Desbutal
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Desbutal was a brand name drug by Abbott containing 5 mg methamphetamine hydrochloride (Desoxyn) and 30 mg pentobarbital sodium (Nembutal); a substituted amphetamine and a barbiturate combined within the same pill. Desbutal was marketed as an antidepressant as well as a medication for the treatment of obesity, narcolepsy, parkinsonism, and alcoholism, although it was commonly also prescribed off-label for miscellaneous ailments. It had a high abuse potential and is no longer manufactured.[1]
Dosage forms
Desbutal was designed as round biphasic tablets, with the two
Overdose
A Desbutal overdose typically becomes life-threatening as a result of acute toxicity from pentobarbital poisoning, since the oral median lethal dose (LD50) of pentobarbital sodium is reached significantly sooner than the oral LD50 of methamphetamine hydrochloride when consumed as dosage units with the mass ratio present in Desbutal. Barbiturate overdose is a medical emergency which was treated with immediate gastric lavage, mechanical ventilation, and intermittent intravenous bolus administration of multiple different drugs, since no selective barbiturate binding site receptor antagonists were clinically available as an antidote, and dosages were dependent on individual patient response. These drugs often included picrotoxin, amiphenazole (Daptazile), bemegride (Megimide), and methamphetamine sulfate (Methedrine) in dosages sometimes exceeding 250 mg over the first 24-hour period of being admitted into an intensive care unit (ICU). While a quantitative relationship between the blood levels of barbiturate derivatives and the depression of the central nervous system (CNS) had become established by researchers in 1955, they also emphasized that the accurate correlation of these factors is complicated by the presence of tolerance to the drug, intercurrent disease and senility, as well as the concurrent administration of other noxious substances.
Regulations
Desbutal is no longer manufactured since withdrawal of its
Medical uses
The medical justification for these combination drugs was that the CNS stimulant elevates
See also
- Amfecloral, a single molecule with a similar effect (due to metabolites).
- Dexamyl, another pharmaceutical containing an amphetamine and a barbiturate.
- D-IX, an experimental drug containing methamphetamine, cocaine & oxycodone.
- Speedball, which is the same concept but using opioids instead of a barbiturate.
- Tuinal, an insomnia medication containing two different barbiturates.
References
- ProQuest 229774539– via ProQuest.