The death of a Malibu resident, thought by some to be the result of alcohol mixed with prescription drug use, highlights the addictiveness of such medication.
By Olivia Damavandi / Special to The Malibu Times
Though the results of an autopsy will not be available for at least another week, Malibu resident Chris Quint’s death has generated questions about and awareness of the combination of prescription drug and alcohol usage.
Dr. David D. Baron of Primary Caring of Malibu listed sedatives and narcotics as “the two classes of drugs we need to be very careful about.”
When mixed with alcohol, sedatives (which include tranquilizers and sleeping pills such as Lunesta, Xanax and Ambien) and narcotics (which are derived from the opiate poppy and include Oxycontin, Percocet, Morphine and Vicodin) enhance each other.
“Alcohol is also sedating, and there’s a paradoxical effect from it because it’s thought to make you a rowdy, party animal,” Baron said. “The problem [with combining sedatives or narcotics with alcohol] is that they are synergetic. The mixture can make you five times sleepier than normal.
“Your brain is designed so that in the event that you’re asleep and you have a problem, it has a mechanism to tell you to wake up,” he continued. “The problem is when you mix sedating drugs with alcohol, you repress the control center of the brain that commands breathing and heart beat.”
Baron also explained that narcotics suppress the respiratory center in the brain, making it unable to monitor one’s oxygen level and making one incapable of waking up to warnings emitted by the body of its lack of oxygen. Consequently, the body’s carbon dioxide level increases, resulting in added sleepiness. Thus, one eventually stops breathing and dies from oxygen deprivation caused by the unresponsiveness triggered by the alcohol and drugs.
“What if you throw up and your windpipe is obstructed with vomit?” he asked rhetorically. “Your brain has to be able to notice that, but it can’t. You sabotage the brains ability to save your life, and decrease your body’s ability to respond.”
Both Dr. Baron and Dr. Vern Williams, medical director of Hazelden Springbrook drug and alcohol treatment center in Newberg, Ore., agreed that prescription drugs can be exceedingly advantageous despite their anticipated risk of dependency.
“Xanax reduces anxiety and is prescribed to those who have, for example, lost a child or spouse, are afraid of flying, have extreme anxiety before a medical procedure, or have suffered legitimate trauma,” Williams said. “The danger presents itself if you use it on a chronic basis and your brain gets used to it.”
Baron concurred, and stated that the problem with Xanax is that “of all sedatives, it gets into your system the fastest and stays in your system for the shortest amount of time. A drug that flees your body fast is more captivating to your brain, which makes it more addictive.”
Williams’ whopping statistics that “70 percent of opiates used in the world are used by Americans, and 98 percent of hydrocodone [the active ingredient in Vicodin] used in the world is used by Americans,” makes it easy to see why addiction is such a prevalent concern in the United States.
When asked of the precautions one can take to help prevent addiction to prescription drugs, Baron recommended that all patients notify their doctors about their concerns before they start taking the drug.
“People who have trouble with one form of addiction probably have trouble with others, so don’t assume that addictions are only over certain things,” he said. “Ask yourself whether or not you have an unhealthy relationship to non prescription drugs like alcohol, marijuana, or cigarettes. If you tend to overuse those things, you are at high risk of abusing prescription drugs.”
Baron also recommended that the drug be taken exactly as prescribed and to have only one doctor who prescribes “potentially habit forming drugs.”
“If you have different doctors for different problems, make sure your doctors are talking to each other and be sure to carry information between them,” he said.