Opiates and Tachycardia?

Question

I'm on my paramedic course, during an ALS scenario they gave me a tachycardic heroin overdose - I argued that this is a respiratory & cardiac depressant, so there wouldn't be tachycardia - the answer I eventually got was that it was a "reflex tachycardia" as an initial hypoxia compensatory mechanism - I don't believe this and can't find any reference to it. Does anyone know if this is possible, and if so, point me to a reference for it?

Answer 1

reflex tachycardia from opiods...look it up in an anesthesia book.