Once your CNS is back on track, you’ll need to address the source of the problem. If you have a condition that requires medication, you’ll need to follow your doctor’s instructions for care. If you’ve become addicted to alcohol or drugs, you’ll need to safely withdrawal from the chemicals and commit to long-term treatment for addiction. In small doses, these drugs slow brain function, producing a calm or sleepy feeling.
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They’re also sometimes prescribed for excessive agitation, muscle spasms, and seizures. Examples of CNS depressants include tranquilizers, hypnotics, and sedatives. In recent years, doctors have prescribed opioid painkillers for many conditions, but overuse of these drugs can lead to problems. Treatment facilities will tailor treatment plans to the individual and include different want to quit drinking use these 8 strategies to make it a reality types of therapies to help the patient replace negative behaviors with healthier ones. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is particularly helpful in treating CNS depressant abuse. This type of therapy focuses on modifying a patient’s thinking, expectations, and behaviors while simultaneously increasing their skills for coping with various life stressors.
Which Drugs cause Similar Effects?
If someone has been on medication for a while or misused it, a doctor may look at their medical history and conduct tests to determine whether CNS depression is an accurate diagnosis. If you have anxiety or a sleep disorder your doctor https://rehabliving.net/performance-enhancing-drugs-know-the-risks/ may prescribe you a CNS depressant, such as a sedative, to help relieve your symptoms. The tolerance and withdrawal criteria are not met if an individual is taking sedatives, hypnotics, or anxiolytics under medical supervision.
Speeding Up the Brain With Stimulants: Caffeine, Nicotine, Cocaine, and Amphetamines
A variety of other things in your environment can lead to CNS depression when ingested or inhaled. One such product is ethylene glycol, a chemical found in a variety of consumer goods, including antifreeze and de-icing products. When ingested, this chemical is toxic to the CNS, kidneys, and heart. If you are on CNS depressants and suspect it’s making you more lethargic than you should be, don’t stop it until you speak to your doctor. Suddenly stopping the medication could result in more harm than good. However, if you find that your CNS depressants affect your daily functioning, speak to your doctor about it.
- Injecting drugs intravenously carries with it the risk of contracting infections such as hepatitis and HIV.
- Some examples are Valium, Xanax, Halcion, Ativan, Klonopin, and Restoril.
- However, problems with barbiturate addiction and deadly overdoses soon became apparent.
- GHB is produced illegally in both domestic and foreign clandestine laboratories.
- Amphetamines may produce a very high level of tolerance, leading users to increase their intake, often in “jolts” taken every half hour or so.
- In addition, continued use can lead to physical dependence and, when use is lessened or stopped, withdrawal symptoms.
Understanding Central Nervous System (CNS) Depression: Symptoms, Treatment, and More
Dependence means that a person needs to keep taking the medication to avoid experiencing symptoms of withdrawal. If you experience any of these effects after taking a depressant, seek immediate medical attention or call 911. Barbiturates, sometimes referred to as downers, are a type of CNS depressant that causes euphoria and relaxation when taken in small doses. Drugs that fall into this category include Mebaral (mephobarbital), Luminal (phenobarbital), and Nembutal (pentobarbital sodium).
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions. It can occur without addiction, but it often accompanies addiction. Addiction means having a compulsive desire to use a drug, even when this has a harmful effect on your work or personal life. Some examples of barbiturates include Nembutal (pentobarbital) and phenobarbital.
It may be the oldest drug on record, known to the Sumerians before 4000 BC. Morphine and heroin are stronger, more addictive drugs derived from opium, while codeine is a weaker analgesic and less addictive member of the opiate family. When heroin was produced a few decades later, it was also initially thought to be a more potent, less addictive painkiller but a simple guide to mescaline was soon found to be much more addictive than morphine. Heroin is about twice as addictive as morphine, and creates severe tolerance, moderate physical dependence, and severe psychological dependence. The danger of heroin is demonstrated in the fact that it has the lowest safety ratio (6) of all the drugs listed in Table 5.1 “Psychoactive Drugs by Class”.
Also, the individual may need more and more of the drug to experience the same benefits. Some people may need rehabilitation therapy to stop using the drugs. Continued use of some CNS depressants can be harmful long-term, as the body becomes unable to flush out these substances. But, high doses of these drugs can reduce the activity of the CNS to dangerously low levels. Doctors also give sedatives and analgesics to individuals to reduce anxiety and provide pain relief before and after procedures. The strength and duration of action of benzodiazepines are important in what conditions they treat.
Before you drive, go back to work, use heavy tools and machinery, or participate in other potentially dangerous activities, talk to your healthcare provider. They can guide you on what you can do to take your medications as prescribed and stay safe at the same time. Your healthcare provider will likely recommend that you don’t work or drive right after you start taking benzodiazepines.
Misuse can also happen if a person uses someone else’s medication, if they take more than the recommended dose, or if they use drugs that a doctor has not prescribed. In 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) strengthened their warning that benzodiazepine use can lead to addiction. Combined with alcohol, opiods, and other CNS depressants, they can be life-threatening. Given their strength and addictive qualities, only people who have a severe condition should use them.
GHB dissolved in liquid has been packaged in small vials or small water bottles. In liquid form, GHB is clear and colorless and slightly salty in taste. Barbiturates are Schedule II, III, and IV depressants under the Controlled Substances Act. Barbiturates slow down the central nervous system and cause sleepiness. If you take a large amount or have a strong batch, you could overdose. Generally, depressants can be swallowed, drunk, injected, snorted or inhaled.
