AIBU to worry about Naloxone

[WH1SPERS]

20 year old DD has been with her BF for about 4 months, he’s 22 and a student social worker. She just spent a few days at his flat over Christmas and found some Naloxone with BFs name on it.

For those of you who don’t know, this is an emergency medication that is prescribed for people who are at risk of a drug overdose.

DD is very concerned, because she can’t think of a legitimate reason for this.

If its for a work placement, why would it be at home and not kept securely at work ?

If it’s for his flat mate or a family member, why is it in his name ?

I know that Naloxone is carried by people like drug outreach workers who are not HCP. But surely it’s kept in at work and not in their bedrooms at home ?

Please reassure me that there is a simple explanation for this. BTW I’ve name changed for this, I’ve been here a long time.

What job does he do?

Is it possible he has a flat mate/family member who is a user?

This is really odd? Are you sure it’s not naproxen?

He’s a student social worker.

And it’s definitely Naloxone ( but under a brand name). It comes in a very distinctive yellow box.

Drugs worker here. If he is a social worker or social work student working with drug users he may have been trained in the use of naloxone to help prevent an overdose. As such he could have been issued a kit to keep. It is a prescription only drug and would have to be issued to him in his name - but would be for him to use to save the life of others. It is his kit. It does not need to be stored at work. He can use it on anyone he may come across that is overdosing in order to save their life.

As such, this alone would not worry me - I would just think it was part of his work

I work within substance misuse and do outreach work at times, I carry Naloxone in my handbag so it’s generally with me all the times.

In my area we are trying to get as much Naloxone into the community as we can not just to drug users however friends, family members and other health professionals do it could be why he has it, although we don’t actually put names into it

Do workers get issued with kits in their own name? I understand why he might have had Naloxone training and have a kit at work. I didn’t think it would be in his name in his bedroom !

He’s a full time student who goes on work placements, working with a qualified social worker.

This box was clearly marked with BFs name , date of issue and initials of prescriber.

I know that qualified and trained workers carry it. And that it will be in available in places like clinics and charities that work with people who have addictions.

What worried DD was that it had her BF name on it and was in his room. She thought work first aid things would be at work.

We don’t put names on any of our kits, we keep a record of the serial number on our client records.

All the staff in my team have a kit and most of us take it home

Has she asked him about it? What did he say?

I trained as a social worker and when I worked on the outreach substance misuse team I was trained to use Naloxone and had it as narcan. It went everywhere with me. Sometimes I would go straight to a visit from home, or straight home from a visit so it wasn't possible to store it on my placement. If this is going to be a relationship that is going to work she has to be able to ask him these things tho....

I echo what others have said above about the supply of naloxone.

Is your daughter worried he is using heroin? Because that is what I am reading from your post.

I have a naloxone kit. A group of students did a class presentation on the use of naloxone and got a kit from the pharmacy to show their class. They gave it to me to show future classes.

Off the top of my head I wouldn't be worried.

It's not common, but naloxone is occasionally used orally to reverse the effects of opioid-induced constipation. There are people with chronic pain who are legitimately on long-term opioids to treat their pain. Sometimes regular stool softeners and laxatives don't work. Occasionally we give these people oral naloxone. It's not absorbed well from the GI tract, so it won't upset their pain management, but it works very well locally, so it treats the constipation. Usually this has to be specially prepared by a compounding pharmacist, though.

Thank you all for the reassurance. It was the yellow box that contains the Drug, syringe and two needles as it’s to be given IM. So only for use with suspected drug overdose.

DD has seen no signs of IV drug use, so more likely to be prescription opioids, I guess ? Student drugs seem to be weed, E, cocaine and “legal highs”.

Heroin , street vallium and benzodiazepines are street drugs here AFAIK.

But her BF would get kicked off his course for any drug convictions I think, it’s the same as nursing, they are very strict .