Drugs and medicine can help fix health problems, that is for sure. If you’ve ever taken Tylenol to help a headache or cold and flu medicine to ease congestion, you’ll agree with this. It is important to take drugs as prescribed and avoid mixing medications. However, illicit drugs also exist, for obvious reasons, don’t come with prescriptions or directions for use, and mixing these can be dangerous, as can mixing any medications without medical oversight. Anyone qualified with an online PharmD program will understand the risks of mixing medications, and the importance of checking with healthcare professionals before doing so. This article will explain what polydrug use is and what you need to know about it. Continue reading to learn more.
What is Polydrug or Polysubstance Use?
First, let’s explain what polydrug use, sometimes called polysubstance use, is. This is a term used to describe when someone takes multiple medications, illicit drugs, or a combination of both simultaneously. For instance, someone might mix a prescription drug, such as valium, with alcohol. Or, someone might mix illicit stimulants, such as cocaine or methamphetamine, with a depressant, such as heroin or a prescription opioid. In extreme examples, someone might mix three or more different substances at the same time.
The reasons for this vary, from ignorance, such as when someone drinks on top of prescribed medications without knowing the effects, to intentional polydrug use, when someone mixes multiple illicit drugs to chase a high.
The Dangers of Polydrug Use
There are a variety of risks associated with polydrug use. One immediate risk is overdose, especially when someone combines depressants such as alcohol, anti-anxiety medications such as Valium or Xanax and opiates or opioids. Combining several nervous system depressants can slow breathing and heart rate and result in a fatal overdose. Combining stimulants and depressants can also be an overdose risk, as the effects of the stimulants might mask how much the depressants are affecting someone’s system, and the stress on the body from a combination of stimulants and depressants is quite dangerous.
Other risks include unpredictable effects, such as when different classes of drugs are mixed. Some symptoms may include confusion, dissociation and auditory and visual hallucinations.
Polysubstance use also places the user at risk of developing mental health conditions, especially if they are a teenager or young person whose brain is still developing. There is a link between psychotic illness and polysubstance use, particularly when cannabis is included in the mix.
There are also long-term health consequences to polydrug use, as this type of substance use places great strain on the nervous system, the heart, brain and more. Some long-term consequences can include stroke, heart disease, and kidney and liver failure due to the damage polydrug use does to these organs. These health implications of polydrug use can be fatal, provided the person does not seek help or address their problematic substance use.
The Importance of Education and Awareness
If you happen to take medications or use illicit substances, you must educate yourself and gain awareness about the effects and impacts of polydrug use. There are some excellent harm reduction steps and strategies you can use to minimize the harms associated with polydrug use behavior. You could speak to a professional such as a drug counselor if you use illicit substances and mix drugs. If you’re taking multiple medications, ensure that you speak to a doctor who can provide advice about your medications and reduce the risks of adverse effects of taking multiple medications at the same time. Your doctor might discontinue one medication or swap it out for something that carries less of a risk when mixed with other medications.
For instance, for those using opioids and mixing them, carrying Naloxone is essential. This is a life-saving drug that can quickly reverse the effects of opioid overdose and is administered as an injection or a nasal spray.
Seek Treatment
Fortunately, there is some hope and a light at the end of the tunnel for those who are addicted to drugs and who mix multiple types of drugs in potentially unsafe ways. There are a range of various treatments available for people to manage their drug use, such as cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT. This therapy is an evidence-based treatment that has a high success rate when used with people with an addiction to polysubstance use. Various private and public-based rehabilitation centers offer residential care, withdrawal services, and group therapy to treat polydrug use. Finally, some peer support twelve-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous can help you break the cycle of addiction and lead to a sober life. Suppose you are a healthcare professional working with someone who is addicted to drugs and mixing them, or you have experienced this yourself. In that case, you can refer them to these treatment modalities or engage in them yourself.
This informative article has shared how you can understand polydrug use, and what you need to know about this topic. We’ve covered what polydrug use is, how it affects the mind and body, and the risks of mixing medications and different illicit drugs. Finally, we’ve touched upon the importance of awareness, education and seeking treatment for yourself or referring people you work with to seek help.
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