Which medicine overdose causes death

While many of the people who die from these prescription medications are prescribed them, other people die from using medications that have been prescribed to other people.

While taking these medications, in some cases, makes sense, many people are over-prescribed these medications or use them inappropriately. They may take them in dangerous combinations with other drugs or alcohol, use dosages which are higher than prescribed, or use dosages which were OK when they were a higher body weight or had greater tolerance.

For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database. If you are prescribed one of these medications, it might make sense to explore other options, such as psychological or behavioral approaches to treating anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, or pain. You should be particularly careful about starting to take these medications if you or a family member has ever suffered from an addiction or another mental health problem.

However, once you are taking them, you should not stop or take a different dosage without consulting your doctor first.

In keeping with this increase in painkiller use, the rate of people who have died from overdoses of prescription painkillers, such as Oxycodone such as OxyContin , Hydrocodone such as Vicodin , and Fentanyl, has increased massively over the past decade. In , over 17, Americans died from taking prescription painkillers.

Strictly speaking, methadone is a prescription painkiller, although, in reality, people are usually prescribed methadone to wean them off heroin , or as a heroin substitute. When used to treat heroin addiction, methadone is thought of as the lesser of two evils. Although it is safer than heroin, it is still possible to overdose on methadone.

Benzodiazepines are a group of tranquilizer drugs, which have been prescribed for a variety of conditions in particular anxiety and insomnia. These drugs include commonly known medications, such as alprazolam Xanax , chlordiazepoxide Librium , diazepam Valium , and lorazepam Ativan , as well as clonazepam Klonopin , oxazepam Serax , and temazepam Restoril.

Unfortunately, for those who take them for more than a very short time, dependence can develop, with a potentially nasty withdrawal syndrome that can be life-threatening.

However, there are two reasons that stimulants are included on this list: first, because they are often prescribed to children; and second, because they are often used as recreational drugs. Stimulants are being "diverted" or sold to people for whom they were not prescribed, or taken in larger quantities than prescribed for pleasure or increasing alertness. They are commonly used by college students for these reasons. Yet there is a risk. In , U. And while deaths from overdose can be avoided with appropriate medical care, they can happen, and overdose with ADHD medications can make people very ill, with many cases requiring intensive care medicine and prolonged hospital stays.

An association between the use of stimulants and rare sudden unexplained death among children and adolescents has also been found. Anabolic androgenic steroids are, strictly speaking, prescription drugs, although they are typically taken for non-medical reasons, particularly by men who want to increase their muscle mass. Bodybuilders and athletes, who are vulnerable to exercise addiction, are among those most likely to use these drugs.

Several studies have indicated dangers associated with the use of steroids. One study showed that men who test positive for steroids had twice the rates of cardiovascular disease and death as those with negative tests. However, the most common cause of death during any chemical overdose is respiratory failure. Depressants that affect the central nervous system, CNS , include opioids , benzodiazepines , and alcohol.

Drugs that are CNS depressants will lower blood pressure and body temperature, and slow the heart rate and breathing. This is why these drugs cause sedative effects, which in turn results in the reduction of anxiety and increase in a calm and euphoric effect. When too high of dosages of depressants are used, it can lead to adverse side effects, such as respiratory failure, overdose, coma or even death. Opioids are one of the easiest substances to overdose on, given how they function once consumed.

The human body has opioid receptors in several different areas, including the brain, central and peripheral nervous systems, and the gastrointestinal tract.

When someone uses an opioid, these receptors are activated and slow the body down. Different opioids can be more or less severe. Where it may take a few minutes for someone who just took heroin to feel the effects of an overdose, someone who uses fentanyl will feel it within seconds.

These powerful opioids are the reason the President of the United States declared a national opioid epidemic in Naloxone , popularly sold by the brand name of Narcan, is an opioid agonist that can block the effects that opioids have on the body. Narcan is available without prescription across the country. An alcohol overdose happens when you drink more alcohol than your body can safely process. Generally, the body can safely process around one unit of pure alcohol per hour estimated to be the amount of alcohol in a small shot of liquor, a half pint of beer, or a third of a glass of wine.

If an individual consumes more alcohol than this in shorter time periods, the alcohol builds up in the body due to the body not being able to metabolize the alcohol fast enough, and an accumulation of alcohol spreads throughout the body. This may lead to an alcohol overdose, better known as alcohol poisoning. Additional risks that can occur due to consuming larger amounts of alcohol than the body can metabolize are:.

