Heroin If I am losing my breath will I realize it?

[menidiatis]

If you OD and you are loosing your breath are you aware of it (and can force yourself to breathe) , or at that point you are losing consciousness also??

 

[Free at last]

If you OD and you are loosing your breath are you aware of it (and can force yourself to breathe) , or at that point you are losing consciousness also??

If you could force yourself to breathe people wouldn't die.

 

[menidiatis]

I was pretty sure I read on this forum that someone would force themselves to breathe while OD

I guess I misunderstood what I was reading

 

[Skorpio]

Depends on the severity. There are definately times where you are not breathing enough when resting and you can get up and walk around to keep yourself going, but honestly that's so close to the area where you are nodding standing up and can't keep active.

If you are getting any symptoms of hypoxia (blue lips, raspy death rattle type breathing) I'd say it's well time to bite the bullet and do some narcan before it gets to the point where you can't (assuming like oral use where the come up is slow enough to feel the phases of an od, not like shooting where you are kind of slammed).

 

[menidiatis]

Thing is I worry about my breath when my breath is perfect, I guess it is just anxiety attacks and nothing to do with H

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

Maybe, MAYBE if you are right on the edge of a lethal OD you could force yourself to breath and stay conscious. But most potentially lethal OD's either happen so fast and/or are far enough over that lethal dose limit that there is no time for the user to react before they are incapacitated.

If the actions you take put you in danger of a lethal OD you need to have narcan and someone nearby who can administer it. You absolutely cannot rely on your own faculties to save you from an OD.

 

[menidiatis]

Thank you all guys for the detailed answers as always!

 

[TheUltimateFixx]

If you OD and you are loosing your breath are you aware of it (and can force yourself to breathe) , or at that point you are losing consciousness also??

No you won't notice because you'll be passed out mate. Also even if you do have enough marginal consciousness left to notice yourself going over , as has happened to me once or twice, there's nothing you can do about your respiratory depression because your respiration rate is controlled by your central nervous system and THAT'S being affected by the drug.

 

[OpiateKiller]

No but I have narcan'd myself in the event of a impending overdose.

It's hard to tell with fentanyl, but usually if I do a shot I have instantly known I did to much just based off of my body's reaction.

Then again if the shot is strong enough you'll overdose within 15 seconds, which has happened to me twice now. It's like boom, dead, floor

 

[TheUltimateFixx]

No but I have narcan'd myself in the event of a impending overdose.

Yeah I've done the same. Usually only had JUST enough time to fill myself full of antidote and if I hadn't had the stuff on-hand I might not be here now. (I actually put it on the table ready to use alongside my works these days 'cause you never know and the thirty secs it'd take me to get it from the cupboard and out of the packaging might just be thirty secs I haven't got.)

 

[polarthedog]

I was sorta able to, but then I would nod off and forget to breath for 30 seconds or so

I was oding from pod tea, but that kicks in real slow, so I always treated myself with two subutex

Hey guys, if you had some meth, would that help keep someone alive like that? I mean they would stop nodding off at least

 

[cdin]

ime - a long rolling nod like last poster noted can be dangerous, but is hard to get to, and you will notice the respiratory suppression, any real dose of #4 heroin or fentanyl though (if sufficient to cause overdose) will hit like a ton of bricks and be instant lights out. without narcan administered by someone else a genuine heroin or fentanyl OD will run you over like a truck, do not pass go, do not breathe.

 

[tubgirl.jpg]

Hey guys, if you had some meth, would that help keep someone alive like that? I mean they would stop nodding off at least

From what I've understood, no - doing amphetamines (any kind) will not prevent/"fix" respiratory depression.
If anything, you'll be putting more strain on your body with yet another drug to process.

If I'm wrong, I hope someone correct me.

 

[Ndixxon]

No but I have narcan'd myself in the event of a impending overdose.

It's hard to tell with fentanyl, but usually if I do a shot I have instantly known I did to much just based off of my body's reaction.

Then again if the shot is strong enough you'll overdose within 15 seconds, which has happened to me twice now. It's like boom, dead, floor

How long after dosing do u usually od??;

 

[Xorkoth]

If you're very high and your breathing is depressed, and you're NEAR an OD, and you're awake, you can tell your breathing is depressed. You'll be able to notice that you aren't breathing right, or that it feels hard to breathe. This is a very dangerous place to be in, especially if you are still coming up, because it won't take much to slip over the edge into a full overdose. If you're at that stage where you're aware, you can take over conscious control of your breathing and make yourself breathe better. But if you have been dosing, it's very possible you will not be all the way up yet and you'll slip over the line into overdose. In a full overdose, you'll lose consciousness and at that point you'll stop breathing, and die.

Some people have been able to take amphetamines or some other stimulant in order to keep themselves more awake, when they're worried they're about to overdose. But that is risky at best. The best thing to do, if you feel like your breathing is depressed, is call an ambulance, and stay on the phone with them (they will, or should, ask you to stay on the phone with them while it is on its way). Or, if you have narcan, you can administer a dose to yourself, which will send you into precipitated withdrawal, but will save you from an overdose. Though narcan doesn't last very long, so you should still call an ambulance regardless, because most opioids last a lot longer than narcan, and when it wears off, you might slip back into overdose.

The short version of this post is that if you're having trouble breathing, you're in very real danger of overdosing and when you overdose, there is nothing you can do about it, so you need to administer narcan if you have it, and also call an ambulance. You can only force yourself to breathe if you remain awake, and in overdose, you can't remain awake.

 

[Foreigner]

If you've taken enough opiate to affect your breathing, then you've taken enough to affect your consciousness in a way that will prevent you from staying 100% focused on your breathing. Most people with altered oxygen status *think* they are focusing on breathing, but they're already in some level of oxygen deficit. The only way to know your oxygen status is with an oximeter. They are cheap to buy and I think anyone who plans to use long-term should have one around.

When oxygen levels decline, the difference between "I'm awake and aware I'm not breathing properly" vs. you've slipped into unconsciousness, can be a very thin line. A lot of people who OD don't even remember they were about to pass out. They were just gone. They only became aware of the OD after somebody else resuscitated them.

To give you the oximeter numbers. 95% - 100% oxygen saturation is normal. Under 90% and you start to deteriorate, but you may not be aware of it. You may think "I'm going to focus on breathing" but the levels are already dropping. Under 80% and you're in the danger zone, and usually this is where unconsciousness starts. Under 70% and you're totally out, and dying.

Not trying to scare you, just being real. Breathing issues are playing with fire. If you're very concerned about this issue, then get an oximeter off Amazon or something. There are models that are $25.