Titrate Naloxone to effect.
The effect is restoration of breathing. Not return to consciousness.
Too much naloxone can cause a person dependent on opioids to suffer withdrawal symptoms.
A person put in sudden withdrawal can suffer from horrible pain, nausea, vomiting, tremors, rapid heart rate, excessive sweating and other unpleasant symptoms.
A person put in sudden withdrawal may also be angry.
They may be angry that they are sick. They may be angry that the pleasant feeling and escape from sickness they sought is gone. They may be angry about the money and time they spent to obtain their opioids is now also gone. They may be angry that they will have to get more to use again to make this horrible withdrawal go away.
And they most likely do not want to go to the hospital. They may not want to go because they are in withdrawal. They may not want to go because they may feel they will be treated badly by ED staff and judged for their drug use. Perhaps that happened to them the last time they overdosed.
If they refuse to go to the hospital, they will miss an opportunity for intervention, miss a chance to meet with a caring recovery coach or be offered buprenorphine by a caring physician.
If they refuse to go, they may likely very soon use opioids again.
But this time they will likely use in a place where no one will find them to give them naloxone and make them sick again.
They will likely use in a place where no one will find them.
91% of people who die of opioid overdoses die using alone.
Titrate Naloxone to effect.
Be gentle. Be kind. Don’t judge. Offer help.