This Article  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Daniel T. Teitelbaum, MD
Denver

JAMA. 1970;213(13):2273.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

I have used phenobarbital substitutions in the withdrawal of patients addicted to shortacting barbiturates for approximately three years, and can report that, in my hands, this technique has been as successful as Drs. Smith and Wesson report. One problem which I encountered early in the course of this approach to therapy deserves to be mentioned, however.

Patients who are addicted to short-acting barbiturates commonly expect a very rapid onset of effect after ingestion of their regular dose of medication. Whether the ingested drug is secobarbital, pentobarbital, or a combination of the two seems to make no difference to the addicted patient. He is quite happy with the prompt effect which follows ingestion of any of these drugs. However, when phenobarbital substitution is begun, the patient will often become anxious and uncomfortable because of the slower onset of action following ingestion of even an adequate dose thereof. During . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?