Flunitrazepam side effects

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] ; Associate Editor-in-chief: Soumya Sachdeva

## Overview

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flunitrazepam/Rohypnol is a prescription drug - the only sedative that has been used in many date rapes in the US. Rohypnol's medical use is a preoperation anesthetic or strong sleeping pill, but stronger doses can bring on amnesia. It takes effect very quickly - sometimes as quick as 10 minutes after taken - and reaches its peak eight hours later when it can render a patient totally unconscious. Rohypnol comes as a pill that can diissolve in liquids. Some are round , small and white. Newer pills are oval and green-grey in colour. When slipped into a drink , a dye in these new pills makes clear liquids turn blue and the dark drinks turn cloudy. But this colour change might br hard to see in a dark drink, or in a dark room.Also the pills with no dye are available. these pills may be grounded up into a powder.

## Adverse effects

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The effects of rohypnol can be felt within 30 minutes of being drugged and can last for several hours. If an individual is drugged he/she might look and act like someone who is drunk. There can be trouble in standing. The person's speech might be slurred. These effects can be short term or long term.

* Short term effects

* Relaxation or sedation of the body.
* Vomiting and headache
* Difficulty in breathing
* Nausea
* Rapid mood swings, outburst of temper
* Stomach problems
* Breathing and heart rate slow down to dangerous levels
* Memory loss,dizziness and sleepiness
* Coma and seizures
* Death

* Long term effects

General learning can be affected when sedatives like rohypnol are taken for prolonged periods. Risk of becoming addicted increases with the dose and the duration. Users with the history of alcohol or drug abuse are at greater risk of dependence. Once physical dependence occurs, withdrawl symptoms will appear if rohypnol use is ceased abruptly. It also causes toerance and dependence when used regularly. Some danger signs to recognise the long term problems are that individual-

* Uses it more frequently
* Need more and ,more to get the same effect
* Become preoccupied by using it
* Spend more money than needed on the drug
* Miss classes,fail to complete assignments or miss other obligations
* Make new friends who do it and neglect old friends
* Find it hard to be happy and relaxed without it
* Have headache and trouble sleeping without it