What to Do if You Think Someone Is Poisoning You

Facts
- Poisoning Facts
Types
- What Are Types of Poisoning?
Symptoms
- What Are the Symptoms of Poisoning?
- Delayed Onset of Poisoning Symptoms
Poison Control
- What Should You Do if Yous Doubtable Poisoning?
Diagnosis
- How Is Poisoning Diagnosed?
Treatment
- What Is the Handling for Poisoning?
- Poisoning Self-Care at Dwelling house
- What Is the Medical Treatment Poisoning?
Prognosis
- What Is the Prognosis for Poisoning?
Guide
- Poisoning Topic Guide
- Doctor's Notes on Poisoning Symptoms

Poisoning Facts

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Picture of a man with abdominal pain.

If you or someone you know has swallowed or breathed in a poison, and you or they accept serious signs or symptoms (nausea, airsickness, pain, trouble breathing, seizure, confusion, or abnormal skin color), you lot must either call an ambulance for send to a hospital emergency department or telephone call a toxicant control center for guidance. The National Poison Command Centre phone number in the U.S. is ane-800-222-1222.

If the person has no symptoms simply has taken a potentially dangerous poison, you should also call a poisonous substance control center or go to the nearest emergency department for an evaluation.

Poison is anything that kills or injures through its chemical actions. Most poisons are swallowed (ingested). The word poison comes from the Latin word - potare - significant to drink. Just poisons tin can also enter the body in other ways:

Past breathing
Through the skin
By Four injection
From exposure to radiations
Venom from a snake bite or insect bite

What Are Types of Poisoning?

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Poisons include highly toxic chemicals non meant for human being ingestion or contact, such as cyanide, paint thinners, or household cleaning products.

Many poisons, however, are substances meant for humans to eat, including foods and medicines.

Foods

Some mushrooms are poisonous
Drinking h2o contaminated by agronomical or industrial chemicals
Nutrient that has non been properly prepared or handled

Drugs

Drugs that are helpful in therapeutic doses may be mortiferous when taken in excess.

Examples include:

Beta blockers: Beta blockers are a course of drugs used to treat eye conditions (for example, angina, abnormal heart rhythms) and other conditions, (for instance, high blood pressure, migraine headache prevention, social phobia, and certain types of tremors). In backlog, they can cause difficulty breathing, blackout, and eye failure.
Warfarin (Coumadin): Coumadin is a blood thinner used to prevent blood clots. Information technology is the active ingredient in many rat poisons and may cause heavy haemorrhage and expiry if too much is taken.
Vitamins: Vitamins, especially A and D, if taken in large amounts can crusade liver problems and death.

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What Are the Symptoms of Poisoning?

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Signs and symptoms of poisoning are then broad and variable that there is no easy fashion to classify them.

Some poisons enlarge the pupils, while others shrink them.
Some result in excessive drooling, while others dry the rima oris and skin.
Some speed the heart, while others wearisome the eye.
Some increase the breathing rate, while others dull it.
Some cause hurting, while others are painless.
Some cause hyperactivity, while others cause drowsiness. Confusion is often seen with these symptoms.

When the cause of the poisoning is unknown

A big office of figuring out what type of poisoning has occurred is connecting the signs and symptoms to each other, and to additional available information.

Ii different poisons, for example, may make the centre beat chop-chop. Nevertheless, only ane of them may cause the pare and oral fissure to be very dry out. This simple distinction may help narrow the possibilities.
If more than one person has the same signs and symptoms, and they take a common exposure source, such as contaminated food, water, or workplace surroundings, and then poisoning would be suspected.
When two or more poisons deed together, they may cause signs and symptoms not typical of any single toxicant.

Toxidromes

Sure poisons cause what toxicologists call toxidromes - a contraction of the words toxic and syndrome. Toxidromes consist of groups of signs and symptoms found together with a given type of poisoning.

For example: Jimson weed, a plant smoked or ingested for its hallucinogenic properties, produces the anticholinergic toxidrome: Rapid heart rate, big pupils, dry hot peel, retentiveness of urine, mental confusion, hallucinations, and blackout.
Most poisons either take no associated toxidrome or take only some of the expected features of the toxidrome.

