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Risks include easy overdose as well as the potential for death and violence due to psychosis like symptoms.
User deaths from overdose involve:
Blood pressure and pulse rate increase with an overall high level of agitation in behavior and biological functioning.
This is fueled by a flood of adrenaline similar to that experienced normally only in severe survival situations.
Toxicity can last for hours and is a medical emergency due to severe systemic distress and the potential for harming self or others.
Observable signs of overdose include:
Use and overdose occur across a wide range of ages including teens and children.
Sold as legal products online and in shops, minors take advantage of easy access. They are especially vulnerable due to immature judgment and impulsive behavior.
It is most commonly used by individuals between the ages of 20 and 29. However, poly-drug users are at highest risk for overdose.
There is potential for overdose among all users of Bath Salts since dose is guided by user lore. Additionally, one 'batch' of Bath Salts may not be similar to the next, making user opinions even
more unreliable. However, poly-drug use involving cathinones is especially dangerous.
In combination with methamphetamine and cocaine, for instance, the risk of lethal overdose is especially high.
Since exaggerated and acute symptoms of intoxication are often the norm among cathinone users, disinhibition and impaired judgment can be extreme.
This adds dramatically to the potential for cathinone overdose as the impaired logical notions like, "if some is good, more is better," govern decision-making.
You are at a higher risk of bath salts overdose if you use it in combination with alcohol, marijuana, prescription drugs and other club drugs.
In club settings where some mix of alcohol, marijuana, prescription drugs and other 'club' drugs and psychedelics (ketamine and MDMA, for example) are frequently combined, people are naturally at high risk for overdose.
Intoxication effects of cathinones are severe, routinely involving cardiac, kidney and GI symptoms. Users with related medical conditions can overdose with a single episode of moderate use.
Similarly, both underlying and mature psychiatric conditions can be exacerbated. Extreme reactions such as psychosis cause even greater impairment in judgment and a greater risk of overdose.
A bath salts overdose is a medical emergency that requires immediate assistance from 911, a poison control center, or a hospital emergency room.
Aid should be sought when signs of overdose are first observed. Call 911 immediately if a user:
Otherwise, poison control centers are staffed 24/7 and will advise the best course of action.
If poison control recommends taking the overdose victim to the hospital, paramedic transport is preferable. First responders can more safely manage the unpredictable and often aggressive behavior of bath salts users.
Don't wait to become a statistic, call us today at 1-888-993-3112Who Answers? to understand your problematic bath salt use patterns and get help connecting with an appropriate bath salt treatment program.
With no medical uses of synthetic cathinones, there are no appropriate and safe doses researched or recommended. Unknown additives with varying potentials of toxicity further complicate the issue.
The best way to avoid a bath salts overdose is to not use in the first place.
Bath Salts are packaged in compounds that are unregulated by governing authorities that would ensure relative consumer safety and provide guidelines for use.
Also, the 'recipes' for all 'brands' of bath salts are ever-changing to avoid the prosecution of manufacturers and distributors.
This makes user and dealer information unreliable as well. Overall, the best prevention of bath salts overdose is non-use.
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The specific symptoms of each overdose victim must be addressed and informed by knowledge of bath salts toxicity and its potentially life-threatening complications.
Treatment of overdose can also include large doses of sedatives, which are administered to relieve physical agitation and emotional distress, such as panic and fear.
Anti-psychotic drugs are frequently used to reduce physical agitation, but additionally, to relieve delusional thinking and hallucinations.
It is not uncommon for unusually high doses of medications to be required in treating a bath salts overdose.
Overdose treatment for bath salts can be hazardous for caregivers. Physical restraint of overdose victims is typical.
Restraints may be used to prevent patients from harming themselves or others if they show signs of:
Care providers can be easily perceived as threatening and incorporated in psychotic thinking when they offer care. Consequently, emergency responders are frequently assaulted.
Psychiatric intervention is also frequently needed during emergency treatment as well as for some time after.
When an acute overdose has been resolved, some symptoms can persist for some time, including:
Cognitive impairments, including problems with memory, learning and reasoning are likely to persist for some time and create obstacles to self-help.
Survivors that have continuing psychiatric issues will benefit from a dual diagnosis program that can treat addiction and mental health problems simultaneously.
If you are suffering from uncontrollable bath salt use and need help finding a treatment center or rehab facility, please call our 24/7 hotline at 1-888-993-3112Who Answers? today.
