{"id":3220,"date":"2022-04-22T16:27:34","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T06:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/downers-and-other-barbiturate-abuse\/"},"modified":"2022-04-22T16:27:34","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T06:27:34","slug":"downers-and-other-barbiturate-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/downers-and-other-barbiturate-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Downers\u2019 and other Barbiturate Abuse."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;(This is where the term \u2018overdose\u2019 is legitimate. Any drug not legally prescribed cannot be \u2018overdosed\u2019 on. Taking these drugs is an act of self-poisoning.)<\/p>\n<p>In general, barbiturates can be thought of as so-called&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/brain\/picture-of-the-brain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">brain<\/a>&nbsp;relaxers. Alcohol is also a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/brain\/ss\/slideshow-concussions-brain-injuries\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">brain<\/a>&nbsp;relaxer. The effects of barbiturates and alcohol are very similar, and when combined can be lethal. Pain medicines, sleeping pills, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/allergies\/guide\/antihistamines-for-allergies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">antihistamines<\/a>&nbsp;also cause symptoms similar to those of barbiturates.<\/p>\n<p>People who abuse barbiturates use them to obtain a \u201chigh,\u201d which is described as being similar to alcohol intoxication, or to counteract the effects of stimulant drugs.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In small doses, the person who abuses barbiturates feels drowsy, disinhibited, and intoxicated.<\/li>\n<li>In higher doses, the user staggers as if drunk, develops slurred speech, and is confused.<\/li>\n<li>At even higher doses, the person is unable to be aroused (coma) and may stop breathing. Death is possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>It is important to note&nbsp;<\/strong>that the difference between the dose causing drowsiness and one causing death may be small. In the medical profession, this difference is called a narrow&nbsp;<strong>therapeutic index,<\/strong>&nbsp;which is the ratio of a drug&#8217;s toxic dose to its therapeutically desirable dose. This is the reason why barbiturates are dangerous. It is also why barbiturates are not often prescribed today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Symptoms of withdrawal<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Symptoms of withdrawal or abstinence include tremors, difficulty sleeping, and agitation. These symptoms can become worse, resulting in life-threatening symptoms, including&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/schizophrenia\/what-are-hallucinations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hallucinations<\/a>, high temperature, and seizures.<\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>Barbiturate Names<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><strong>Generic Name<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p><strong>Street Name<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Amobarbital<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>Downers, blue heavens, blue velvet, blue devils<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Pentobarbital<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>Nembies, yellow jackets, abbots, Mexican yellows<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/drugs\/2\/drug-8689\/phenobarbital+oral\/details\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Phenobarbital<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>Purple hearts, goof balls<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Secobarbital<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>Reds, red birds, red devils, lilly, F-40s, pinks, pink ladies, seggy<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Tuinal<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>Rainbows, reds and blues, tooies, double trouble, gorilla pills, F-66s<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/mental-health\/addiction\/barbiturate-abuse?ecd=wnl_day_042022&amp;ctr=wnl-day-042022_lead_title&amp;mb=ey\/15hw9IBd8PPtxici3JnZzEfzmzUWp51pM3CV70UE=#1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"button\">For More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;(This is where the term \u2018overdose\u2019 is legitimate. Any drug not legally prescribed cannot be \u2018overdosed\u2019 on. Taking these drugs is an act of self-poisoning.) In general, barbiturates can be thought of as so-called&nbsp;brain&nbsp;relaxers. Alcohol is also a&nbsp;brain&nbsp;relaxer. The effects of barbiturates and alcohol are very similar, and when combined can be lethal. Pain medicines, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-isabella-list-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}