What are the Symptoms of a Drug Overdose

The seriousness of an accidental or intentional overdose can vary depending on the dosage taken.

Many people who take drugs are trying to experience a certain sensation; this danger is prevalent in chronic drug users who have developed a high tolerance which needs higher doses for the same effect.

 

Regardless of whether someone accidentally or purposefully ingests the same dosage of a substance, there are generally similar symptoms. Although overdose signs from different drugs may vary, there are some general common ones:

 

  • Decreased body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure
  • Sleepiness or drowsiness
  • Confusion
  • Having irregular sleep patterns
  • Cold sweats
  • Fever
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Chest pain
  • Difficulty breathing (slow, rapid, shallow)
  • Stomach pain

What Should I Do if Someone Has Overdosed? 

When someone takes medication and then falls unconscious, it might be an overdose – so don’t wait around! Follow these tips while waiting for the ambulance: 

  • Stay with the person who has overdosed. Lie them on their side. Talk to them if they’re awake.
  • Loosen any tight clothes. Open a window or take them outside for air. Be aware that they may need CPR. 
  • Call Poison Control Center (they’ll also advise you about any signs of concern).

Takeaway Tips

The most common drugs that can lead to overdose: are alcohol, amphetamines, benzodiazepines, cocaine, heroin, methadone, and opioids.

The next time you’re thinking about taking a drug of any kind, take some time to research its potential dangers. The internet is a vast resource of information where you can find the harmful effects of all sorts of drugs before ever coming into contact with them.

 

Mixing Adderall and Weed: The Dangers and Risks

Adderall and weed are two drugs that many people use separately to treat different medical conditions, but what about the consequences of mixing Adderall with weed?

The main concern about using these drugs is the possibility that one drug will mask the other drug’s effects, so there’s a risk of an overdose or an inability to respond to emergencies that require a quick response. Here’s what you need to know about mixing Adderall with weed before trying this potentially dangerous combination on your own.

What Are the Effects of Mixing Weed and Adderall

To fully understand what happens when these two substances are combined, it’s necessary first to take a look at each drug individually. This will help us set the stage for understanding how they can react to one another.

 

Adderall

The amphetamine salt Adderall is a CNS stimulant made up of four amphetamine salts:

  •  Dextroamphetamine Saccharate
  •  Amphetamine Aspartate
  • Dextroamphetamine Sulfate
  • Amphetamine Sulfate

It works by increasing dopamine and norepinephrine levels in the brain, which helps improve attention, focus, listening, and organizational skills while also managing behavior challenges.

 

This drug is primarily used to treat adults with ADHD, but some people without this condition use it for pleasure or enhance their performance.

 

College students often take it as a study aid to maintain focus during long periods of studying and working on big projects. Professionals may take it too to increase their job performance, and athletes might take it before games to perform better while maintaining focus.

Side effects include.

  • Anxiety
  • Insomnia
  • Depression when coming down
  • Loss of sex drive
  • Headaches
  • Dry mouth
  • Weight loss
  • Diarrhea

Weed

Weed is a psychoactive drug often smoked or consumed in edible form. It has been seen as harmless and even therapeutic, but many people do not know that the THC content today is much higher than it was in the 1970s– making it more addictive than they may have thought. The main psychoactive component of weed, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), gives users feelings of euphoria -which is why weed has become such a popular recreational drug among individuals.

Weed can also be useful for those with ADHD- apparently providing relief from symptoms such as anxiety, restlessness, and difficulty focusing by managing them without any side effects like typical prescription medicine offers.

Marijuana is a psychoactive drug that alters your mood and impacts how you think, feel, see, taste, hear and act. Marijuana can also make you more aware of sounds, colors, or smells. Mixing weed with Adderall can cause an increased heart rate or hypertension.

You should avoid mixing these two drugs if you have a personal or family history of a heart condition. If high blood pressure isn’t an issue for you, then using weed with Adderall may be safe, but it will depend on how much THC is in the marijuana strain used and how much weed was consumed during the session.

