Naloxone
-For All Opioid Overdoses
My daughter emailed me this today,
"Mom, did you see that they
have an overdose reversal med? Just thinking about a little boy that likes
spending time at grandmas. I thought it would be good to have one of these
around. You are very careful, but you never know. Want me to get one?"
Of course I said yes! One can never
be too safe!
This was the link included in the email from Walgreen:
I am attempting to get a link from Walgreens so you can buy Naloxone from a link I can provide. I have not heard back from them as of yet. Check back, or better yet, sign up to receive emails when I put out a new blog post!
It is my understanding Naloxone is also available at not only Walgreens, but also, CVS/pharmacy.
Naloxone is a drug used to treat
respiratory depression caused by opioids. Opioids produce their effects by
acting on opioid receptors in the brain and nervous system. Naloxone works by blocking these
opioid receptors, thus stopping opioids from acting on them. This reverses the
effects of the opioid and has proven to save many lives of those found
overdosed by inappropriately using the medication. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naloxone)
This is how it is done:
The
Sad Thing
Honestly, I did not even think I
needed one. I have my meds in a safe, bolted to the wall, except my weekly pill
dispenser. "Except"... I keep
that in a high up place where the grandkid can’t get to and I move it to my
safe when we have many visitors. I’m really glad my daughter emailed that to
me. For I don’t know if I would have thought to get one for him, or anyone else
I may come across that may need to be treated.
I thought I was being safe!
Anyways I just thought I'd pass the
info. along for any of you that may have never considered one was necessary,
like me. I take my meds responsibly. However, somehow I overlooked one of
the most important little people in my life, my grandson. All little kids like
to explore and get into things. It only takes a split second. It might all be
right there in front of them and we may not even know it!
"Poison centers receive calls every day about young children
getting into medicines without adult supervision; that's why we encourage all
parents and caregivers to follow these simple steps to ensure their child's
safety."
Preventing Accidental Overdoses with
Children
Although I have always been the type
of person to know where a little kid is at all times when they are over.
They call them “helicopter moms” now days. I just always felt they needed
to be in the line of sight or you can at least hear them if around the corner
in another room.
When we have dangerous medications
in our homes we need to take all precautions available to be sure accidents don't
happen and drastically change your life forever. It doesn’t matter if you are a
helicopter mom or grandma, or a more relaxed one, deadly accidents happen to
all of us no matter how attentive we think we are!
Children Being Accidentally Poisoned!
Kids are frequently accidentally
poisoned when they come upon drugs while exploring and put them in their
mouths. Where as teenagers will seek out drugs to get high and aren't aware of
what "just one more" can do to you, or what the toxic level to where
they will compromise their respiration and die. They are not aware of what
having something alcoholic to drink with it can do. They see many others do it
and think they can tolerate it as well, and even purposely taking a higher
quantity to be cool or try for a higher high, with deadly effects! I will
discuss teens and opioid abuse as a part of my next blog post.
“500,000 calls per year related to young children accidentally ingesting medications
are received by the US Poison Control Center. This works out to one call
every
minute of every day.”
“In 2012, 64,000 kids were treated in emergency rooms for medicine
poisoning; that's one child every eight minutes, according to a new report from
Safe Kids.
The report, which is based on data from the
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Poison Control Centers, sheds light
on this entirely preventable problem, including
where children are
most likely to be exposed to potentially deadly medicines.” The article continued
by stating that:
-parents' and grandparents' medications cause most children drug poisonings.
-in
three out of four cases of child drug poisonings, the medication belonged to a
parent (39 percent of cases) or grandparent (38 percent of cases).
-the
fact that grandparents' medication is due to the increase of many grandchildren
living with the grandparents, grandparents living with their adult children, as
well as 1 in 8 grandkids are cared for by their grand children.
-older adults are among the most medicated populations, the average adult
aged 65 and older taking 28 prescriptions per year,
(
http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/retail-rx-drugs-by-age/)
this drastically increases children's danger of accidental drug overdose.
-taking medications is so frequently in many homes that many “become
complacent, neglecting to regard their pills as potential killers. Adding to
the problem, many seniors take medications multiple times a day and purposely
keep them in easy-to-access, prominent locations so they don't forget a dose.
The report (http://www.safekids.org/med_report_2014) revealed that among
grandparents who take care of their grandkids every day:
-28%
keep their medicines in easy-open containers or bottles without a
child-resistant cap
-42%
of those who use easy-open containers also keep their medicine on a bathroom or
kitchen sink, counter, table, or shelf
-12
% keep prescription medications on a nightstand or dresser
This is incredibly frightening to me! It takes a split second for a child to
snatch a pill out of one of those containers, off a counter top, table, or off the
floor and swallow it. Sadly, that is frequently all it takes to cause
life-threatening, and sometimes fatal, reactions in their small bodies. (Information
obtained from:
http://www.webmd.com/children/news/20111213/accidental-drug-overdoses-on-rise-among-kids
&
http://www.safekids.org/med_report_2014)
"Poison
centers receive calls every day about young children getting into medicines
without adult supervision; that's why we encourage all parents and caregivers
to follow these simple steps to ensure their child's safety
Those steps include:
- Put all
medications and vitamins
in a place children can’t reach.
- Put
medicines and vitamins
away every time you use them. Never leave them out on a kitchen counter or
at a sick child’s bedside, even if you have to give the medicine again in
a few hours.
- Listen for
the click to make sure the safety cap on medicines is locked.
- Teach
children about medicine safety. Never tell children that medicine is candy
to get them to take it.
- Tell guests
about medicine safety. Ask house guests and visitors to keep purses, bags,
and coats that have medicines in them up and away and out of sight when
they are visiting.
- Be prepared
in case of emergency. Program the poison control phone number into home
and cell phones (800-222-1222).
I would like to add:
- Buy a safe
that you can bolt to the wall in a closet and keep your medications locked
in that. They may be pricey, however there is no price you can put on
safety! Maybe check on Craigslist or wait for a sale at a store in your
area! The picture is a less expensive one, but is not able to be bolted to a floor.Harbor Freight also has good deals on various sizes! You can click the link for their advertisement and also a 20% off coupon.Harbor Freight Safes.
It’s About
Prevention!
Most people have sadly had their lives touched
by a loved one that has had a drug problem. There are many stories out there of
overdoses that have happened accidentally and purposely because of many
different situations.
I personally don't plan playing a role in any one of
those stories! I hope you can reread the lists above of what you can do to help prevent overdoses!
I am glad my daughter emailed
offering to buy that for me!
My next blog post will take a more in-depth
look at drug abuse and opioids.
Disclaimer:
One of the most important things I’ve learned about chronic pain is there is a wide variety of diseases and spectrum of disability among the readers here. Some of us lead pretty normal lives in spite of the horrid pain,
fatigue and other symptoms, and some of us have symptoms so severe that
we can’t get out of the bed, much less clean a toilet. Given that
spectrum, I try to have a variety articles that apply to many. So, in reading these, I ask that you apply the tips you can safely use based on your abilities. Also, please note that any information in this blog is not intended for medical advice. Please check with your physician when attempting any exercises, diets or other activities to be sure it is safe for your physical issues.
Do you have a comment, idea or suggestion? I’d love to hear it! Share in the comments below!
