With opioid overdoses, surviving or dying wholly depends on breathing and oxygen. Fortunately, this process is rarely instantaneous; people slowly stop breathing which usually happens minutes to hours after the drug was used. While people have been “found dead with a needle in their arm,” more often there is time to intervene between when an overdose starts and before a victim dies. Treatment for drug overdose varies but often involves the use of activated charcoal, gastric lavage, and intravenous fluids. Certain other drugs may be used to reverse an overdose, such as naloxone in the case of opioids. Mechanical ventilation or oxygen therapy is sometimes necessary to assist breathing.
What Is an Accidental Drug Overdose?
- National Harm Reduction Coalition creates spaces for dialogue and action that help heal the harms caused by racialized drug policies.
- After calling 911, stay with the individual experiencing an alcohol overdose.
- The substance that has been taken may often be determined by asking the person.
- The accumulation will spread throughout the body and will lead to an alcohol overdose, which is also known as alcohol poisoning.
- An overdose can lead to serious medical complications, including death.
Substances to combat the actions of the drug may be administered, such as naloxone in the case of opioid overdose or n-acetylcysteine for acetaminophen overdose. Mechanical ventilation or oxygen therapy may be used for individuals who experience difficulty breathing. An overdose (OD), or drug overdose, is when someone accidentally or intentionally consumes more than a safe or typical amount of a substance such as a prescription medication or drug. Knowing the signs and symptoms of an overdose and what to do if you think you or someone else may be overdosing is life-saving information.
What Is the Medical Treatment for a Drug Overdose?
Often, the bottle the drug came in will have the information needed. If you think you or someone you may know is experiencing an overdose, the best thing you can do is treat it like an emergency. Afterward, you may experience many complicated emotions about the overdose, how you reacted, and what to do to prevent future overdoses. Know that medical and mental health community support is available, and you don’t need to go through this alone.
Overdoses in Federal Drug Trafficking Crimes
This happens because opioids fit into specific receptors that also affect the drive to breathe. If someone can not breathe or is not breathing enough, the oxygen levels in the blood decrease and the lips and fingers turn blue- this is called cyanosis. This oxygen starvation eventually stops other vital organs like the heart, then the brain. Following their overdose treatment, patients need to go through detoxification to manage their withdrawal symptoms and slowly expel the drug from their system. Doctors should subsequently recommend them to the appropriate level of treatment so they can receive continued care. There has been a 439 percent increase in heroin overdose deaths from 1999 to 2014.
It is important that more is done to prevent overdoses and deaths. Prevention activities help educate and support individuals, families, and communities and are critical for maintaining both individual and community health. People can overdose on lots of things, including alcohol, Tylenol, opioids or a mixture of drugs.
People try to never use fentanyl alone and often carry naloxone or Narcan to reverse overdoses. Many people use test strips to identify unwanted contaminants in their drugs and use smaller fentanyl doses. Thirty years after the U.S. opioid crisis began — and a decade after fentanyl spread nationwide — the U.S. has made strides developing better drug overdose meaning and more affordable services for people experiencing addiction. Medications that reduce opioid cravings, including buprenorphine and methadone, are more widely available, in part because of insurance coverage provided by Medicaid. In many states, roughly $50 billion in opioid settlement money paid out by corporations is also starting to help.
Learn more about CDC’s overdose prevention strategic priorities
To avoid an alcohol overdose, avoid drinking excessive amounts of alcohol in a short time. Drinking a lot of alcohol in a short time (binge drinking) can rapidly increase the amount of alcohol in the blood. This makes it difficult for the body to remove alcohol from the bloodstream and can harm other body parts. Individuals experiencing a stimulant overdose should stay hydrated and cool. If they begin to have a seizure, ensure no harmful objects are close to them.
Opioids
It’s distributed for free in many high-risk communities, and people using drugs often carry it. It’s unclear how many lives naloxone is saving each year, but many front-line public health workers tell me the impact is huge. The signs and symptoms of overdose are different for each type of drug (e.g., alcohol, common prescriptions, heroin, cocaine, and other hard drugs). For example, alcohol overdose causes slow heart rate, lack of motor skills, and an inability to wake up. Individuals can overdose, either intentionally or accidentally, on virtually any drug. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 450,000 people died from overdoses involving any type of opioid from 1999 to 2018.
Going forward, it’s unclear how the Trump administration’s deep cuts to public health agencies and grants will affect this new addiction safety net. A drug overdose is a medical emergency that requires immediate intervention. If the person overdosing can get treatment quickly, there is a chance that their life may be saved.
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Of course, moderating the consumption of alcohol and other substances can be challenging for individuals with a substance use disorder. This chronic condition involves the ongoing overuse of a substance. Anyone receiving an opioid prescription should speak with their doctor to learn more about the risk of overdose. This article examines the topic of drug overdose in detail. It discusses what a drug overdose is, why it occurs, and how to prevent it.
A history and physical examination to look for evidence of drug poisoning will be performed. The doctor may order laboratory tests based on the organ systems that can be harmed by the specific drug overdose to make a diagnosis. 60 percent of drug overdoses involve an opioid, according to a 2014 CDC report. Short-acting barbiturates expel out of the body within 24 to 48 hours as opposed to long-acting barbiturates such as phenobarbital, which require emergency services.
If you misuse drugs, quitting is the best way for you to prevent a drug overdose. Know that certain ways of taking drugs can be riskier than others. Inhaling or injecting drugs may cause them to get to your brain more quickly and also increases your chance of using an amount that can severely harm you. You should seek medical help immediately if you have these symptoms or witness them in someone else and suspect they may have overdosed. The most obvious way to tell if these symptoms indicate overdose is if you know you have taken drugs or have seen someone else take drugs. Getting medical help quickly can make a big difference in the effectiveness of drug overdose treatment.
The drug naloxone (Narcan) can also help treat an opioid overdose by blocking opioids’ effects in the body. This medication is available in a nasal spray and as an intravenous injection at the hospital. Stabilization of the person’s airway, breathing, and circulation (ABCs) is the initial treatment of an overdose. Ventilation is considered when there is a low respiratory rate or when blood gases show the person to be hypoxic.
An opioid overdose involves the overconsumption of opioid-based drugs such as morphine, oxycodone and other synthetic narcotics. An overdose is when a person consumes “over” the recommended or typical dose of a substance. An overdose can be accidental (i.e., you were prescribed a dose of medication, and your body does not handle it as expected), or it may be intentional. Intentional overdosing is perceived as suicidal behavior. Tolerance may also influence overdose risk in another way. Following attempts to quit a drug, or any period of abstinence, tolerance may abate.