Make a Call Stimulants, such as meth or cocaine , work on the CNS, but in the opposite way of opioids. They will increase the heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and breathing. A stimulant overdose occurs when the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, or blood circulation rate is overworked to the point of breaking down. There are no FDA approved treatments for stimulant overdose. However, there are medications that can help reduce or stabilize elevated vital symptoms, such as blood pressure, pulse, body temperature and any respiratory irregularities.

There are also medications that can be used to stop an individual who is experiencing convulsions or seizures, such as anti-epileptic medications. Getting the individual to the nearest emergency room can save the persons life. Remember, that being able to treat an overdose at home is not a replacement for a hospital. Even if the moment has passed, and the victim seems fine, there is still a chance that something is going on that cannot be seen by the human eye.

Antidepressant drugs are commonly used to treat major depression and mood disorders, but are also occasionally prescribed for attention deficient hyperactivity disorder ADHD , obsessive compulsive disorder OCD , and anxiety disorders. These drugs are high on this list due to the adverse health effects long-term use can have on consumers. Anti-hypertensives are a class of drugs that are used to treat hypertension high blood pressure , such as Hytrin, Cardura, and Minipress.

These drugs have been linked to cardiovascular issues, acute renal failure, prostate cancer, and new-onset diabetes in consumers — all of which can result in death. When combined with NSAIDs or diuretics, the possibility of experiencing these health risks is amplified and can lead to fatality. Bromocriptine ranks seventh on this list due to the potential severe health side effects that can occur in patients, such as lethal circulatory collapse.

Additionally, the drug has been associated with somnolence, and episodes of sudden sleep onset, which has resulted in dangerous encounters and motor vehicle accidents. Clarithromycin, also known as Biaxin, is an antibiotic used to treat certain bacterial infections such as pneumonia and bronchitis.

The FDA is currently advising caution before prescribing Clarithromycin due the increased risk of fatal heart complications that can occur years later.

It is unclear why this medication causes such effects, but the risk of experiencing them is amplified when the drug is combined with calcium channel blockers, such as Lipitor. Clozapine is an antipsychotic medication used to treat schizophrenia. It can also lower the risk of suicidal behavior in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Clozapine breaks the top ten in this list due to the negative cardiovascular effects that can occur, including myocarditis and cardiomyopathy.

The risk of experiencing these effects is significantly increased when combined with other central nervous system depressants, such as alcohol. Cocaine comes in at number ten on this list due to the long-term health risks that can occur from use, including heart disease, hypertension, organ failure, respiratory distress, stroke, unhealthy weight loss, and seizures.

According to the CDC, cocaine deaths have been rising in recent years and show no sign of slowing down. In the year , around 14, cocaine-related overdose deaths occurred in the U. Researchers found that nearly three-quarters of these deaths involving the drug were among people who had also taken opioids. Colchicine is a medication used to treat and prevent gout attacks, as well as some other inflammatory conditions.

Colchicine is considered a high-risk medicine by the U. The drug has a very narrow therapeutic index, which means that the range between therapeutic and toxic doses is small, and is some cases it can overlap. Fatal overdose has been documented as resulting from as little a dose as 0.

The risk of overdose is significantly increased when colchicine is combined with strong CYP3A4 inhibitors — a mixture that usually results in death. Common cough medicines include NyQuil , Robitussin, and Theraflu. These medications are used to relieve cough caused by the common cold, bronchitis, and other breathing illnesses. Cough medicines come in at number twelve on this list due to the high risk of abuse and multiple adverse effects that can occur in consumers.

The main ingredient in cough medicines is dextromethorphan DXM which can create intoxication, hallucinations, and dissociation in large doses. Overdose can occur when too much is taken and result in severe sedation and fatal respiratory depression. Hypoxia has also been documented as occurring, which can have short- and long-term mental effects on the nervous system, including coma, permanent brain, damage and death.

These medicines are often misused in combination with other drugs, such as alcohol and marijuana , which can additionally increase the risk of deadly overdose. Digoxin, also known as Lanoxin, is a medication used to treat various heart conditions, including congestive heart failure and arterial fibrillation AFib.

Digoxin has also been linked to nausea, vomiting, and severe gastrointestinal issues such as constipation and perianal infections. These negative side effects are more likely to occur when the medication is combined the anti-arrhythmic agent Quinidine, which can also result in overdose and death.

Heroin is an illicit recreational opioid drug made from morphine ; a natural substance taken from the seed pod of the various opium poppy plants.