in sweat but i just thought he was sick like he siad with a virus. It is all so confusing now that i look back I am putting more things together. I am staying away and just gathering info now so I know what the heck I am dealing with. I do know he had a past cocaine addiciton but like I said he siad it was 2 years ago and he was in recovery...well after nearly 8 months with him i have not seen any recovery program and in fact, all indicators are he is using again. It could be coke and it could be crack or a mixture...who knows. I just know he is very wired at times and very irratable at other times....the mood swings are incredible.

You might want to get tested, if he is shooting he could be sharing needles.

I'm glad others are sharing information with you.

Keep coming back, you are not alone.

Youre right, your health could be at risk. I doubt he is shooting coke but he could be. He could also be using both crack and coke. Why does it have to be one or the other, ya know?

Hi and welcome. I'm a recovering opiate/crack/cocaine addict, 10 months clean. My addiction to cocaine (powder) eventually lead to crack cocaine abuse. In 18 months of smoking it, I almost lost everything, including my life.
I, for one, would go into the bathroom and perform all the rituals that your friend is doing; running water, a fan, etc. I would always either have a scented candle burning, or air freshner. The point, for me in running water was so it sounded like I was actually in the bathroom for legit reasons. It would also help with the sound of flicking the lighter so much, so no one could hear me. I would also flush the toilet a lot....I'd take a hit, hold it, and blow the smoke in the toilet as I flushed to cut down the smell.
I also have a window in the bathroom that I would quietly open and shut.
This worked for me for quite a while, as my husband was clueless to the fact I was 'smoking it'. He thought that I was snorting it.
Crack addiction is a tough one to beat...it's definately something that you have to really truly WANT to QUIT.
Good luck to you.

Penny

I agree with you I doubt he is shooting coke. He could be but after reading on SR the last few days my gut feeling is he snorting coke and using crack,,,,I am sure you can be doing both depending on who is around and how conveient it is to do which one at a given time.

Yes I read on SR that they run the water so much so you can't hear the lighter flicking and the fan is on for obvious reasons to cut down the smell....i don't have a window in my bathroom so he could have been blowing the smoke down the toilet like you said. I knwo he would always come out of the bathroom and shut the door and leave the fan running and joking with me that he "went to the bathroom" don't go in there for awile....well i believed it at the time,,but after he did it 3 or 4 times in the day i thought this is weird that is when I got suspicious. I never thought crack though i thought snorting but like I said after being on SR i can see that maybe he has now graduated to crack instead of snorting cocaine becuase from what I read it is a much stronger and quicker high. Oh and I also found percocet and hydro codeine prescriptions in his truck last week that is the first time I saw that,,he claims it is for back pain...I guess the back pain goes away when he is lifting weights at the gym!!!!!! ridiculous. anyway, that was when i said enough I am done and we haven't spoken since.

change4penny,,,,can you tell me did your husband ever smell the crack? i have never smelled anything.