Comments on Drugs and Poisons: Meperidine - Nazis, needles, and how to give yourself Parkinson's

I use it to for my migraines. It takes al little ...

2010-08-30T11:40:27.852-04:00

I use it to for my migraines. It takes al little while to work, longer than an IM, but once it kicks in it takes the pain away nicely. I've been taking 20 pills every month or so for the last 10 years. It works, I just wish it didn't make me sleepy.

It also has a nasty metabolite normeperidine, whic...

2007-04-05T21:20:00.000-04:00

It also has a nasty metabolite normeperidine, which can cause seizures.

In addition, it acts an SSRI and when given in combination with an MAO inhibitor, can cause a fatal serotoin syndrome. It was this mistake, by a sleep-deprived resident, that caused the death of Libby Zion in the 1980s, which was the impetus for limiting the number of consecutive hours doctors can work.

Anyway, Demerol is a nasty drug, and there's very little reason to prescribe it anymore.

There's a serial killer in Neuromancer whose drug ...

2006-11-21T05:07:00.000-05:00

There's a serial killer in Neuromancer whose drug mixture of choice is like methamphetamine and demerol mixed together and IVed. That's one of those things that sounds like a really awesome idea but also one of those things you can imagine reading in a forensic tox report on a mysterious death. Like: FOUND IN SYSTEM: DEMEROL, METHAMPHETAMINE. CASE CLOSED. GOOD WORK ASSHOLE WAY TO KNOCK YOURSELF OFF