info on drug overdose leading to circulatory collapse…?

Question by Tykat: info on drug overdose leading to circulatory collapse…?
I had a drug overdose in 2005 (crystal meth & cocaine) that landed me in intensive care for almost a week, I was completely out of it the entire time and was discharged without an explanation as to what exactly happened inside my body, I of course never thought to ask but now that it has been years that I’ve been sober it has started to bug me.

I’ve done research and it seems that what I had was a circulatory collapse. My initial symptoms we’re hand numbness and by the time I go the to ER my legs, feet, arms and hands we’re completely blue. I remember the nurse telling me “my body was shutting down but my heart was still beating” which is similar to a description I read on circulatory collapse, seems to fit as it is also a common risk listed with drug overdoses.

Now, what my question is, is WHERE can I find more info on this, does anyone know more about this and what it can do to your body afterwards, long term effects…the internet has minimal info on this!!

Best answer:

Answer by gangadharan_nair
Deaths directly attributable to the pharmacological response to amphetamines relate to several phenomena, including: 1) hypertensive cerebrovascular hemorrhage (confirmed pathologically); 2) cardiovascular collapse secondary to ventricular fibrillation, with the majority of these cases in individuals less than 30 years of age with no evidence of pre-existing heart disease; 3) hyperpyrexia in the range of 40°C and 4) miscellaneous causes, such as septicemia with bacterial endocarditis or necrotizing angiitis. In general, acute fatal drug reactions to amphetamine are more common in the occasional user than in the tolerant, chronic, high-dose abuser. This is particularly true of the hyperthermic and convulsive cascade that precedes many fatalities. This may be related to the observation that experimental animals rapidly develop tolerance to the hyperthermic effects of amphetamine. Although hyperthermic conditions associated with convulsions are seen more frequently with amphetamine, convulsions are more frequent antecedents in acute toxicity from cocaine. In contrast to amphetamine, cocaine has the capacity to induce potentially toxic reactions in those tolerant to its use. These differences may be related to the differential local anesthetic potency, resulting in arrhythmias, convulsions, and depression of the medullary respiratory center. Although the exact interrelationship of hyperthermia, hypertensive crisis and convulsions, and the sequence of these events in the toxic cascade, is still unknown, both types of stimulants induce a similar fatality.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!