Sedation, drug-induced

Cyclizine has antimuscarinic properties and is a potent anti-emetic, effective for the control of postoperative and drug-induced nausea and vomiting. It has been used to prevent motion sickness, although diphenhydramine and promethazine are more effective. It is available in oral and parenteral formulations. In contrast to many other first-generation antihistamines sedation is not marked. It is available in tablet form as the hydrochloride and in injectable form as the lactate. Because of its anticholinergic action, blurred vision and dry mouth are associated with clinical doses. When given by rapid intravenous injection tachycardia may be a problem. Meclozine is a related drug which, like cyclizine, is used primarily for motion sickness. 

Side effects. The common dose-related side effects of valproate include nausea, vomiting and gastrointestinal distress weight gain is frequent (estimated as high as 30%) and may be associated with a drug-induced decrease in the beta oxidation of fatty acids. Sedation is also frequent. Alopecia is an unusual side effect of valproate, possibly caused by an abnormal metabolite. Valproate has a number of metabolically linked side... 

As far as antidepressant drugs are concerned, randomised trials have found that they are barely distinguishable from a placebo and it has never been established that they have a specific action on the neurobiology of mood. The small degree of superiority over placebo in some trials may easily be attributable to amplified placebo effects or drug-induced effects such as sedation that can be achieved by many other sorts of... 

A 35-year-old woman with schizophrenia developed acute respiratory distress and laryngeal stridor (196). Neuroleptic drug-induced laryngeal dystonia was diagnosed. She was given biperiden lactate 10 mg intramuscularly and her symptoms resolved fully within 30 minutes. On the advice of a psychiatrist, and to sedate her for admission to a psychiatric hospital, her mother had secretly put 50 drops of haloperidol (10 mg/ml) in her food 1 hour before the symptoms appeared. 

Mild and sometimes even severe episodes ( bad trips ) can be managed by reassurance including talk, talking the patient down, and physical contact, e.g. hand holding (LSD and mescaline). The objective is to help patients relate their experience to reality and to appreciate that the mental experiences are drug-induced and will abate. Because short-term memory is disrupted the treatment can be very time-consuming since therapists cannot absent themselves without risking relapse. But with phencyclidine such intervention may have the opposite effect, i.e. overstimulation. It is therefore appropriate to sedate all anxious or excited subjects with diazepam (or haloperidol). With sedation the premorbid ego may be rapidly re-established. 

Diazepam is used primarily in the treatment of mental anxiety. In addition, it acts as a muscle relaxant for a variety of medical conditions. It may also be used as a sedative-hypnotic and anticonvulsant (e.g., for status epilepticus and drug-induced seizures). Diazepam may also be used to alleviate some of the symptoms associated with the following cholinesterase poisoning, substance abuse withdrawal, antihistamine overdose. Black Widow spider envenomation, and chloroquine overdose. As an anesthetic, diazepam may be used alone or in combination with other drugs for conscious sedation. 

Antipsychotics are used to treat schizophrenia, schizoaffective states, Tourette syndrome, preoperative j sedation, drug- or radiation-induced emesis, and neuroleptic anesthesia and are used for the initial management of bipolar affective disorder. j... 

Sedatives are used clinically to relieve emotional tension, allay anxiety, reduce overactivity, as supplements to analgesic and anesthetic drugs, as anticonvulsants, and most importantly to sedate or induce sleep. 

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