In the midst of Michael Jackson’s terribly sudden death, I have noticed reports claiming that the cause could have been due to an overdose of Demerol.  I definitely do not know anything about how the King of Pop died (for obvious reasons), but I wanted to touch on the matter since it seems reporters are directly linking his death to prescription painkillers.  

 

Demerol is a narcotic drug most commonly used in patients to treat moderate to severe pain.  The most common side effects you would see with Demerol use are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, drowsiness, anxiety, and a feeling of being “high”.  However, a more rare, but major side effect is Demerol’s ability to slow your breathing and/or heart rate down to a very low rate.

 

The slowed breathing and/or heart rate (slowed breathing is more common) would most likely be caused by taking too much Demerol in one dose.  When too much Demerol is taken at one time, your breathing starts to slow, you advance to a state of near-sleep, your skin gets cold and clammy, and a coma can result.  When there’s a case of a severe overdose, your heart rate starts to slow along with your breathing, which could lead to cardiac arrest and death.

 

Now, there’s more than one way than the obvious one to get Demerol levels that are too high for your body to handle.  One example is if you are extremely dehydrated (we’re talking lots of water loss here!).  When your body does not have enough water in it, your organs have to work harder to keep you going (including your heart and lungs).  If your organs are already working harder than normal and you throw Demerol into the mix (even at normal doses), there is a chance your organs’ functions will be slowed even more – maybe too much for your heart and lungs to handle?

 

Another example would be if your kidneys and/or liver do not work well (if you have some sort of kidney or liver damage).  If the liver is damaged, it can’t break the Demerol down as well so it won’t leave the body as quickly.  Also, Demerol has an active form even after it is broken-down by the liver which will stay in the body longer if the kidneys are not working right.  In these cases, if you have been getting repeated or high doses of Demerol, the drug is going to build up in your body to toxic levels – the result would be the same as if you took way too much Demerol in one sitting.  

 

I’m definitely not saying this is how Michael Jackson lost his life, but since there has been discussion about it in the news, I thought I’d explain to you all how too much Demerol can lead to cardiac arrest and death. 

 

Thanks for reading my post! 

 

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