|
Overdose
Being on methadone
treatment reduces the risks of overdose. Some of the things that increase
the risk of overdose are:
- mixing methadone
with alcohol/tranquillisers;
- persuading prescribers
to give bigger
- starting doses;
and
- taking methadone
if you have serious liver damage.
People who are not
tolerant to methadone can easily overdose.
It is important that opiate users remember that:
- as little as 10mg
can kill a small child;
- a mouthful can
kill a teenager;
- less than 50mg
can kill a non-tolerant adult (and that could include you! - see below);
- using tranquillisers
and/or alcohol at the same time as opiates makes overdose much more
likely; and
- most of the people
who die from methadone overdose have been sold it by someone who has
got a script.
If you detox, or stop
using opiates for a while,
your tolerance will reduce. So, if you do use on top of a low dose, or
go back to heroin after a break, you could easily overdose on the amount
you used to take. If you ever suspect someone
has overdosed on methadone, lie them on their side in the recovery position
(see picture below) and get someone to call an ambulance. In most places
the police do not attend when an ambulance is called to an overdose.
An injection of naloxone
can be given to reverse the effects of opiates, but only if a paramedic
or doctor gets there in time.
There is lots more
information on overdose including a video, telling realoverdose stories
told by the people who were there, on another of our websites www.goingover.org.uk
TOP
| PREVIOUS
| INDEX
| NEXT
|
