Oxycodone Overdose Potential

Oxycodone’s direct effects on brain cell function account for this drug’s high overdose potential. With brain cells secreting large amounts of neurotransmitters on a frequent basis, cell structures become overworked and eventually start to breakdown.

When this happens, brain cells lose their sensitivity to oxycodone’s effects so larger doses of the drug are needed to produce the same degree of pain relief, as well as the same expected “high” effects. Brain cells will continue to deteriorate for as long as a person keeps using the drug, so users will have to keep increasing their dosage amounts in order to experience the desired drug effects.

This vicious cycle opens the door for physical dependency and addiction to take root. Unfortunately, the brain will continue to require increasingly larger drug doses, which makes it that much easier for signs of oxycodone overdose to develop.

Signs of Oxycodone Overdose

Cognitive Dysfunction

Signs of oxycodone overdose can quickly overtake the brain’s cognitive regions, which play a central role in regulating speech and thinking processes. In effect, a state of chemical imbalance has overtaken the brain to the extent that a person no longer has control over his or her ability to form coherent thought patterns or communicate with others.

Signs of oxycodone overdose affecting speech functions include:

• Sentences spoken have no logical basis
• Incoherent speech patterns or babbling
• Repeatedly saying the same word or phrase

Overdose signs affecting thought processing include:

• Paranoia or suspicious thinking
• Unable to comprehend what other people are saying
• Delusions of grandeur or self-importance

Lapses in Consciousness

Oxycodone’s ability to depress or slow brain processes inevitably take a turn for the worse when signs of oxycodone overdose start to develop. Lapses in consciousness, also known as “nodding out” indicate oxycodone has essentially numbed the brain’s regulatory functions.

These lapses can take place at any time, whether a person is in the middle of a conversation or driving a car. This sign of oxycodone overdose typically occurs in people who ingest incredibly large doses of the drug at a time. Someone trying oxycodone for the first time may also experience this level of overload when the body’s not used to the drug’s effects.

Heart & Body Temperature Irregularities

Oxycodone’s effect on neurotransmitter output can all but saturate the brain in excess chemicals when taken in large enough doses. At this point, signs of oxycodone overdose start to interfere with some of the most basic and fundamental of bodily processes. Consequently, heart and body temperature functions start to falter.

Signs of oxycodone overdose can take the form of heart irregularities, where blood pressure levels start to fall at a fast rate. This, in turn, causes heart rates to slow considerably.

Irregularities in body temperature will cause a person to experience drastic rises and/or falls in body temperature. He or she may be sweating profusely one minute, then shivering from chills shortly thereafter.

Difficulty Breathing

Out of all the possible signs of oxycodone overdose, breathing difficulties carry the greatest risk of fatality. Much like oxycodone’s effects depress heart function, the same thing happens to the body’s respiratory system.

In large enough doses, oxycodone can numb the brain to the point where it can no longer “tell” the lungs to breathe, according to the University of Connecticut Health Center. This sign of oxycodone overdose in particular requires immediate medical attention as death can soon result.

Precautions

Signs of oxycodone overdose can develop in one of three ways:

• From chronic drug use
• When trying the drug for the first time
• After completing detox

With chronic drug use, the brain’s tolerance levels have reached a high enough point to where a person can potentially overdose at any given time. For people trying the drug for the first time or people who’ve completed detox, the brain has little to no tolerance for oxycodone’s effects so even a relatively small or moderate dosage amount can result in overdose.