How Long Does It Take For An Overdose To Kick In?

An overdose can occur when too much, or more than the recommend amount, of a substance is ingested. Overdoses[i] are serious, especially in the case of drugs or alcohol, if the substance consumed overwhelms the human body’s ability to maintain life-sustaining functions.

In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that more than 64,000 Americans[ii] lost their life due to a drug overdose. No one can accurately predict the exact onset of an overdose in any given person. Some people develop symptoms rapidly, while others may experience a significant delay in the start of problems.

How Do Overdoses Occur?

Understanding the unpredictable nature of overdoses requires an understanding of exactly how these dire situations happen in the first place. Alcohol, many prescription medications and a majority of illicit and illegal drugs produce some of their most profound effects by altering the rate of cell-to-cell communication inside the brain. Some substances act as central nervous system stimulants and speed up this communication rate, while other substances act as central nervous system depressants and slow it down.

As the body’s master control center, the brain is designed to work within a relatively narrow set of conditions. When activity levels rise too high, a chain reaction of events can lead to:

• An unusually rapid heartbeat
• Narrowing of the blood vessels accompanied by spikes in normal blood pressure
• Unusually rapid breathing

On the other hand, an abnormally slow rate of brain activity can lead to problems such as:

• An unusually slow heartbeat
• Widening of the blood vessel accompanied by drops in normal blood pressure
• Unusually slow breathing

Overdoses are essentially toxic reactions. They occur when a person consumes enough of a given substance to push the brain out of its safe zone of operation. In a person who overdoses on a central nervous system stimulant (e.g., cocaine or methamphetamine), this change in normal function can lead to outcomes that include an unsustainable strain on the heart and blood vessels. In a person who overdoses on a central nervous system depressant (e.g., alcohol, opioid medications or opioid drugs), it can lead to outcomes that include an unsustainable drop in the amount of oxygen drawn in through the lungs.

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