What is speedballing?

Question

I had a friend that told me she was disappearing because she was speedballing. I want to know what is speedballing and what are the visual symptoms I can look for.

Answer 1

OMG! i agree with thumper. Get her away from that stuff.

Speedballing is a drug term for the mixing of heroin and cocaine. This is a potentially lethal concoction: the cocaine acts as a stimulant, raising the heartbeat, but its effects wear off more quickly than those of heroin, which in turn slows the heart. As a result, it is possible to experience a delayed "overdose" (technically, severe respiratory depression) when the stimulant wears off and the full effects of the heroin are felt in isolation. The term may be applied to the simultaneous use of any opiate drug with a stimulant, and methamphetamine has been used in place of cocaine.

The term "speedball" was by consensus almost always in reference to an injection unless otherwise stated, but the popularization of the concept in recent years has meant that many people who insufflate heroin and cocaine now combine the two drugs in order to achieve the purported effects. Some people who use heroin also combine it with smoked freebase cocaine (crack); in some circles this is considered a type of speedball, but is usually known as a moonrock. It's also known as an 8ball.

One of my best friends did that for long time.. I asked her once why she did it. She told me she did it to dull the pain.

I asked her this. If you the pain is there before you get high, isn't there while your high and coming down looking for you next high?

Symptons visuals.. you will noticed.. major thurst, can sit still, will not talk alot, eyes either blood shot or pupils dialated badly.

It took her a long time to get clean, but she did it.

Answer 2

Speedballing is a term used when someone takes an upper (most often cocaine) along with an opiate drug (most often heroin, but it could also be morphine or oxycodone). Usually they are mainlined (injected into a vein). Visual symptoms vary. The pupils could be dilated, the eyes can be red, the person can be irritable, euphoric, very talkative or just the opposite, slowed down, lazy, falling asleep, vomiting, passing out. Speedballing is very dangerous. When I practiced medicine in Washington, DC (SouthEast-the ghetto), I saw a lot of patients in the emergency room who were speedballing. Some of them died from a speedball. Now as far as your friend saying she was "disappearing", I am not sure what she meant by that but I assume she meant she was going somewhere to get high, or get away from people because her speedball was too much for her to handle being around people.
I hope this helped answer your question.
Get your friend some help!!!
Regards,
Warren Shaffer, M.D.

Answer 3

Speedballing

Answer 4

This is incredibly dangerous. It can cause a heart attack.

Speedballing is a drug term for the mixing of heroin and cocaine. This is a potentially lethal concoction: the cocaine acts as a stimulant, raising the heartbeat, but its effects wear off more quickly than those of heroin, which in turn slows the heart.

As a result, it is possible to experience a delayed "overdose" (technically, severe respiratory depression) when the stimulant wears off and the full effects of the heroin are felt in isolation. The term may be applied to the simultaneous use of any opiate drug with a stimulant, and methamphetamine has been used in place of cocaine.

Answer 5

Speedballing can be any mix of uppers and downers, e.g. Valium + Ritalin, et cetera.

Answer 6

I must agree with thumper!!!! Get your friend help,Talk to her parents if you have to,And don't feel as your snitching on her in the end she'll know the truth.I'm an ex addict myself,My husband died METH TILL DEATH,he was murderd over meth. His death is the only thing that saved my life,I didn't want to be like that no more.Just get her help if you can.

Answer 7

Umm, get her off that. Its mixing heroin and coke in a needle and then shooting up. Go get her help that is gonna kill her.