Delayed Onset of Poisoning Symptoms

A person tin can exist poisoned and not show symptoms for hours, days, or months. Cases of poisoning with a prolonged onset of symptoms are particularly unsafe because at that place may be a dangerous filibuster in obtaining medical attention.

Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is considered a safety drug, but is toxic to the liver when taken in large quantities. Because it acts so slowly, seven to 12 hours may pass earlier the get-go symptoms begin (no appetite when normally hungry, nausea, and vomiting).
The archetype example of a very slow poisonous substance is lead. Before 1970, most paints contained lead. Young children would eat paint chips and, later on several months, develop abnormalities of the nervous arrangement.

When the illness may be poisoning - or may not be poisoning

Some signs and symptoms of poisoning tin can imitate signs and symptoms of mutual illnesses.

For example, nausea and vomiting are a sign (vomiting) and symptom (nausea) of poisoning. However, nausea and vomiting can as well be establish in many illnesses that have cipher to do with poisoning. Examples include:
- stroke,
- eye attack,
- tummy ulcers,
- gallbladder problems,
- hepatitis,
- appendicitis,
- head injuries, and
- many others.
Almost every possible sign or symptom of a poisoning tin can too be caused by a non-toxicant-related medical trouble.

What Should Yous Do if You lot Doubtable Poisoning?

Call the U.S. National Poison Control Eye at 1-800-222-1222 if you accept questions about possible poisoning. You tin can besides go directly to your hospital's emergency department.

Don't assume over-the-counter medications are safe even if taken in excess. Phone call the toxicant control center for advice.
With many pills, it may take several hours or longer for symptoms to develop. Do not expect for symptoms to develop, call the toxicant control eye for advice.

Go to your hospital'southward emergency section if any of the following occurs:

If someone looks ill later on a poisoning or possible poisoning.
An baby or toddler who may accept ingested a poison, even if the child looks and feels fine.
Anyone who has taken something in an attempt to damage himself or herself, fifty-fifty if the substance used is not known to exist harmful.
When take the person to the hospital'due south emergency department, accept all the medicine bottles, containers (household cleaners, paint cans, vitamin bottles), or samples of the substance (such as a constitute leaf).

How Is Poisoning Diagnosed?

A combination of history, physical test, and laboratory studies will help reveal the crusade of virtually poisonings. Frequently, handling must begin before all data is available.

History: As a family unit member or friend of a poisoned person, you can profoundly aid the dr. and provide valuable clues by telling the doc about these details:

Everything the person ate or drank recently
Names of all prescription and over-the-counter medications the person is taking
Exposure to chemicals at dwelling or at work
Whether others in the family or at work have been similarly ill or exposed
Whether the person has whatsoever psychiatric history to suggest an intentional ingestion (suicide endeavour)

Testing: Many poisons can be detected in the blood or urine. Nonetheless, a doctor cannot order "every test in the book" when the diagnosis is unclear. The tests ordered will be based on information revealed in the history and physical exam.

A toxicology screen or "tox" screen looks for mutual drugs of abuse. Virtually toxicology screens volition detect:
- acetaminophen,
- aspirin,
- marijuana,
- opioids (heroin, codeine),
- benzodiazepines (diazepam [Valium], chlordiazepoxide [Librium]),
- amphetamines (uppers),
- cocaine, and
- alcohol.
A specific blood test will give serum levels of some drugs, including phenytoin (Dilantin), theophylline (Theo-Dur, Respbid, Slo-Bid, Theo-24, Theolair, Uniphyl, Slo-Phyllin), digoxin (Lanoxin), lithium (Lithobid), and acetaminophen.
Some drugs affect the electrical action of the middle. An electrocardiogram (ECG) may reveal toxicity.
Sometimes a person is unconscious for no obvious reason. A CT browse of the brain will help tell if in that location has been a structural change in the brain, such as a stroke.

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What Is the Treatment for Poisoning?

Poisoning can occur from a variety of factors like medications, illicit drugs, foods, and attempts to damage ones life. Poisoning is a medical emergency and cannot be treated at home. If think you or someone you know shows the symptoms of poisoning equally described previously, seek medical intendance immediately.

