Drug overdoses: how to identify them and what to do about them

Similarly, depictions of possessed individuals or those afflicted by divine wrath frequently include this detail, highlighting the overwhelming power of the force controlling them. Rest assured, this isn’t a sign of something worse and is just a normal side effect. Almost 3.5 million people, adults and children alike, have active epilepsy in the United States. Substance use can make itself known in many ways, from changes in behavior to physical side effects as well. In Arizona, up to 40% of youth have tried at least one kind of substance in 2020.

Co-use of opioids and benzodiazepines

• One of the symptoms of rabies is paralysis of the throat muscles, which makes it difficult to swallow.
• Some health conditions can interrupt a person’s ability to swallow, causing saliva to pool in the mouth and become foamy.
• Just one whiff and you’ll foam at the mouth, fall into a coma, and die.
• Not only does it include the mental rehabilitation needed to treat addiction, but medical drug detox is also provided to treat physical health.
• Taken together, these data highlight the need to integrate fentanyl testing into standard substance use toxicology tests employed by the medical, criminal justice, and treatment communities in Massachusetts areas with high levels of fentanyl use and overdose.
• Foaming or frothing at the mouth occurs when excess saliva pools in the mouth or lungs and mixes with air.

There are types of opioids, like heroin, that have only been created for illegal consumption. If available, administer Narcan®(naloxone) within two to three minutes. When administered, Narcan works by blocking the effects of opiates on the brain and temporarily restores breathing.

Rabies

Knowing the types of drugs that can cause this reaction is important for keeping yourself or a loved one safe. The interviews shed light on the fast-acting and sometimes gruesome nature of fentanyl overdoses — as well as how widespread the drug has become — according to the report, which the CDC published today (April 13). If the overdose was caused by an opioid, a person may receive an injection of an opioid overdose reversal medication (OORM), such as naloxone, to immediately reverse the action of the drug. However, naloxone will not work on overdoses caused by stimulant drugs. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is a medication that helps reverse opioid overdose. If someone in your life may be at increased risk of opioid overdose, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends keeping naloxone on hand.

Basic Life Support

The side effects that come in addition to foaming at the mouth will better indicate what might be occurring in someone. Ensure the individual has an open airway that is free of obstructions and lay the individual on their side. It can take only 1–3 hours from the time of the overdose to cause death. Treatment will vary depending on the cause of foaming at the mouth, but emergency treatment is usually necessary to prevent overdose foaming at the mouth serious, irreversible complications.

The Toxicology Report

Thetransudation of fluid leads to pulmonary edema, which in turn exacerbates thehypoxemia, forming a vicious cycle that is not broken until adequate oxygenationcan be restored. Systemic shock from hypersensitivity to opioid or a differentsubstance that was used to dilute or enhance the drug may help explain rapiddeaths. On occasion, a syringe will be present in the decedent’s hand or remain embeddedin his/her arm or other injection site. Intravenous injection of a drug maydeliver a particularly large amount of drug in a short amount of time that mayoverwhelm the body’s compensatory abilities.

Other Side Effects of Opiates

It is essential to seek immediate medical help if a person begins foaming at the mouth. In addition, many public health departments and harm reduction programs offer naloxone training. Many drugs sold illegally are laced with the opioid fentanyl, which can lead to an unexpected opioid overdose. Some health conditions can interrupt a person’s ability to swallow, causing saliva to pool in the mouth and become foamy. In other cases, excess fluid in the lungs can mix with air and create foam that comes out of the mouth.

Overdose deaths were also categorized broadly as involving fentanyl, heroin or morphine, or other opioids, although in many cases other drugs also contributed to the death. Atypical symptoms reported during fentanyl overdose may be attributable to other drugs or drug combinations and not fentanyl. Second, circumstances or events preceding death (e.g., rapid onset of overdose symptoms) can be inferred from death scene evidence, but absence of evidence cannot be interpreted as evidence of absence; numbers presented therefore likely underestimate the actual prevalence of circumstances. Finally, interview respondents were recruited with the help of community-based harm reduction programs in which overdose prevention education and naloxone rescue kits were offered.

Seizures can be a side effect of substance withdrawal as well for substances like alcohol or benzodiazepines. If someone is experiencing a seizure, there are a few things you can do to help. Try to clear some space around them in order to make sure they don’t hurt themselves. If it lasts longer than 5 minutes or they have multiple seizures in a short time frame with no recovery time in between, you should seek medical help.

• Certain food and drink combinations can create a foaming effect in the mouth.
• It is a life choice that can create a string of issues and can be damaging and potentially life-threatening, and the impact that addiction can have on families is devastating.
• Substance abuse can be defined as the excessive use of a legal or illegal substance where over time the substance is overused and therefore can make the user immune from its effects.
• Unexpected weight gain, for instance, might be linked to medication side effects; information on this can be found regarding the potential for latuda and weight gain.
• While a precise timeline is difficult to construct due to the subjective nature of historical records, the use of foaming at the mouth imagery in art and literature can be traced back to antiquity.
• Patients are at highest risk ofrespiratory depression during the first 24 hours of opioid therapy (57), particularly if theindividual has preexisting obstructive sleep apnea, heart failure, lung disease,obesity, or achieves a deep level of sedation.
• This approach has produced excellent results over the years, and a number of former patients have taken to review platforms to talk about their experiences.“I had never been to rehab before, I was scared and was referred here to Pinnacle Peak Recovery,” says a patient.

If an individual shows any signs of an opioid overdose, it is important to call for medical help.Drugs are not the only problem that causes foaming at the mouth. Rabies and seizures are two other potential causes of foaming at the mouth. Foaming at the mouth due to rabies is very rare, however, with only 25 cases in the history of the United States. Seizures, however, cause foaming at the mouth fairly frequently.The blog post says, “Almost 3.5 million people, adults, and children alike, have active epilepsy in the United States.

If someone starts to foam at the mouth, a bystander should roll them on their side, make sure their airways are clear, and call emergency services or take them to the nearest hospital. If an animal bites you, or you come into contact with an animal that could be carrying rabies, it’s important to get checked out by a doctor right away. You can avoid potential infections or complications by getting prompt medical care.