New mum

[RCH23]

My son took a Xanax drug approx 15 days ago..he is in ICU with a hypoxic brain injury. I cannot cope. Please help

[cat3]

Can you tell us more RCH ? for example, your son's age, whether or not he's conscious, if taking them was a suicide attempt or recreational, and what have the doctors told you about his condition.....

[MagyarGulyasLeves in reply to cat3]

Hello,

I believe it is my mother who wrote in above ^ it is my brother who is in hospital.

He is 22 years old and it appears that he has taken an unknown number of (what we assume is) Xanax pills. The overdose was accidental. He arrived into A&E in a comatose state after an unknown numbers of hours being unconscious. A CT scan done immediately after arrival apparently showed severe damage to his brain. They are basing a lot of their prognosis based on this initial CT scan.

He was in a coma for approximately 5/6 days. Since then, his eyes open spontaneously and he responds to stimuli during the nurses’ tests. Usually his responses are quite abnormal although there have been flashes of more normal reflexes. His eyes have appeared ‘glassy’ although now they seem to have more to them. A nurse has felt this too about his eyes but after testing she felt that there was no consciousness there.

He has had two EEGs done which both showed similar results. Globally abnormal activity but in a way which the doctors do not quite understand and is not quite consistent with what they expected. We don’t know anything more really.

Doctors have been very negative. He is likely to die according to them. There’s a chance of recovery but probably not to anything approaching a full recovery.

We are 16 days in now. I am very negative and realistic about the outcome here. I hope it serves as a warning to those who abuse substances.

Thanks

[cat3 in reply to MagyarGulyasLeves]

I'm sorry your brother's prognosis is poor, but SO many people here have been deemed unlikely to survive and yet are now here on Headway.

Doctors are trained to present the worst scenario, partly as they don't wish to raise false hopes and partly as they honestly can't predict the outcome of any brain injury.

I'm guessing that if the overdose was unintentional it mightn't have been a large amount, but anything over the prescribed dose of a class A drug can be dangerous.

I strongly suggest you phone the Headway helpline for more professional advice and support. They're approachable and caring, and with medical expertise we don't have on the forum . The number is freephone 0808 800 2244 during office hours.

Bear in mind we're always here to talk with you or your mum if it helps....

All best wishes for some promising signs soon, Cat x

[MagyarGulyasLeves in reply to cat3]

Thank you very much for the reply

I know that my parents have been in contact with Headway and that it’s been useful.

[cat3 in reply to MagyarGulyasLeves]

Please send updates when you can my dear. I hope the already promising signs of progress in your brother's condition will continue and his consciousness and responsiveness improve in time. It could be many more weeks before you see a difference, so patience is key.

Thinking of you,,,,

Cat x

[MagyarGulyasLeves in reply to cat3]

Hello Cat,

Thank you for your reply. There have been no real updates since Friday. I will update when I get them.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the best but expecting the worst.

Thanks a lot

[sospan]

HI RCH

In this group you will find many people whom have gone through things either as a survivor or a family member / carer.

We have seen all aspects of issues and how it affects the loved ones - both the injured and those close them so please feel free to post as much as you want.

All the best on your journey

[Breeches]

This forum is hard to get onto, my son also took xanax and is in ICU how do I talk with themum who has the same?