While Cannabis is often considered a helpful substance, it can also cause significant adverse side effects for certain people. Side effects depend on the dosage and potency of weed used and an individual’s tolerance level. Weed has been reported to produce these possible side-effects

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Paranoia
  • Hallucinations 
  • Brain fog
  • Increased appetite
  • Blood pressure spikes
  • Increased heart rate
  • Laziness and inactivity

Why It Is Dangerous to Mix Weed with Adderall

Adderall is a prescription drug affecting the Central Nervous System, while weed or Cannabis is a psychoactive drug providing a euphoric high; combined, these two drugs can cause different side effects for those with pre-existing heart conditions.

 

Both substances can increase one’s heart rate and lead to irregular heartbeat, resulting in even more serious cardiovascular issues. Combining both drugs increases the risk of Adderall overdose because some strains of weed are central nervous system depressants that might mask its stimulant properties.

 

Likewise, people taking Adderall may be encouraged to take higher doses than usual as they could become oblivious to how much they are ingesting.

 

People with pre-existing mental illnesses might see their symptoms exacerbated due to what they might experience under the influence of both drugs: hallucinations, paranoia, and delusions.

How Long Do Weed and Adderall Stay in the Body? 

Adderall has a 10-hour half-life, which means the drug will decrease by 50% every ten hours you wait. It takes two days to clear Adderall out of your system completely. Meanwhile, marijuana peaks at 10 minutes and lasts between 1 to 8 hours, depending on The Individual’s tolerance;

  • Their body weight & metabolism
  • How much weed they took
  • How much THC was in the weed
  • Whether they ate before

 

Can You Overdose on Adderall? 

While some people may automatically think of opioid or depressant overdoses when they hear the word overdose, stimulant overdoses are also possible. This happens when an overstimulated parasympathetic nervous system leads to symptoms such as:

  • heart attack
  • aggression
  • panic attacks
  • hallucination
  • tremors
  • fever

Strategies for Avoiding Addiction While Using These Drugs

These drugs can be addictive, so it’s important to take precautions. One strategy is to start with a low dose of the drug, then increase the dose as needed.

Another option is to use a drug like methadone or buprenorphine to help minimize withdrawal symptoms while withdrawing from the other drug. Finally, avoid using these drugs at high doses in combination with depressants like alcohol or benzodiazepines since this can increase the risk of adverse effects and death.

Monitoring Your Dosage Levels

It’s important to monitor your dosage levels when taking these two drugs together. The combination can be lethal if you take too much of either one.

Mixing these two drugs can also increase heart rate, hallucinations, psychosis, seizures, coma, and death. If someone has overdosed on both drugs or is experiencing an adverse reaction to their interaction, they should be taken to a hospital immediately.

Avoid Combining Alcohol with Adderall or Weed

The effects of mixing Adderall or weed with alcohol are the same as combining any other two substances. Your judgment will be impaired, your heart rate will increase, and you’ll feel more sedated than usual. These side effects can lead to risky behavior that can result in accidents or overdose because you won’t be fully aware of what’s happening around you. It’s important to remember that even though these drugs may not seem harmful, they are dangerous when combined with alcohol.

General Health Considerations When Using These Drugs Together

The combination of weed with Adderall is a dangerous one for many reasons. First, it can raise your heart rate to unsafe levels, leading to seizures or even death. Second, there is an increased risk for psychosis when using the two drugs together.

Psychosis is a mental disorder that causes hallucinations and delusions that can be permanent in some cases. Third, using both drugs together will cause your judgment to be impaired, which means you are at greater risk of accidents while operating machinery or driving a car.

Finally, combining these two drugs will likely cause addiction issues because the more often you do it, the more difficult it will be to stop due to tolerance building up over time.

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Reviewed By:

Dr. John Elgin Wilkaitis

Dr. John Elgin Wilkaitis completed medical school at The University of Mississippi Medical Center and residency in general psychiatry in 2003. He completed a fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in 2005. Following this, he served as Chief Medical Officer for 10 years of Brentwood Behavioral Healthcare a private health system including a 105-bed hospital, residential treatment, and intensive outpatient services.

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