DRUG COMBINATIONS THAT CAN REALLY MESS YOU UP

Drug combinations 

Mixing some of the  drugs together is a bit like throwing a Molotov cocktail at your own body. If you’re reading You already know that substances of abuse can make a mess of people's lives. There are dozens of chemicals that can render you friendless, jobless and despondent—if not outright kill you—all by themselves. That makes mixing them together a bit like throwing a Molotov cocktail at your own body.

Too much of drug A may cause liver failure, say. Add a little of drug B and it might happen two hours sooner. Toss in drug C, and maybe you’ll stop breathing before your liver even gets involved.

Because every person reacts slightly differently, there’s virtually no way to determine which drug combination is most likely to land you, personally, in a body bag. But that doesn’t mean some pairings aren't deadlier than others. Some—like the painkiller/anti-anxiety drug/sleeping pill cocktail that killed Heath Ledger, and has been soaring in drug use stats—terrify even medical professionals.

·         1. Alcohol and benzodiazepines

One of the most common factor when Benzodiazepines are taken with alcohol is that the user forgets how much medication that they have taken and he or she continues to take more and more of the drug.

The reason is that the Alcohol is depressant and benzodiazepines such as ativan, valium and xanax are also depressants. The result of taking these two substance in combination can lead to depressed central nervous system, loss of consciousness and coma. Together, these two substances pose a potentially lethal risk to the user.

Xanax and alcohol are both Central Nervous System (CNS) depressants. (The central nervous system includes the brain and spinal cord.) They work by slowing down the brain, and subsequently, many other body systems. Xanax and alcohol both affect the crucial area of your brain called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is responsible for regulating heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, temperature, and many other vital functions. When Xanax and alcohol are taken together, the additive effects can lead to dangerously slowed breathing and heart rates.

2. Alcohol and prescription painkillers (Opioids with Alcohol)

Opioids are also considered CNS depressants, so they will react with alcohol in a similar way as depressant drugs react with alcohol. In addition to sedation, many opioids inhibit the coughing reflex, which places an individual at high risk for aspiration, pneumonia an choking. This creates a dangerous effect that could stop breathing altogether.

Opioids include Vicodin, Percocet, OxyContin, Opana, and Dilaudid.

Alcohol and opioids together cause sleepiness and poor concentration. You should avoid alcohol completely when you first start on opioids or when your dose has just been increased. If you are taking opioids, you should avoid alcohol if you are going to drive or operate machinery. When you get on a steady dose of opioid.

Taking opioids with alcohol can cause a dangerous reaction including slowed breathing and overdose. Drowsiness can be magnified by patients who take opioids with other narcotics, allergy medication, tranquilizers and sleeping pills.An allergic reaction is also possible with opioids and signs include:

• Rash
• Wheezing
• Difficult breathing
• C closing of the throat
• Hives or swelling of the lips, face, tongue or throat.

Any of these serious side effects should prompt a visit to the emergency room.

Cocaine Combos

·         3. Cocaine and opiates

The combination remains just as dangerous as ever. “So many different things—seizures, heart attacks, strokes, unregulated body temperature—can happen when you take drugs that stimulate you, like cocaine," And then, on the other side you have the respiratory depression. If you have a combination of the two, it can make it harder for you to recognize the impact of one chemical.”

Is is a common misconception that uppers/stimulants a very dangerous when mixed with downers/opiates. I've had numerous doctors tell me this is not true but rather an assumption evolved out of the danger of speedballing(cocaine+heroin).

Mixing and upper with a downer is not harmful in SMALL amounts. EX: taking Adderal (mixed amphetamine sulfate salts) 60mg/day as well as 12mg of dilaudid (hydromorphone). Adderal is a strong stimulant and dilaudid is a very strong pain killer. I too once thought the combo was harmfull but  dr and pharm both said they are not the least harmfull when taken in PRESCRIBED amounts. It's when the two are mixed in large amounts that they become dangerous.

