near fatal heroin overdose ICU so lost.
 

i am new here and in need of someone who has been through similar situations, my person lets call her K was clean of heroin or so we thought, she was in a treatment center (out patient) attending classes and therapy sessions got a great job things seemed to be going good but i suspected something was off she was lying to people, sneaking around, asking people to pee for her drug test due to her taking anxiety medication that wasnt prescribed to her (she claimed anyways) fast forward to thursday i get a call she was found near death she over dosed and was bleeding from her nose, and foaming from the mouth she was cold and had a very faint heart beat she had been like thjs close to 4 hours when she was found (junkie boyfriend she wasnt suppose to have contact with sat next to her while she was dying instead of calling 911) she was given 3x of narcan and could not be brought too she was transported to the local hospital and placed in icu, now this is 2nd hand information from my family members so i may not have all the facts but she has been placed on a ventilator shes breathing but not well on her own, she was placed in a medically induced coma because she was trying to pull her ventilator tube out and her stats kept bottoming out and they could not stabilize her, she tested positive for methadone, heroin and cocaine she has a serious lung infection and they have tried to slowly bring her back to a conscious state but everytime she goes for the ventilator, and all of her stats bottom out so they have not been able to move her to check her brain activity or to see if she had a stoke (apparently this is common for people in the condition she was in) i am so scared for her and my mind can't shut down all of the things that could happen (brain damage, organs failing etc) has anyone had a similar experience and if so what was the outcome for your family member? what can we do for her for the time being?

I do not have any personal experience, likedreamersdo.

I just want t to welcome you to SR and to let you know how sorry I am for what brings you here.

This is a very caring community; so glad you found SR.

That does sound like a crazy spiral of events. Maybe this will be what she needs to turn the tides and make life better.

I am so sorry for what you are going through. My addict is my daughter. We have only had one overdose experience in 7 years (thank God) but it was horrible. The doctors/nurses act like its no big deal and that its the person's own fault. That made everything worse. I would like to say that she got clean after the experience, but unfortunately she did not. Its totally up to the person if its their own personal bottom or not. I cannot give you any advice except to hit up meetings (Naranon, Families Anonymous, etc) for help for you. Its a long painful road. Prayers for you and her.

what can we do for her for the time being?

Prayers, you can say lots of prayers along with positive thoughts.

She is where she needs to be with the people trained to help her.

There is no way to know any outcome or long term effects of her OD yet, too many variables. So prayers and kind support for the family is what is needed.

Welcome to the Board. I'm sorry for what has brought you here.

The aftermath of an overdose, for the loved ones of the one who overdosed, are not pleasant. A feeling of helplessness is always present, as well as fear. The truth is someone in active addiction is always beyond the reach of those who care about them. It doesn't matter what we do or say; the addict will always do what they want, regardless of the cost.

You can love K all you want. You can hope for the best. But she's out of your reach. I know that's a tough thing to accept. It sucks, but you really don't have a choice.

My hope is you stick around and read what you can about addiction and how we've dealt with our loved ones addiction. Knowledge is power, and that can save your sanity if you're willing to absorb the collective lessons learned.

Keep us posted.

Zoso nailed it. The question is not what you can do for her but what can you do for yourself to recover your sanity and serenity. My daughter ODed on heroin as was brought back with Narcan.but it didn't clean her up. Her BF ODed with her and then ODed and died a year later. She seemed unaffected by it in that she kept on drinking and drugging. Her mind has devolved to a point where she can't care for her 3 children and just moved in with her baby daddy who tried to kill her when she left him for the now deceased BF. The insanity that drugs produce cannot be understood by anyone including the addict. Best wishes for your loved one but take care of yourself. Therapy and Alanon were tremendous tools for me to insert some balance in my life. Self care is indispensable.

Hi, I'm really sorry that this is happening and for what you must be going through. I had a similar experience with one of my best friends a few years ago. He was found unconscious in a very similar state after mixing alcohol with opiate painkillers. He was in ICU for 2 months on a ventilator with a serious lung infection and was also kept in an induced unconscious state because doctors were worried he might have had brain damage from the lack of oxygen he experienced in the hour or so leading up to when he was found. I visited him nearly every day for weeks and it was horrible seeing him that way, the worst part was not knowing the extent of the damage, if he would ever recover or even if he would wake up, the doctors didn't really know. But he was OK in the end and made a complete recovery. It took a long time in hospital for the lung infection to heal and for him to breathe on his own, but when he finally did there was no brain damage and after a few more months he pretty much went back to normal.

During that time I felt completely powerless. But I tried to support his family as much as I could - they were the ones going through an unimaginable amount of pain. You just need to have hope and make sure you talk to those closest to you about what you're going through right now. Even just visiting and holding her hand, talking to her, letting her know you're there I think makes a big difference. You might not think she can hear you but deep down all the sensory stuff is there. My friend responded to me sometimes when I talked to him and I never gave up on him getting better. Hope this helps and you keep accessing the support you need, whether it's your friends, family or the family of your friend, or even just finding support from others on this forum.