Sedative

“ The physician who imagines that his case is well, because he has enabled an opium-taker to eat, sleep, and be comfortable without use of the sedative, can have seen little of the future of such people. ”

“ The late Daniel Webster was accustomed to stimulate himself for his great speeches by the use of alcohol.
Thirdly: these stimulants and narcotics, according to the temperament of the person on whom they are used, have effects precisely opposite, either sedative or stimulating; while coffee makes some people sleepy, the majority of persons are made wakeful by it. Some are made very nervous by tobacco in the form of smoking, while on others it acts as a sedative, and induces sleep. ”

“ Where all these means prove ineffectual, the injection of sedative and astringent applications often answers the most sanguine expectations; but they should be employed only by professional persons, and even then with great care; as when the disease has been at its height, and they have been used, much inconvenience, and even mischief, has been occasioned. ”

“ After you have taken nature's wise advice, and obeyed her orders, and put yourself at rest, then there are a number of mild sedatives, with which every physician is familiar, one of which, according to the special circumstances of your case, it may be perfectly legitimate to take in moderate doses, with the approval of a physician, as a means of relieving the pain and helping to get that sleep which will complete the cure. ”

“ We have now to consider the third and last division of Neurotic medicines. Sedatives are medicines which directly depress nervous force. Some affect nervous force in general; others confine their action to particular nerves. They are mostly energetic and dangerous agents. For the time being they may destroy nervous power, and remove nervous control.
It might already have been concluded, from what has been said of the secondary action of Narcotics, that there are two ways in which a Sedative action on nerve may be manifested. Sedatives may destroy nervous influence ”

“ Paris, as stated in the fourth edition of the Pharmacologia, and I am of his opinion that when properly prepared, and administered, it is a very valuable sedative; I have given it to the extent daily of from a scruple to a drachm, in chronic catarrh, and in phthisis pulmonalis, either alone or in conjunction with the Extract of Hyoscyamus, and it has afforded more relief than any other medicine that I have tried. ”

“ Every little ache or pain must have its sedative, be the future penalty what it may.
Were people to quit drugging themselves, avoid indigestible viands, eat at regular hours, chew well, stop eating when they have had enough, take a sufficiency of exercise, sleep and fresh air, with a hot bath once a week, and a cold "towel bath "each morning, laying aside all alcoholic beverages, tea and coffee, and tobacco, there would be very little sickness in the world. Over-eating leads to the drug habit for relief from uneasy sensations, so does improper food, or poorly cooked food. ”

“ If it is impossible to maintain discipline during the day, absolute rest in bed for a longer or a shorter period may be counselled; the sedative effect of this measure cannot be gainsaid, especially when, for no apparent reason, exacerbations develop, with increase of emotional, obsessional, or other psychical phenomena. ”

“ We have already considered in order the peculiarities in action that distinguish Narcotics alike from Stimulant and Sedative medicines; how they tend first to exalt the nervous forces, and then to depress them, and have further a particular action on the intellectual part of the brain. We have observed that these remedies may be divided into three minor groups, which differ considerably, if only regarded in their action on the nervous forces generally. For that Inebriants approach very nearly to Stimulants, and Deliriants to Sedatives, while Soporifics occupy an intermediate place. ”

“ These various symptoms are all brought about by Sedative medicines, but in each case the first effect is referrible to a derangement, the second to a loss of nervous power. In every instance there is an impairment of natural nervous force.
Narcotics act on the mind. They cause death, with stupor or delirium. Sedatives act on the organic function of the brain, which is necessary to life, but they do not affect the mind. In poisonous doses, they kill by producing syncope, which is a suspension of the action of the heart. Hydrocyanic acid causes at the same time convulsions. ”

“ But let those who have injured the patient, by supplying stimulants when they should have administered sedatives, by exciting suspicion when they should have inspired confidence, endeavour to repair the evil they have produced, and then the ministers of the Great Physician of souls will recover their proper influence, and will be able beneficially to exercise their important functions. ”

