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What Causes Confusion After An Overdose Of Morphine?

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Posted on Sat, 2 Aug 2014
Question: I was given 18 mg of morphine by a paramedic yesterday. The hospital said it was an overdose and gave me another drug to reverse it. Today I feel terrible and very confused. Was this an overdose? Is how I am feeling normal?
XXXXXXX
doctor
Answered by Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj (2 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Narcotics are always managed carefully

Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXXXXX Thanks for coming to HealthCareMagic. I'm sorry to hear about the harrowing experience you had. The things are pretty tricky. The problem is that Narcotics have variable effects on people. For a person who has had narcotics before, they need higher doses, on the other hand a person who has never been exposed to them would be very sensitive and need a lower dose.

In your case. From what you have described. The paramedics would have given you a dose they tried to calculate from eyeballing your weight. After they gave you the dose, they might have noticed you were having a bad reaction (narcotics can interfere with your breathing), so they gave you a reversal agent.

So, to sum up, they might have over-estimated the dose that you need, when they saw that you were having trouble, they gave you the reversal agent.

I hope that makes sense.

Vinay

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Neurologist, Surgical

Practicing since :2006

Answered : 544 Questions

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What Causes Confusion After An Overdose Of Morphine?

Brief Answer: Narcotics are always managed carefully Detailed Answer: Hello XXXXXXX Thanks for coming to HealthCareMagic. I'm sorry to hear about the harrowing experience you had. The things are pretty tricky. The problem is that Narcotics have variable effects on people. For a person who has had narcotics before, they need higher doses, on the other hand a person who has never been exposed to them would be very sensitive and need a lower dose. In your case. From what you have described. The paramedics would have given you a dose they tried to calculate from eyeballing your weight. After they gave you the dose, they might have noticed you were having a bad reaction (narcotics can interfere with your breathing), so they gave you a reversal agent. So, to sum up, they might have over-estimated the dose that you need, when they saw that you were having trouble, they gave you the reversal agent. I hope that makes sense. Vinay