what usually causes death with an amphetamine or cocaine overdose?
143033
The heart beats very fast.\nThere can be other factors - 'allergic' reactions where the body has just had too much of a drug.
33799
People who use drugs experience a wide array of physical effects other than those expected. The excitement of a cocaine high, for instance, is followed by a “crash” : a period of anxiety, fatigue, depression, and an acute desire for more cocaine to alleviate the feelings of the crash. Marijuana and alcohol interfere with motor control and are factors in many automobile accidents. Users of marijuana and hallucinogenic drugs may experience flashbacks, unwanted recurrences of the drug's effects weeks or months after use. Sudden abstinence from certain drugs results in withdrawal symptoms. For example, heroin withdrawal can cause vomiting, muscle cramps, convulsions, and delirium. With the continued use of a physically addictive drug, tolerance develops; i.e., constantly increasing amounts of the drug are needed to duplicate the initial effect.\n\n\nBecause the purity and dosage of illegal drugs are uncontrolled, drug overdose is a constant risk. There are over 10,000 deaths directly attributable to drug use in the United States every year; the substances most frequently involved are cocaine, heroin, and morphine, often combined with alcohol or other drugs. Many drug users engage in criminal activity, such as burglary and prostitution, to raise the money to buy drugs, and some drugs, especially alcohol, are associated with violent behavior.
1142635
According to doctors, alcohol increases the impact of cocaine sharply. Dr N P Singh, professor of medicine at Maulana Azad Medical College, said, “Cocaine acts as a vaso-constrictor,” which means that it constricts the blood vessels, making blood flow difficult. \n\nIn case of excess consumption of the drug, or an overdose, the person could suffer ‘‘sudden heart attack-like situation, respiratory failure, and in the worst case, even sudden death.’’ Singh said ‘‘with alcohol, the metabolic profile of the drug gets altered and its effect is a lot more intense and long-lasting.’’ But he added that the alcohol content in champagne is low.
982329
Sounds like the cocaine triggered a panic disorder. I get mild cases of these if i smoke weed sometimes. Takes a couple days for me to recover. Time should help. Continue with the meds and maybe take up meditation. Good luck man, I wouldn't wish panic disorder on my worst enemy.
663039
overdose can lead to serotonin syndrome\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin_syndrome
851960
Drug abuse is horrible.  Complications are weight loss, if using a needle there could be damage to arteries,  damage can be done to all your inside organs, such as heart, lungs, liver, etc.  Family of the abuser can also have complications to their health from stress.  Some people die, others could have a stroke.  My son had a lot of complications but luckily he is alive and in a half way house.  He just went threw 70 days of detox and maintenance.\nMemory loss and dysfunctional thoughts can occur.  Depression and anxiety also.
1017605
oints of Interest:\n\n1.) TRIPLE MAXIMUM LETHAL DOSE EVEN FOR SEVERE ADDICTS: At least three days after his death, Kurt Cobain's blood contained 1.52 milligrams of morphine per litre (mg/L) plus traces of a "diazepam-like" substance. This level is widely known to represent three times the lethal dose of heroin, but it is not commonly understood that this level is three times the lethal dose even for severe heroin addicts. Generally, a blood morphine level of 0.5mg/L is caused by 75 mg - 80 mg of heroin, the established maximum lethal dose, even for severe addicts. A blood level of 1.52 mg/L generally indicates an original dose of approximately 225 mg - 240 mg of heroin.\n\n2.) INCAPACITATED OR DEAD BEFORE GUNSHOT: Large overdoses of heroin by heroin addicts are a phenomenon which is well understood. Research clearly shows that an overdose in the range of that received by Cobain would lead to immediate and complete incapacitation and/or immediate death.\n\n3.) OTHER FACTORS ENSURED OVERDOSE LETHALITY: The 1.52 mg/L blood morphine level does not compensate for the presence of diazepam, or Cobain's low body weight, both of which are well proven to substantially increase the lethality of the heroin.\n\n4.) CASE UNPARALLELED IN SUICIDE & OVERDOSE REPORTS: A review of 3586 suicides, including 760 violent suicides, shows no case involving both a gun and narcotic overdose of any kind, supporting theories regarding the absence or extreme rarity of violent suicide among addicts.