“ The remedies thus far considered are but indirectly hypnotic in their effects, though exceedingly valuable as agents for the production of conditions favorable to sleep. We may now pass to the consideration of a class of remedies which operate more directly upon the brain to depress its energy. They are, therefore, called nervous sedatives, and they include the majority of narcotic substances. ”

“ All the agents of which we have spoken, with the exception of tobacco, whose action from the first is decidedly sedative, operate partly by stimulating the frame. They cause the heart to throb more vigorously, and the blood to circulate freer, while, at the same time, they exert a peculiar action upon the nervous system. The nature of this action, it is probable, will never be satisfactorily explained. If mere stimulation were all that was wanted, drunkenness ought to be present in many cases where it is never met with. ”

“ Narcotics are medicines which stupefy and diminish the activity of the nervous system. Given in small doses, they generally act as stimulants, but an increased dose produces a sedative effect. Under this head are included alcohol, camphor, ether, the hop, and opium.
693. Alcohol
Alcohol, or rectified spirit, is a very powerful stimulant, and is never used as a remedy without being diluted to the degree called proof spirit ”

“ You will sleep to-night—I shall send you something. I suppose it isn't your fault that you've been taking the digestive tonic I sent you last thing at night under the impression that it was a sedative, in spite of the label. But it is regrettable. As for your headaches, I will provide a pleasing potion. ”

“ But all sources of irritation ought to be removed, so that the patient may enjoy perfect quiet; the sick room should be ventilated, and kept at the temperature of about 60°; let the diet be light; allow ice and cold water freely, and if there is much febrile excitement use sedatives and saline refrigerants. The best sedative is veratrum viride, and the following is a convenient way of administering it: Drop 30 drops of the fluid extract of veratrum in 30 teaspoonfuls of water and give 1 teaspoonful every two hours. ”

“ Objectionable as it is, however, mechanical restraint is less harmful than the continued use of large doses of sedative drugs, as is so often the practice, in order to keep patients quiet enough to remain at home. ”

“ MDLLE. H. GREVILLE. Being a lady, though my nom de plume be a man's, I have little experience of either alcohol or tobacco. I must fairly say that though claret agrees with my constitution when properly mixed with water, wine without water, and every kind of liqueurs, makes me very ill, especially when taken between my meals, which are only two in number— breakfast at twelve, and dinner at seven. I never use any stimulant. My sleep being scanty, I want sedatives rather than stimulants. ”

“ If a patient sleeps two or three hours early in the night, and then does not sleep again at all, ten to one it is not a narcotic he wants, but food or stimulus, or perhaps only warmth. If, on the other hand, he is restless and awake all night, and is drowsy in the morning, he probably wants sedatives, either quiet, coolness, or medicine, a lighter diet, or all four. ”

“ In mild attacks this is frequently all that is required. In more severe cases, where there is great restlessness, sedatives have to be resorted to, and many substances have been recommended for the purpose. ”

“ Physicians attribute these effects to its sedative qualities. It is a powerful medicine, capable of doing great good or harm. It is said to be poisonous to animals, often putting them into a sleep from which they never waken. ”

“ If brain and nerves are irritated and aching, sedatives and hypnotics are given to stupefy them into insensibility. If the heart action is weak and irregular, it is whipped up by poisonous stimulants; if too fast, it is checked and paralyzed by sedatives and depressants. ”

“ Alcohol Further slows heart rate and breathing, which can lead to death. Withdrawal
Symptoms Must be discussed with a health care provider; barbiturate withdrawal can cause a serious abstinence syndrome that may even include seizures. Treatment Options Medications There are no FDA-approved medications to treat addiction to prescription sedatives; lowering the dose over time must be done with the help of a health care provider. Behavioral Therapies More research is needed to find out if behavioral therapies can be used to treat addiction to prescription sedatives. ”

“ Indeed, experience has taught me that all sedatives excite; if they soothe at first, they excite next day. My antidotes to mental excitement are packing in lukewarm water, and, best of all, hard bodily exercise and the perspiration that follows it. ”

