Naloxone, the opioid overdose antidote, is a powerful tool in the overdose crisis, allowing friends, loved ones and even bystanders a way to put a fatal overdose in reverse and bring back breathing. But at high doses it also triggers a wave of miserable symptoms collectively called precipitated withdrawal. A truism for people who routinely use opioids like heroin or illicit fentanyl is that, well, coming back from an overdose sucks.
“You wake up from an overdose, especially after that first time, and you’re like ‘dude I wish I had just died.’” says C, a person who uses drugs and has experienced an opioid overdose several times. Salon is only using their first initial to protect her privacy. C now leads grassroots outreach efforts for others who use drugs in Houston, and is a member of the Texas Drug User Health Union. This miserable experience C describes is the downside of this critical tool.