\n\n5.) CASE CONSISTENT WITH HOMICIDE PATTERNS: A review of cases involving homicides shows many similarities with patterns in the Cobain case.\n\n6.) OTHER EVIDENCE INDICATES HOMICIDE: Officially acknowledged evidence exists which indicates the possibility of homicide, including a misleading missing persons report, postmortem credit card usage, handwriting discrepancies on the "suicide" note, and the lack of legible fingerprints on the weapon. It appears the police were prejudicially in favour of a suicide ruling, and that the coroner was involved in a conflict of interest predisposing him towards this major discrepancy in the evaluation of his findings.\n\n7.) CONCLUSION: HOMICIDE: The evidence indicates that a massive intravenous dose of heroin, and possibly a benzodiazepine, was administered to Cobain. The final of the two known injections incapacitated and/or killed Cobain, and the gunshot is evidence of a homicide staged to look like a suicide. The case should be re-opened by an independent investigatory body.\n\nSource(s):\nwwww.justiceforkurtcobain.com
44097
alchohol is a depressant as in "downer" and meth is an "upper" stimulant combined the confuse your brain activity and heart and can cause a heart attack and even death
410364
Steroids, Creatine, or working out like your life depended on it. All three ways could kill you though.
519196
Well the obvious is that you will damage something and not feel it.  An overdose can cause a heart attack even in young guys.  Its used by some people to prolong the sexual act by decreasing the guy's sensitivity.
625623
He died on the toilet from a heart attack.  The drugs were an indirect cause.
97494
Dangerous, no. Gateway, not exactly. My idea of a gateway drug is the drug that you first got high with. So in some cases it may be weed, in others it's cocaine and harder stuff. And as far as it's being dangerous, no one has ever overdosed on weed. It's only dangerous when you mix it with cocaine and other substances. My suggestion to you, Smoke 'em if you got 'em.
1151068
The drug phentermine is a dangerous medication in high doses.  I would suggest you check with your doctor before splitting pills in half and also be careful of the time of day you take it.\n\nSymptoms of a phentermine overdose include restlessness, tremor, rapid breathing, confusion, hallucinations, panic, aggressiveness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, an irregular heartbeat, and seizures.
17385
Alot, mostly from dehydration or a heart attack or stroke. I don't think hospitals have released official numbers but its not uncommon where I live to hear of someone dying from it.
745596
According to the following website, it depends on the form of cocaine being produced, and looks like some really nasty chemicals are involved (sulfuric acid, kerosene, benzene, ammonia, etc...). Yuck.\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine
77821
Methamphetamines in general mimick the neurotransmitters Epinephrine and Norepinephrine. These are naturally produced in the body and regulated by other neurotransmitters. The meth will bind to the receptors for those neurotransmitters resulting in a stimulant effect of high magnitude. The more you use the drug the more tolerant the body becomes and the less natural epinephrine and norepinephrine are produced by the body to compensate for the excess(as it recognizes the drug as the neurotransmitter and will quit producing it over time). This results in a higher threshold to get "high" and therefore more of the drug required. At the same time the body is become dependant on the artificial supply being given to the body and the user becomes physically as well as psychologically dependant. The drug itself is extremely corrosive causing widespread damage to any and all tissue it comes in contact with, ultimately resulting in perferated septum, rotting teeth and gums, erroding esophagus, failing kidneys, etc, etc, etc. Dependant users get to the point that they will give up anything to get the drug, ultimately costing them their jobs, their relationships, their dignity and their life.
525583
What kills you is not the voltage but the amperes. Current (amps) = Voltage / Resistance. This is ohms law. 10mAmps causes muscular spasms. 30mAmps causes respiratory failure. 75 causes ventricular fibrilation that is the ineffective pumping of the heart. Until this point, the heart can gain back its normal rythym if a defilibrator is used. beyond 4amps, the heart stops functioning and beyond 5 amps, tissue in the body starts to burn.