What Are the Common Side Effects of Amytal?
Over time, some widely-prescribed medications start to show their full range of potential dangers, including severe side effects and risks of dependence, tolerance, and addiction. In some cases, like the list of opioids from strongest to weakest, that leads to widespread changes in how often these medications are prescribed and a cultural reckoning of the costs of freely distributing these potent drugs. In other cases, such as what happened with barbiturates, the grave consequences of widespread use start to become clear, including Amytal side effects that can be serious, leading to dropping recommendations to prescribe these medications except in extreme circumstances due to their overall potential for harm.
Table of contents
» What Is Amytal?
» Does Amytal Increase the Risk of Dependence or Addiction?
» Can Amytal Interact With Alcohol or Other Medications?
» Can Long-Term Use of Amytal Lead to More Serious Health Issues?
» Key Takeaways on Amytal Side Effects
» Resources
What Is Amytal?
Amytal is a brand name for the barbiturate amobarbital, a potent central nervous system depressant used as an anesthetic or to induce sleep, as well as to treat certain types of seizures. While it was a reasonably common medication at one point, it fell out of favor over the decades.
Manufacturer Eli Lilly discontinued it in the 1980s as benzodiazepines emerged as a replacement option for barbiturates. The tablet form of Amytal is now banned in the United States, due to its potential for severe side effects as well as a high risk of dependence, addiction, and fatal drug overdoses.
Still, the injectable form of Amytal is occasionally used in certain circumstances, such as:
- Anesthesia: Amobarbital used to be a much more common way of inducing anesthesia. It’s still occasionally used in this context, as well as a method for quickly bringing patients out of anesthesia.
- Sodium Amytal Interviews: This procedure involves administering the medication to temporarily sedate one side of the brain, allowing for a test of the patient’s language function.
Amytal has many potential side effects ranging from minor to severe, including:
- Drowsiness
- Sleepiness
- Dizziness
- Confusion and anxiety
- Lack of muscle coordination, unsteadiness, and staggering
- Memory loss and impaired judgment
- Insomnia
- Nightmares
- Mental disturbances and abnormal thinking
- Hallucinations
- Low blood pressure
- Fainting
- Decreased heart rate
- Slow or shallow breathing
- Nausea and vomiting
- Constipation
- Fever
- Reactions at the injection site
- Rashes, skin redness, and itching
- Swelling of the face or throat
- Liver strain and damage
In addition, barbiturates like Amytal are known to have a high risk of tolerance, dependence, and addiction, especially when taken for an extended period of time. In cases like this, suddenly quitting the drug can lead to serious and even life-threatening symptoms of withdrawal like seizures, delirium, and tremors.
Does Amytal Increase the Risk of Dependence or Addiction?
Barbiturates, such as amobarbital, work by interacting with receptors for GABA, a neurotransmitter in the brain, which depresses the central nervous system. This is why they can be effective as an anesthetic agent or to help people suffering from insomnia fall asleep, as well as to prevent or control seizures.
However, these potent drugs also carry the risk of severe interactions with other substances. The list of Amytal side effects includes the high potential of developing a physical dependence on the drug, meaning the person requires the drug to feel normal.
Over time, addiction is also very likely. If someone suddenly quits taking this drug after a long period of use, they are at risk of suffering from severe and even potentially fatal withdrawal symptoms. That’s why it’s so important to quit barbiturates with help from medical professionals or addiction treatment professionals who know how to manage and prevent withdrawal symptoms from happening during comprehensive treatment at the best prescription drug rehab in Florida.
Amytal is considered to be a Schedule II controlled substance in the United States due to its high risk of dependence and addiction, which is also why it’s so rarely prescribed these days. It’s in the same risk category as other drugs that are known to be highly addictive, such as the opioids methadone and oxycodone.
