[ELI5] What happens if you take narcan nasal spray for opioid overdoses but haven’t had an overdose?
In: 5
It would act the same and block the opioid receptors from accepting anymore opioids. About the equivalent of taking an extra vitamin.
“There aren’t any known safety issues with giving a person Narcan when they don’t need it. Narcan doesn’t have an effect on a person who’s sober from opioids. (“Sober” means they don’t have any opioids in their system.)”
“Mild side effects of Narcan can include:
bone pain
constipation
nose that’s dry, stuffy, painful, or swollen inside
dry skin
high blood pressure
muscle pain or spasms
toothache
headache”
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/drugs-narcan-side-effects#mild-side-effects
Does Narcan block natural endorphins, which are opioid-like – aren’t they?
That might explain the pain/ache side-effects?
There would probably be no physical result unless you were allergic to the drug. Narcan acts on opioid receptors in the brain by blocking those channels, thus allowing respiratory drive to resume as it normally would in an overdose-type emergency. Since these receptors are only active when there are opioids in the body, taking narcan would be equivalent to taking a spray of saline nasal spray: it would not do anything to your body as there are seldom to no counterindications (prevent from using). In Emergency Medicine, we use narcan pretty liberally if there are any signs that the patient may be suffering from an opiate-related emergency. There are theoretically no drawbacks to giving narcan due to its low risk of use.
Edit: opiate to opioid
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