“ When resorted to 64at all, the blood should be drawn from a large orifice, in a full stream, to secure the desired depressant effect with the smallest loss of blood, and the patient should be kept especially quiet and apart from all excitement which would tend to counteract the sedative action. ”

“ Poor sleepers should endeavour to compose themselves. Tampering with empty space, stirring up echoes in pitch-black pits of darkness is scarcely sedative. ”

“ The inert nerve-centers have no reserve energy to give out, so it is worse than useless to stimulate them. On the other hand, the nerve-centers are at too low an ebb to react from the depressing effects of sedatives, which, to the individual, must be positively injurious. The aim must be to promote nutrition, and to give complete rest to the exhausted nerve-centers. ”

“ Some cases yield to sedatives topically applied, and alkalies given internally, while others need local stimulants and specific tonics. At all events, whenever there is an unhealthy feeling in those parts, it points out some altered action is going on, which, if not arrested, is likely to end in stricture or gleet, and therefore attention had better be bestowed upon it as soon as possible. ”

“ But it is to be urged against this idea, that many sedatives produce no appreciable degree of "primary stimulation;" that alterative medicines are neither stimulant nor depressent; and that the actions of different therapeutic agents,—as, for example, of Opium, Mercury, and Rhubarb,—differ very much in quality, and not simply in degree, as Dr. ”

“ He assumed the office of Imperial Hereditary Doorkeeper, and shut the door in the doctor’s face (whom people insisted upon prescribing) . “I am going to prescribe a little prescription for the patient myself,” he said, “but, little as it is, it will restore his speech for a time. These cursed death-rivers, doctors’ potions, Mr. Schulrath,” (for that gentleman had been fetched immediately) “are like those rivers which demand a dead body every year.” So he wrote a recipe for a simple sedative powder, as follows, reading aloud as he wrote;—
Rx Conch: Citratæ Sirup: j. ”

“ The expectation of Sir Richmond’s expression changed to disappointment. “But that’s not reasonable,” he cried. “That’s not reasonable. That’s superstition. Call a thing a drug and condemn it! Everything is a drug. Everything that affects you. Food stimulates or tranquillizes. Drink. Noise is a stimulant and quiet an opiate. What is life but response to stimulants? Or reaction after them? When I’m exhausted I want food. When I’m overactive and sleepless I want tranquillizing. When I’m dispersed I want pulling together.”
“But we don’t know how to use drugs,” the doctor objected. ”

“ If the dose is sufficiently large, the sleep will be more profound, the patient can hardly be roused, and if awakened quickly, he sinks back into slumber. The face may be swollen, and reddened, and the lips deeply tinged with blue. ”

“ False pains are from various causes, such as fatigue of any kind, especially too long standing, sudden and violent motions of the body, costiveness or diarrhœa, general feverishness, agitation of the mind, or a spasmodic action of the abdominal muscles. It is necessary to adopt the means used for the relief of the pains to the apparent cause, and generally to give an opiate proportioned to the degree of pain, or to repeat in small quantities at proper intervals till the patient shall be composed. ”

“ Having its cause in nervousness, a disturbed circulation of the brain, or some form of nervous exhaustion, it is benefited through relieving these conditions and in the manner already described. Of course the external conditions for aiding sleep should not be overlooked. The bed should be comfortable, and the room should be cool, well ventilated, dark, and quiet. The inducing of sleep by means of drugs is a dangerous practice and should never be resorted to except under the direction of the physician. ”

“ The nature of such drugs as alcohol, opium and cocaine is to benumb sensation, so that pain is stilled, and the pain, or functional disturbance forgotten for the time, because the nerves are drugged into insensibility. The person feels better while under the influence of the drug, so thinks it is benefiting him.
2. There are people who imagine they have diseases which they do not have; since trained physicians occasionally err in diagnosis, it is not strange if the laity should do likewise. Such persons are always ready to aver that a certain medicine "cured" them. ”