Poisoning Self-Care at Dwelling house

If you or someone you know has swallowed or breathed a toxicant and y'all or they have signs or symptoms, such as nausea, airsickness, pain, trouble breathing, seizure, confusion, or abnormal skin color, you must call either an ambulance or the U.S. National Poison Control Eye at i-800-222-1222 for guidance. This number is routed to the poison control middle that serves your area.

Mail service the phone number (forth with police, fire, and 911 or equivalent) near your home phones.
Do not induce airsickness or requite syrup of Ipecac.
- Ipecac was previously used to induce vomiting in poisoned patients where there was a chance to go the toxin out of the body. Several advisory bodies such as the American Association of Poison Command Centers and the American Academy of Pediatrics take recommended that Ipecac NOT exist used and that information technology should not fifty-fifty be kept in the household. For more information on this subject go to: http://www.toxicant.org/prepared/ipecac.asp
Practice not give activated charcoal at dwelling house. Allow medical personnel to make up one's mind if this handling is advisable.
The poison command middle will instruct y'all what to practise or if an antidote is readily bachelor.

What Is the Medical Treatment Poisoning?

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Emptying: Get rid of the unabsorbed poison earlier information technology can do any impairment.

If the person is unconscious, the doctor will put a flexible, soft, plastic tube into the windpipe to protect the person from suffocating in his or her own vomit and to provide artificial breathing (intubation).
Once the poison has moved by the stomach, other methods are needed.
Activated charcoal acts every bit a "super" absorber of many poisons. Once the poisonous substance is stuck to the charcoal in the intestine, the toxicant cannot get absorbed into the bloodstream. Activated charcoal has no taste, but the gritty texture sometimes causes the person to vomit. To be effective, activated charcoal needs to be given every bit soon as possible after the poisoning. It does not piece of work with booze, caustics, lithium (Lithobid), or petroleum products.
Whole bowel irrigation requires drinking a large quantity of a fluid called Golytely. This flushes the entire gastrointestinal tract before the poison gets absorbed.

Antidotes: Some poisons have specific antidotes. Antidotes either prevent the toxicant from working or reverse the effects of the poison.

Atropine is an antitoxin for sure nerve gases and insecticides. During Functioning Desert Tempest, all war machine personnel were issued atropine injectors when it was feared that the enemy would utilise nerve gas.
A mutual antidote is N-acetylcysteine (Mucomyst), which is used to neutralize acetaminophen (Tylenol) overdoses. Acetaminophen, in normal doses, is one of the safest medications known, but after a massive overdose, the liver is damaged, and hepatitis and liver failure develop. Mucomyst works as an antidote by bolstering the trunk'southward natural detoxification abilities when they are overwhelmed.

It may also be possible to reverse the harmful consequence of a drug even if no antidote exists.
- If a person with diabetes takes likewise much insulin, a dangerously depression blood sugar (hypoglycemia) will crusade weakness, unconsciousness, and eventually death. Carbohydrate given by mouth or Iv is an effective handling until the insulin wears off.
- When the poison is a heavy metal, such as lead, special medicines (chelators) bind the toxicant in the bloodstream and cause it to be eliminated in the urine.
- Another "folder" is sodium polystyrene sulfonate (Kayexalate), which tin can absorb potassium and other electrolytes from the bloodstream.
- If a person has been bitten by a poisonous serpent, and antivenin may be used to counteract the toxins.

Full general supportive measures: When there are no specific treatments, the medico volition treat signs and symptoms as needed.

If the person is agitated or hallucinating, a sedative can be given to calm the person until the drug wears off.
A ventilator can be used to breathe for anyone who has stopped breathing from a poisoning.
Antiseizure medicines can be used to treat or preclude seizures.

What Is the Prognosis for Poisoning?

The key to a good consequence is rapid recognition that a poisoning has occurred and rapid transport to a qualified medical facility when indicated.

When medical care (and use of the U.S. National Poison Control Center-1-800-222-1222) is provided promptly, the vast bulk of people survive poisonings.

Poor outcomes can occur when these are the crusade of the poisoning:
- Highly toxic substances such as cyanide
- Substances that hurt body tissues immediately (lye or acids, for example)
- Poisoning equally a result of exposure over time, oft unrecognized (examples include polluted water, workplace exposures, and atomic number 82)

From

References

"Poisoning First Assist." RedCross.

"Poisoning." U.South. National Library of Medicine. Updated Sept 21, 2016.

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