What is Naloxone or Narcan Used For?
Naloxone Hydrochloride, Naloxone, or Narcan is an opioid inhibitor sold and distributed around the world to prevent drug overdoses and to prevent opioid abuse. The drug was first patented in 1961 by the company Sankyo, and has since made its way around the world as a safe and effective method of treating opioid abuse and overdose.
It is a pure opioid antagonist. The drug works by binding with opioids in the brain, so that they cannot attach the opioid receptors, preventing them from impacting the brain to the same extent. Naloxone, in all its forms, has been approved by the FDA as safe to use since 2015, and it can be acquired with or without a prescription depending on the area.
Drug Overdose – Naloxone can be administered in case of a drug overdose, where the drug will bind with opioids and stop them from affecting the brain. This can slow or stop an overdose, and can restore natural respiratory function, stop any ‘high’ precipitated by the opioid, seizures, muscle spasms, and decreased consciousness. Because Naloxone begins to take effect within 5 minutes of the dose being administered, it can be used to save lives.
In fact, the CDC reports using Naloxone to reverse over 10,000 opioid overdoses during trials between 1996 and 2010. Naloxone works on both natural opioids as well as synthetic opiates, and combinations, making it an effective treatment for prescription pain pill overdose. However, the intramuscular dosage is not enough to ensure the safety of a person having gone through an overdose, and if the dose is administered in a non-medical setting, it should be followed up by taking the person to a hospital to receive medical attention and oxygen. Naloxone wears off after 20-90 minutes, after which additional medical care must be administered.
Preventing Opioid Abuse – Naloxone or Narcan is increasingly used to treat opioid abuse. Because the drug binds with opioids, preventing them from attaching to receptors in the brain, it reduces the ‘high’ or euphoria of the drugs, and helps to prevent addiction. However, in most cases, users are highly recommended to work to get clean before starting a program of Naloxone, as the drug can force severe withdrawal symptoms if you are addicted. For this reason, most addiction treatment centers will test blood levels for drug usage before prescribing naloxone as a treatment.
What does Narcan Do?
Narcan is the most popular brand name of Naloxone, and is sold as an intramuscular injection (IM) or as a nasal spray. Narcan can be purchased with or without a prescription depending on the area, and then injected directly into an arm, thigh or buttock muscle, or in the case of the nasal spray, taken by nose. The drug actively blocks the effects of opioids, even if the person has taken them with alcohol, and starts to take effect after about 5 minutes. This makes Narcan invaluable for stopping or slowing the process of an overdose, because it can restore an overdosing person’s breathing and heart rate so that they can make it to a hospital.
Is Naloxone Addictive?
Naloxone is not addictive and users cannot be addicted or dependent to it. This makes it a safe maintenance drug to prevent opiate relapse, simply because it prevents users from feeling the euphoric high associated with the opiates.
Can You Overdose on Naloxone?
You cannot overdose on Naloxone. However, in many cases, Naloxone is sold with methadone or buprenorphine in oral form. You can overdose on both Methadone and Buprenorphine.
Naloxone and Methadone
Naloxone is frequently sold in combination with either Methadone or Buprenorphine. Because Naloxone does not have a large effect on its own when taking orally, it is not a good candidate for self-administration at home by recovering addicts. For this reason, the drug is typically paired with opioid based opioid antagonist’s methadone and buprenorphine. These combinations allow recovering addicts to reduce cravings and remove withdrawal symptoms, without risking abuse or addiction to buprenorphine or methadone.
In most cases, methadone hydrochloride and naloxone hydrochloride are administered together at a ratio of 20:1 for oral treatment, detox, or maintenance treatment for opiate dependence. This reduces cravings, prevents withdrawal symptoms, and prevents the euphoria or high associated with many opiates. This combination is most frequently used for rapid detox from opiates and for withdrawal management in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
Does Narcon have Side Effects?
While Naloxone is not poisonous and will likely cause no harmful effects if swallowed, there may be some side effects. In some cases, people are allergic to Naloxone, although some hospitals and treatment centers will test for this before prescribing the drug.
Naloxone can also cause other side effects, including immediate withdrawal symptoms.
- Pain or redness at the site of the injection
- Burning sensations
- Hot flashes or flushing
- Sweating
- Irregular heartbeat
- Hallucinations
- Loss of consciousness
- Withdrawal symptoms including body aches, diarrhea, fever, cold symptoms, vomiting, stomach cramps, seizures, crying
For this reason, it is important to get medical help, even if you administer Naloxone yourself.
Getting Naloxone or Narcon
In some cases, patients with a history of drug abuse or addiction may be prescribed a preventive dose of Narcon or EVZIO, the two primary brand names of Naloxone. You may also be able to get Naloxone without a prescription in many states. Walgreens and CVS stores both carry prescription free Naloxone in Nasal Spray and Auto Injector forms, but these can be expensive and may not be covered by insurance.
Naloxone is a life-saving drug that can frequently be picked up quickly and easily in many drug stores. Your doctor may also be able to prescribe it for you or for a loved one if you or someone you know is struggling with an opiate addiction. In some cases, Naloxone is also used for treatment maintenance, and to discourage the abuse of methadone or buprenorphine. Naloxone, Narcan, and EVZIO are safe, non-addictive, and can save a life if someone overdoses on opiates.
If you or a loved one is struggling with an opioid addiction, it’s important to get help. A treatment center can help with both the physical and the mental aspects of opiate dependency and addiction. Please call us at Lighthouse Treatment Center today. We are happy to provide a no-cost, no-obligation consultation with one of our experienced treatment advisors. Contact us today – we are here to help.
