Why do I need to wait 3 minutes before giving the person an additional dose of Narcan?

Since Narcan can take 3-5 minutes to take effect, it’s important to give Narcan time to work before administering another dose. Giving more doses of Narcan will NOT make it work faster. Giving multiple doses of Narcan without giving an individual dose time to work can produce much more painful symptoms when the person wakes up. It can be difficult to remember when you gave your initial dose of Narcan during an overdose response, so setting a stopwatch on your phone or writing down/making note of the time can be helpful.