NSAID, Opioid & Sedative-Hypnotic Overdose

Also known as Opioid overdose · Benzodiazepine overdose · Naloxone · Flumazenil · Sedative-hypnotic toxicity · NSAID overdose · Fentanyl toxicity · Z-drug overdose · Barbiturate overdose · Miosis coma differential

The overdose of the NSAIDs, the opioids and the sedative-hypnotics (the benzodiazepines, the barbiturates, the Z-drugs). The opioid toxidrome (the coma, the miosis, the respiratory depression) and the naloxone (the competitive mu-antagonist, the titrated-to-respiratory-effort, the half-life mismatch with the long-acting opioids and the relapse and the infusion). The benzodiazepine and the sedative-hypnotic overdose (the CNS depression, the flumazenil and the seizure caution). The NSAID overdose (the usually-mild, the seizures and the renal injury in the large).

high12 referencesUpdated 5 Oct 202617 min readSource-verified · Oct 2026

Checked against its sources on 5 Oct 2026

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Overview & definition

Three drug families account for most overdoses on the ICU round: NSAIDs, opioids and the sedative-hypnotics (benzodiazepines, barbiturates, Z-drugs). Opioids are the killer — respiratory depression, naloxone-reversible. Benzodiazepines are usually benign; flumazenil is the cautious antidote you almost never give. NSAIDs are usually mild — seizures and renal injury only in the massive ingestion.^[1]

References12Show

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