Observations placeholder
Hallucinations from withdrawal
Identifier
005135
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
from PubMed. To understand why this observation is here it helps to know GHB is used by doctors in numerous ways.
- Insomnia treatment - GHB was widely used in France, Italy, and other European countries for several decades as a sleeping agent
- Anaesthetic – GHB has been used as an anaesthetic in childbirth
- Narcolepsy treatment - GHB as the sodium salt, known as sodium oxybate, is sold under the name Xyrem and used to treat ‘excessive daytime sleepiness’ in patients with narcolepsy.
- Alcoholism treatment - It has also been used to treat alcoholism.
A description of the experience
A case of withdrawal from the GHB precursors gamma-butyrolactone and 1,4-butanediol. - Schneir AB, Ly BT, Clark RF - Division of Medical Toxicology, Department of Emergency Medicine, UCSD Medical Center, California Poison Control System-San Diego Division, 200 West Arbor Drive, San Diego, CA, USA.
We describe a case of withdrawal from the gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) precursors gamma butyrolactone and 1,4-butanediol. Symptoms included visual hallucinations, tachycardia, tremor, nystagmus, and diaphoresis. Administration of benzodiazepines and phenobarbital successfully treated the withdrawal symptoms. As predicted from the metabolism of gamma butyrolactone and 1,4-butanediol to GHB, the symptoms were nearly identical to those reported from GHB withdrawal. Because GHB is now illegal in the United States, individuals have begun abusing the legal and easier to acquire GHB precursors. More frequent cases of both abuse and withdrawal from these GHB precursors can be expected.
The source of the experience
PubMedConcepts, symbols and science items
Concepts
Symbols
Science Items
Activities and commonsteps
Activities
Overloads
Alcoholism treatmentsBeing anaesthetised
GHB
Insomnia treatments
Narcolepsy treatments