Here’s how this drug can lead to addiction:
- Tolerance: As a patient uses the drug repeatedly, they develop a tolerance to the effects, which means they need higher doses to feel the same impact. This is extremely risky because there’s not much difference between a therapeutic dose and a potentially lethal dose.
- Dependence: With regular use over the course of several weeks or months, the patient’s body gets used to the presence of this drug, and it now needs the drug to feel normal and have regular functioning. This can happen even if the prescription medication is taken as prescribed.
- Withdrawal: Withdrawal symptoms like confusion, anxiety, delirium, hallucinations, seizures, and respiratory distress can happen once someone with a dependence on this drug suddenly stops taking it. Withdrawal can be life-threatening.
- Addiction: As patients become accustomed to the euphoria and calm feelings from Amytal, they can start to have strong urges to take it again and compulsively seek out more of the drug. At this point, they’re physically and mentally dependent on the drug – and they are considered to be addicted to it.
Can Amytal Interact With Alcohol or Other Medications?
The list of Amytal side effects ranges from minor and rare to severe and highly likely, just like the short-term side effects of opioids, and the risk of serious problems and even death can be raised exponentially when these drugs are combined with other substances or medications, including alcohol. Barbiturates like Amytal depress the central nervous system, which is why it’s so dangerous to combine them with other things that also depress the nervous system, including other barbiturates, benzodiazepines, opioids, and alcohol.
If alcohol and Amytal are combined, for example, the person can suffer from extreme sedation, shallow or even stopped breathing, organ damage, and fatal drug overdoses. These same problems of extreme sedation, drowsiness, and respiratory distress can occur if barbiturates are taken with other central nervous system depressants, including opioids, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, some allergy medications, and benzodiazepines like Xanax or Ativan.
In addition, potentially dangerous drug interactions are possible with certain steroids, blood thinners, MAOIs, and even some antibiotics or antifungal medications. It’s vitally important to tell your doctor about any other medication, drug, or supplement you’re taking before starting a new medication.
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Can Long-Term Use of Amytal Lead to More Serious Health Issues?
In addition to possible short-term Amytal side effects, the long-term use of this potent drug can cause many different serious health issues. Organ damage, for example, is highly possible as this drug affects the kidneys and liver.
Chronic breathing problems, slowed heart rate, and low blood pressure are also serious risks, in addition to physical dependence, withdrawal if attempting to quit the drug suddenly, and addiction. Another possible problem is overdose, as the patient’s tolerance increases, they could start to take more to try to feel the same effects, which can quickly add up to a lethal dosage.
Key Takeaways on Amytal Side Effects
- Amytal is a barbiturate that was commonly prescribed as an anesthetic and treatment for insomnia.
- This potent drug has a high risk of dependence, tolerance, and addiction.
- Amytal is banned in the United States in tablet form, but is still occasionally used in certain medical scenarios.
- Barbiturates depress the central nervous system and are closely controlled due to their risk of dependency and addiction.
- Amytal can have serious interactions with other drugs and alcohol, which also act as central nervous system depressants.
If you or someone you love is struggling with drug addiction, WhiteSands Alcohol and Drug Treatment can help. Our experts know all about the dangers of Amytal side effects and just how addictive these potent barbiturates can be. We also know how to help people break the chains of addiction and live a better, healthier life without these dangers. Call us at 877-855-3470 today to learn how to get started on the road to recovery.
Resources
- Drugs.com – Amytal Sodium Side Effects
- National Library of Medicine – Barbiturates
- ScienceDirect – Amobarbital
If you or a loved one needs help with abuse and/or treatment, please call the WhiteSands Treatment at (877) 855-3470. Our addiction specialists can assess your recovery needs and help you get the addiction treatment that provides the best chance for your long-term recovery.
About the Author
Jackie has been involved in the substance abuse and addiction treatment sector for over five years and this is something that she is truly eager about. She has a passion for writing and continuously works to create informative pieces that not only educate and inform the public about the disease of addiction but also provide solutions for those who struggle with drug and alcohol abuse.
