Pregabalin / Gabapentin Abuse

My brother has told me that people are opening up capsules and insufflating the contents. As I'm worried that my brother may be involved in this practice could you give me signs to look out for and how dangerous this can be?

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Hello, Jaxie! How are you?

These medications aren't actual analgesics, though since they can be used to treat some types of nerve pain, it seems many people assume they are and that they work like analgesics.

These are actually anticonvulsants that have been shown to help with some nerve pain, as I have already stated, as well as some mood disorders. In order to achieve their proper levels of therapeutic efficacy in your body, they must be taken regularly for about 4 to 5 weeks.

Now, as to insufflating the contents, they might experience a brief period of dizziness, which may lead them to think they are getting high, but that's not what's really happening, since these aren't opiates. The biggest danger is actually due to the fact that most medications contain fillers and not all of them are intended to be broken down by the human body, they are normally just expelled as waste. However, by using them in this manner, someone is putting those substances directly into their sinuses and lungs, where the body cannot get rid of them, this may result in blockages, according to the NIH. If anyone has ever watched the TV show Dr. G Medical Examiner, there was actually a case where someone died due to lung failure and, upon autopsy, she discovered that it was due to them insufflating medications. The person eventually built up so much of those fillers in their lungs, that they went into respiratory failure and died in their sleep.

As to the signs to watch for, the FDA lists them as possibly including very frequent sniffing, snuffling, runny nose, coughing, dizziness, redness around the nose/nostrils, and trouble breathing.

There is also always a risk of overdose, if they take in too much of any given substance.

Is there anything else I can help with?

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