Demerol Injection Abuse

The synthetic opioid meperidine, also known as pethidine and sold under the brand name Demerol, is a strong opioid agonist with a short half-life and local anesthetic properties.

It is used to manage moderate to severe pain over a short period of time when other, non-opioid pain management options are not suitable.

Demerol can be compounded into a variety of different generic and brand-name formulations, including:

• Demerol tablets
• liquid Demerol syrups
• Demerol intramuscular injections
• Demerol subcutaneous injections
• Demerol IV/intravenous injections

While meperidine hydrochloride is a commonly used pain medication for labor and delivery, with a range of other pain-relief applications, it is associated with a high risk for drug abuse and addiction, and should never be injected outside of medical necessity.

Effects Of Shooting Demerol

When a person takes a drug orally the medication must first pass through the digestive tract before being absorbed into the blood. This is a relatively slow process and along the way a certain percentage of the drug will be lost, lowering its bioavailability and a person’s effective dosage.

Injection drug use, and intravenous drug use in particular, delivers the full dose directly into the blood with effects that can be felt across the central nervous system in seconds.

And while these effects may not last as long, they will likely be more intense, stimulating an extremely dangerous and habit-forming euphoria or high.

As a result, those who abuse meperidine may modify oral formulations of the drug for injection use, usually by crushing meperidine tablets into a fine powder, mixing this with water, and injecting it into a vein.

Dangers Of Shooting Demerol

Demerol shots have been associated with certain side effects and long-term health risks, even in medical context.

Abusing Demerol increases these risks, which may include:

Adverse Effects

Like other opioid analgesics, meperidine’s analgesic effects are known to come with side effects like nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sweating, urinary retention, constipation, pruritus (itching), and gastrointestinal discomfort.

In controlled medical use, these side-effects generally fade over time as the body adapts to the medication. Injecting Demerol outside of medical settings, however, can increase the intensity of these effects.

Overdose

By delivering high doses of drugs directly into the bloodstream, injection drug use increases the risk of a life-threatening overdose.

The risk of overdose is further increased if meperidine is abused alongside other common CNS depressants like alcohol, benzodiazepines, muscle relaxants, or other opioid drugs including hydromorphone, heroin, and fentanyl.

Signs of a meperidine overdose include:

• convulsive seizures
• gasping
• slow breathing
• slow heart rate
• low blood pressure (severe hypotension)
• severe drowsiness
• muscle weakness
• cold and clammy skin
• blue-colored skin or lips
• fainting
• mental impairment
• coma

If someone near you is experiencing respiratory depression (breathing problems) due to a possible opioid overdose, immediately contact your local emergency healthcare services and administer naloxone (an opioid receptor antagonist) if available.

Serotonin Syndrome

Norpethidine, also known as normeperidine, is meperidine’s most significant metabolite. This substance possesses an elevated toxicity and is known to increase the activity of the neurotransmitter serotonin when used.

As a result, concomitant use of meperidine with other serotonin-increasing drugs increases the risk of a dangerous drug interaction and condition known as serotonin syndrome, along with symptoms like:

• increased heart rate (tachycardia)
• increased body temperature
• high blood pressure (hypertension)
• agitation
• hallucinations
• shivering
• sweating
• dilated pupils
• twitching
• muscle stiffness
• tremors
• diarrhea
• over responsive reflexes

Serotonergic drugs that may trigger adverse reactions when used with meperidine include monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MOAIs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tramadol, and others.

Infections & Scarring

Injection drug use is associated with different types of infection, including:

• skin infections and abscesses
• endocarditis, a life-threatening inflammation of the interior lining of the heart
• hepatitis
• HIV/AIDs

Both the act of injecting meperidine and the skin infections that result can lead to long-lasting scarring on the surface of the skin, which may stigmatize individuals for the rest of their lives.

Dependence & Addiction

When used over a long period of time, meperidine has the potential to trigger the development of physical dependence.

When this occurs, a person may not be able to stop taking meperidine without experiencing uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms, also known as discontinuation syndrome or withdrawal syndrome.

Opioid use disorder, also known as opioid addiction, is a related but distinct condition that may develop as a result of meperidine abuse.

Individuals who develop this treatable condition may experience a compulsive need for the substance and its effects, regardless of the cost or consequences of continued meperidine misuse.

Opioid addiction can be treated with medication-assisted treatment (MAT), which uses medications like buprenorphine and methadone to reduce cravings and dependence.

For information on our MAT program, please contact us today.