While children sometimes accidentally consume ethylene glycol due to its sweet taste, adults tend to ingest it intentionally as an alcohol substitute or in a suicide attempt; it is used for homicidal purposes as well [9, 10]. When a person drinks alcohol, the amount of insulin your body produces is increased, which, in turn, lowers your blood sugar and causes hypoglycemia. Metadoxine works by speeding up the rate at which ethanol is cleared from the blood. In other words, it can help to lower your blood alcohol concentration (BAC). When someone drinks too much alcohol, either intentionally or unintentionally, they can quickly end up in a fatal situation or endure brain damage if the proper care is not taken.

alcohol overdose antidote

An alcohol overdose can damage your pancreas, which digests food and monitors the levels of glucose in your blood. It is dangerous to assume that an unconscious person will be fine by sleeping it off. Alcohol at very high levels can hinder signals in the brain that control automatic responses, such as the gag reflex. With no gag reflex, a person who drinks to the point of passing out is in danger of choking on their vomit and dying from a lack of oxygen (i.e., asphyxiation). Even if the person survives, an alcohol overdose like this can lead to long-lasting brain damage.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Using alcohol with opioid pain relievers, such as oxycodone and morphine, or illicit opioids, such as heroin, is also a very dangerous combination. Like alcohol, these drugs suppress areas in the brain that control vital functions such as breathing. Ingesting alcohol and other drugs together intensifies their individual effects and could produce an overdose with even moderate amounts of alcohol. Drinking too much and too quickly can lead to significant impairments in motor coordination, decision-making, impulse control, and other functions, increasing the risk of harm. Continuing to drink despite clear signs of significant impairments can result in an alcohol overdose. Fomepizole is cleared readily by haemodialysis as shown in animals 77 and poisoned patients 78, so the dosing frequency should be increased during intermittent and continuous haemodialysis (Table 4).

alcohol overdose antidote

Our recovery specialists are waiting to assist you or a loved one in your fight against alcoholism. Alcohol is a powerful depressant, slowing down all your brain functions, including those that keep you alive. While drinking prompts feelings of relaxation while reducing anxiety, these effects don’t last and require a person to keep drinking to sustain the euphoria. Second, alcohol can cause you to breathe too slowly which may lead to loss of consciousness.

Med Toxicol Adverse Drug Exp

In a retrospective review of adverse events in methanol and ethylene glycol‐poisoned cases, CNS symptoms were reported in half of the cases treated with ethanol, while only in 2% treated with fomepizole 98. Zakharov et al. reported that 48% of patients treated with ethanol developed severe intoxication, but did not become comatose, most likely because of the close monitoring of patients given ethanol 16. As noted in Table 5, various elements make fomepizole theoretically superior to ethanol in terms of practical use. A major problem with ethanol therapy is the difficulty in maintaining recommended therapeutic concentrations, because of the huge variability in ethanol elimination rates and its rapid elimination during dialysis 96, 97. Sufficient ethanol concentrations are best maintained by frequent measurements (every 1–2 h) and dose adjustments.

If ethylene glycol overdose is suspected, the patient should also receive 100 mg of intravenous thiamine every 6 hours and 50 mg of pyridoxine every 6 hours. The purpose of the thiamine and pyridoxine is to shunt metabolism of glyoxylic acid away from oxalate and favor the formation of less toxic metabolites. Alcohol toxicity is a health emergency that alcohol overdose must be treated by medical professionals immediately. When medical care is received, a person suffering from acute alcohol poisoning can fully recover. If you exhibit these symptoms after consuming alcohol, you should seek immediate medical attention immediately, as alcohol poisoning can lead to severe complications, including brain damage and death.