On Wednesday Feb. 26th Sheway staff responded to an OD, the person was locked up stiff, eyes open and able to make eye contact, person was trying to speak but unable to form full words, staff did not give Naloxone, and waited until paramedics arrived. Wondering if anyone else has seen this reaction lately and/or identified which drug sample is causing the stiffness?
Thanks :)
We have seenthis a fair bit. This stiffness seems to respond to naloxone. We've had to simply keep oxygen near a persons face as they were not breathing adequately and not ableto receive breaths. Constant rousing, naloxone and as much 02 as one can get tothem.
The best measure if this is opioid overdose is counting breaths, and even if someone's eyes are open, trying to give breaths if they are not breathing inhales and exhales.
I've seen a person continually trying to inhale because we kept snapping them out and saying "take a breath". So peeps have to be cued for exhales sometimes.
Thanks for sharing this on the forum Kirsten. This definitely is an atypical OD presentation which can be related to opioid or a combination with other substances. When fentanyl is present, it can cause complex OD symptoms and can present without other typical opioid OD characteristics. What you've described are symptoms of both muscle rigidity and dyskinesia, which can occur when fentanyl is present in their drugs. If you are suspecting an OD, even if the usual symptoms are not present, it is safe to administer naloxone.