In addition, your doctor may test you for narcotic abuse by injecting a drug called naloxone hydrochloride into one of your muscles and recording your body's response. If you have taken an overdose and have trouble breathing, the doctor will clear your airway and keep it open with a breathing tube. The doctor may put you in the hospital. Treatment in the intensive care unit may be necessary. When you're breathing normally, the doctor will give you a shot of naloxone hydrochloride and watch you for 48 hours.
Naloxone hydrochloride counteracts the effects of a narcotic overdose.
For long-term treatment, the doctor will enroll you in a treatment program. These treatment programs often use a community approach to give you a new life among a different group of peers. The success of treatment depends on how much you want to succeed. The treatment program will emphasize staying away from all narcotic drugs and other drugs of abuse for the rest of your life. Depending on your particular situation, maintenance treatment with methadone may also be part of the program.