[tri-med] Re: CHLORAL HYDRATE EXPERIENCES/knowledge? important

HI Karen,
Thanks so much for this review!

When I asked why this drug was used (it was given in a cocktail along with 
morphine and Midazolam) I was told that it helps to "improve airway tone".  
Whatever that means, I am not sure.

Barb







> From: karens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: tri-med@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [tri-med] Re: CHLORAL HYDRATE EXPERIENCES/knowledge? important
> Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:08:55 +1100
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Barbara Farlow"
> >I was wondering if anyone had any chloral hydrate experiences, or knowledge 
> >to share.
> 
> Barb,
> Chloryl Hydrate is also known as a "Mickey Finn". It is a CNS depressant, 
> that is it can depress the rate and depth of breathing as well as the blood 
> pressure of a person. It can also cause cardiac arrythmias. So it should 
> ALWAYS be used with caution by our children. The other down side to chloral 
> hydrate is that it cannot be reversed so if a person has an adverse response 
> (or accidental overdose) there is nothing that they can do about it as far 
> as reversing the effect of the drug - you basically just have to support the 
> person through it (if they can) and wait for the body to deal with it.
> 
> Chloral is an "old" drug and its been superseded by many "safer" 
> alternatives unfortunately old habits die hard and some people seem to still 
> be using it. It's been essentially "banned" here in Australia for about 10 
> years now. You can still get it but only by special authority. The reason 
> for that was because of an increasing number of deaths associated with the 
> use of chloral hydrate, especially in children and the elderly. Those deaths 
> are well documented in the literature.
> 
> I researched chloral hydrate for Jude when Kam had her adverse reaction and 
> sent her a number of articles on it's adverse effects. If Jude still has 
> them she may be able to send you a copy if not I can probably find them 
> again.
> 
> Thirty years ago it was pretty standard here for kids with disabilities and 
> the elderly to be given chloral at night for sleeping, whether they needed 
> it or not. These days I think we are more enlightened and accept that people 
> do have different sleeping patterns. Chloral was common when our kids (and 
> the elderly) were sat in a corner doing nothing but dozing and being bored. 
> But if we actually treat medical issues and people are kept active and 
> occupied during the day they tend not to need sedatives at night. If they do 
> a hypnotic that helps them "get to sleep" that is short acting drugs is 
> often all that they need.
> 
> I know many places in the US still use chloral for sedation for tests but 
> here in Aus we tend to use Midazolam (Versed) - its very short acting, (30 
> minute half life) has very little effect on CNS functions and best of all it 
> can be reversed if something goes wrong.
> 
> Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.
>                                             -- Josh Billings
> 
> Keep Looking For Rainbows!!
>    _--_|\
>  /Karen \
>  \ _.--._ /
>           v Karen, Mum to Alex (12 years, T-18 Mosaic)
> http://members.optushome.com.au/karens
> 
>                   Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
>                        www.trisomyonline.org
>                   Families Helping Families On-line
> 

_________________________________________________________________


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