You’re not alone — whether you need to talk to someone about what’s happened or you’re looking for treatment for opioid use disorder. Support groups and treatment programs can help you regain your health and support your future safety. If you have questions or concerns, reach out to a healthcare provider or someone you trust. It can be hard to know what you’re getting when using nonmedical opioids. They might be mixed with other drugs like heroin, fentanyl or carfentanil (an extremely potent drug used to sedate large animals).
- 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.
- Naloxone can quickly restore normal breathing to a person during an opioid overdose.
- 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.
- First responders or healthcare providers look for signs of an overdose and rely on information from friends and loved ones.
- 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.
Whether you need stitches, a broken bone set or think your appendix might be causing your abdominal pain, Cleveland Clinic’s emergency medicine team is here to help. These receptors are supposed to send signals to the rest of your body to tell it to keep breathing. This causes your breathing to slow and eventually stop (respiratory failure). Within minutes of not receiving enough oxygen, your brain cells begin to die.
- Support groups and treatment programs can help you regain your health and support your future safety.
- It can be difficult to determine if someone is overdosing, but erring on the side of caution can save a life.
- WHO supports countries in improving the coverage and quality of treatment programmes for opioid dependence and introducing them where they do not already exist.
- In a 2020 study, 75% of overdose deaths involved a prescription or illicit opioid, including 62% that involved a synthetic opioid other than methadone, such as fentanyl.
First responders or healthcare providers look for signs of an overdose and rely on information from friends and loved ones. As you’re likely unconscious while experiencing an overdose, they’ll assess the scene and look for clues or substances near you. An opioid overdose happens when opioids overwhelm the part of your brain that controls breathing. WHO recommends that naloxone be made available to people likely to witness an opioid overdose, as well as training in the management of opioid overdose. In suspected opioid overdose, first responders should focus on airway management, assisting ventilation and administering naloxone. After successful resuscitation following the administration of naloxone, the level of consciousness and breathing of the affected person should be closely observed until full recovery has been achieved.
Signs of opioid overdose
These unknown ingredients increase your risk of overdose and death. Also, pills that are given to you or bought from a friend may look like a safer drug, but might contain lethal doses of nonmedical opioids, including fentanyl. The healthcare provider may be able to use an antidote for certain drug overdoses. For example, the drug naloxone can help reverse the effects of a heroin overdose. This is particularly relevant for people with opioid use disorders and leaving prison, as they have very high rates of opioid overdose during the first four weeks after release. The cause of a drug overdose is either by accidental overuse or by intentional misuse.
About 39.5 million people lived with drug use disorders in 2021(2). Most people dependent on opioids used illicitly cultivated and manufactured heroin, but the proportion of those using prescription opioids is growing. Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), sometimes referred to as “opioid dependence” or “opioid addiction,” is a problematic pattern of opioid use that causes significant impairment or distress. OUD is a medical condition that can affect anyone – regardless of race, sex, income level, or social class. Like many other medical conditions, evidence-based treatments are available for OUD, but seeking treatment remains stigmatized.
Risk factors
Take appropriate caution when dealing with drug overdose. Each person responds differently, and reactions are hard to predict. Many people who are directed to go to the emergency department may not develop any physical signs of poisoning. If you misuse drugs, quitting is the best way for you to prevent a drug overdose.
What Is an Accidental Drug Overdose?
Opioids include heroin, morphine, codeine, fentanyl, methadone, tramadol, and other similar substances. Due to their pharmacological effects, they can cause difficulties with breathing, and opioid overdose can lead to death. Their regular non-medical use, prolonged use, misuse and use without medical supervision can lead to opioid dependence and other health problems. Opioid dependence is a disorder of regulation of opioid use arising from repeated or continuous use of opioids. Naloxone (spray or auto-injectable) can reverse an opioid overdose, including heroin, fentanyl, and prescription opioid medications.
Public Health
The amount that’s “too much” varies based on your tolerance and the strength of the opioid. That can make it hard to know what’s safe and what’s not. So, it’s important to follow prescribing instructions closely or avoid substances when you might not know what the dosage is. WHO also issues normative guidance to promote the appropriate use of opioids for pain and palliative care. Appropriate use and regulation of opioid analgesics ensures that they are available where needed whilst preventing their diversion and harm related to misuse.
Illicit drugs, used to get high, may be taken in overdose amounts when a person’s metabolism cannot detoxify the drug fast enough to avoid unintended side effects. The best methods remove opportunities for accidental overdose or triggers for intentional overdose in the first place. Treating an overdose as soon as possible prevents death and other serious complications like severe disability or brain damage.
What is an Opioid Overdose?
There are medical resources available so you can get the care you need. If you suspect someone may be overdosing, do not leave them alone. Seek immediate medical help by calling 911 or taking them to an emergency unit. If you aren’t sure if someone is overdosing, it’s best to act as if they are by seeking emergency help. This article will explain what an overdose is, the signs and symptoms of overdose to watch for in yourself and others, and what to do in case of an overdose. People with certain mental illnesses need the help of family and friends to assist with medication therapy and to lend social support.
In a 2020 study, 75% of overdose deaths involved a prescription or illicit opioid, including 62% that involved a synthetic opioid other than methadone, such as fentanyl. If you aren’t sure, it is best to treat the situation like an overdose—you could save a life. Administer naloxone or another opioid overdose reversal medication (if available) and then call 911. Try to keep the person awake and breathing and lay the person on drug overdose definition, treatment, prevention their side to prevent choking. These pills are dangerous because they typically appear as pharmaceutical pills but often contain illegally made fentanyl and illegal benzodiazepines or other drugs, with or without people’s knowledge.
When we act early, we can prevent illegal substance use, including illegal opioids, and misuse of prescription medications, like opioids, that can lead to substance use disorders. For some accidental drug overdoses, the local poison control center may recommend home therapy and observation. Because of the potential for problems after some overdoses, syrup of ipecac or other therapies should not be given unless directed by a medical professional. Your doctor, your local poison center, or the emergency department of your local hospital may be able to help determine the seriousness of a suspected drug overdose. Development of any symptoms after drug overdose requires immediate and accurate information about the specific name of the drug, the amount of the drug ingested, and the time when the drug was taken.
Risk factors for drug overdose are those that would make someone more likely to abuse drugs, or more likely to accidentally take the incorrect medication or take the wrong dose of a medication. If you use prescription drugs, be sure to use them only as directed by your doctor. Do not combine any medications without first asking your doctor if it’s safe.
However, some people may be more sensitive to certain medications so that the high end of the therapeutic range of a drug may be toxic for them. If first responders suspect an overdose, they’ll administer naloxone. This is an emergency medication that treats opioid overdoses. If your symptoms improve with this medication, it confirms that you had an overdose.
Overdose prevention is a CDC priority that impacts families and communities. Drug overdose is a leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. Research shows that if you had one overdose, you’re at an increased risk of having another in your lifetime. Males, people of older age and people with low socio-economic status are at higher risk of opioid overdose than women, people of young age groups and people with higher socio-economic status.