The Same goes for a speedball (cocaine an combo) people dont die from the combo but rather they die from doing LARGE amounts of either or both drugs.

·         4. Cocaine and ecstasy

Just like combining two depressants, combining two stimulants can exacerbate the effects of both. Though you’ll hardly fall asleep and stop breathing on this drug cocktail, you might well stop breathing in another way. Ecstasy on its own can damage the cardiovascular system and cause problems with body temperature regulation, and cocaine can do the same. If you're dancing at a hot sweaty club or a summer music festival while taking both, you’re pretty much asking to overheat or have a stroke.

What’s more, these two drugs frequently come cut; you really have no idea what you’re getting. As “Combining any unknown with any other unknown? It’s like Russian roulette.”

Coke and E don't really mix together. Both alone will raise your heart rate pretty high, taking both together will jack your heart rate up way too high. You can try it, but it's not suggested. Keep them separate and enjoy them for what they are. If you really want to mix your E with something, smoke some herb a little after you peak, it'll bring you back up for a while and you'll really enjoy your roll.

·         5. Alcohol and cocaine

. When you take cocaine and the alcohol together for a long time, there’s a combination chemical called cocaethylene that is formed that is very toxic,It can really damage your liver and heart and other organs.

Stimulant drugs such as cocaine, Ritalin, or meth can have detrimental effects on your body when combined with alcohol. In fact, mixing stimulants with alcohol is more dangerous than alcohol consumption alone because stimulants give users a false sense of sobriety. You might feel that you are not as drunk as you actually are and then drink beyond your physical limit. Or worse, stimulants can even hide the signs of an overdose. This delusion causes individuals to consume much more alcohol than normal.

While alcohol and cocaine used separately can cause serious health problems, combining the two can cause far greater risks.  When alcohol and cocaine are used together they create a third chemical, cocaethylene, to form in the liver.  This phenomena is the only known example of a formation of a third chemical forming in the body following the ingestion of two others.   The existence of cocaethelyne is basically unknown to those outside the pharmacological community. Some users report that it creates a feeling of higher euphoria , however, it is involved in 60% of sudden cocaine deaths. It has cardiovascular toxicity (i.e. leads to heart attack and strokes) so this combination should be avoided if you have a heart condition!

All-Rx Combos

·         6. Benzodiazepines, narcotic painkillers and sleeping pills

     Benzodiazepines, narcotic painkillers and sleeping pills Combining any central nervous system depressant—think OxyContin, Xanax, alcohol or heroin—with any other is a recipe for disaster. Their additive effects suppress breathing, and you might not notice. Your brain has a reward system that tells you if you’re getting high, and then it has a system that controls your breathing that’s located in the brainstem, and the two centers do not necessarily talk to each other.

“Trying to gauge how much you use based on how you feel is going to be deadly.” So why these three? In addition to the extremely addictive properties of benzos, sleeping pills and painkillers, this medley is particularly nasty because of its sheer prevalence.

·         7. Multiple prescription painkillers

Another in the multiple-depressant category, this one is again due to likelihood of respiratory failure and the high incidence of addiction. “Narcotics used for pain are not very effective after about six weeks,"

people adding drugs all the time, or increasing the amounts they’re taking over what’s been prescribed.  Also, the perception that all pills prescribed by a doctor are safe can give users a false sense of security. opioids were involved in more overdose deaths than cocaine and heroin combined.

·         8. Tylenol 3 and over-the-counter Tylenol

Tylenol doesn’t sound so scary—heck, doctors give it to babies—but it contains acetaminophen, which can be extremely toxic to the liver in high doses. That’s bad to take with any drug, but if you mix it with an addictive opioid—like Tylenol 3 with codeine—your liver is going to take a beating. According to a 2005 study from the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, 38% of people who developed acute liver failure because of accidentally ingesting too much had taken more than one kind of pill—and 63% had taken a pill that contained both acetaminophen and an opioid. You can't be too careful.