How To Identify A Suboxone Overdose

If you believe that someone has taken a suboxone overdose, then there are a number of telltale symptoms that may indicate that this is indeed the case. It does, therefore, make sense to be aware of these symptoms if you know of anybody that is currently taking the drug so you can help get them some medical help as quickly as possible before they develop any potentially serious long-term health problems as the drug attacks their body.

Prior to discussing the symptoms it is worth doing a quick recap as to what the drug is for and how it is made. Suboxone is a drug that is used to help people overcome opiate addictions to drugs such as morphine or heroin, but the drug itself can become addictive when it is used for a prolonged period of time. It is made up of two drugs, buprenorphine and naloxone and it is commonly prescribed each year to a number of people.

Symptoms of a suboxone overdose.

It is important to point out that there is a risk that a suboxone overdose can indeed lead to death in some cases and this is why you must either seek professional help yourself or get the person that has taken the potential overdose to a hospital immediately. Recovery is possible and the quicker that medical help is sought the lower the risk of there having been any long-term complications.

The main signs of a suboxone overdose include: breathing becomes very slow and difficult, check the pupils to see if they are smaller with them resembling a pinpoint, the person has a seizure, extreme dizziness, constant and extreme drowsiness where it is difficult to get any kind of a response from the person, coma, weakness affecting the body, skin is cold and clammy, and finally the person is in a severe state of confusion. The person may develop just one of these symptoms or they may develop a number of them at the one time, but it is important not to ignore any of them and hope that they just pass due to the damage that the drug may be doing to their system.

Treatment for a suboxone overdose.

Treatment for a suboxone overdose follows the same basic procedures as most other types of overdoses for various drugs and clearly if the person is having problems breathing, then this will be treated on its own. Their vital signs will be closely monitored at all times, but apart from that the main focus is on reducing the impact that suboxone has on their system.

One of the first treatments will often be the administering of a drug that combats the effects that the suboxone has on the body and this is referred to as being a narcotic antagonist. For people with a relatively mild overdose this may be enough to allow them to recover, but in some cases the person may be required to have their stomach pumped and a laxative may also be given in order to help flush out the system with the person being placed on a drip to ensure their body does not become dehydrated due to the medical problems that may arise from it doing so. Finally, activated charcoal may be given to the person as this helps to absorb the drug and will tend to lower the impact it has on the body.

Something that is extremely important when treating a suboxone overdose is that the doctors must know at least approximately how much of the drug has been taken and the time at which it was taken. They must also be informed of any further medications that may have been taken at the same time as they will also be flushed out of the system when the overdose is being treated.

After this stage, the person may be observed for some time in the form of tests to ensure that there has been no long-term damage to various organs around the body due to the overdose and preventative medicine may be prescribed to lower the possibiliy of this happening. A suboxone overdose is something that can be treated quite easily as long as help is sought as quickly as possible and the patient should be back on their feet in a relatively short period of time and able to live a normal life without too many problems.