How does a person abuse albuterol?

Question

I have heard of people misusing albuterol sulfate by drinking the vials or inhaling too much. What side effects if any can this do to a person? I know someone who inhales albuterol updrafts several times a day, what side effects can they experience?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Albuterol is inhaled to open up the airways in severe bronchitis, asmtha, emphysema, and other lung diseases that need help in opening up the air ways. A side effect of opening up the airways is that albuterol does not have the ability to think and can't tell itself to just work on the lungs. So it is nor uncommon to speed up your heart rate, make you jittery.

It is administered in 2 ways, in a nebulizer lke the one described eariler but at home for most patients it is in a convientent hand held inhaler. It is often times uses in combo with atrovent. (combivent).

Chronic abuse makes a person grow dependant on it and have to use it every hour or so just to feel like they can breathe better. Most people are severely ill when they hit this spot unless they ae children with inhalers for asthma.

They are not designed to be played with and I have never heard of it making you high so I don't understand any abuse other than overuse and dependance.

Source(s):

RN

Answer 2

Albuterol is used for people with breathing problems. You can get sick by drinking the vials. It is supposed to be used in a nebulizer (a device like an air compressor) that makes the liquid into a vapor or steam). If you inhale too much of it some of the side effects are shakiness, increased heart rate etc. Look it up on a drug web page. Overuse of any drug can be dangerous.

Answer 3

The worst that may happen is shakiness and a very fast beating heart. If a person is having an asthma attack a hospital may give someone doses of albuterol every 15 minutes.

Answer 4

I had a ambulance driver give me 3 doses of albuterol in 30 min My BP was up over 196/165 which is borderline stroke conditions

High BP and high pulse rates are conditions of too much albuterol

If they are doing MDI's normal is 4x a day

But if they have a long term inhaler like spiriva then albuterol is only used during an attack
(I've only used my MDI 2 times in the last 6 mo)

Answer 5

the only side affect from using the puffer too much is excessive heartbeat.i am an asthma sufferer..can't understand though why he would drink the vials thats not the direction on it at all..

Answer 6

simple side effects like increased heart rate or jitteriness are not the problem. intolerance can be a problem in that if you need the drug for intended bronchospasm attacks it may not work for you b/c you have become intolerant to the intended affect, namely treat wheezing and respiratory difficulty associated with bronchial attacks. over use may trigger heart irregularities which have their own risks. also the possibility of toxic overdosing should be considered, and drinking the stuff may lead to stomach or gut lining inflamations, bleeding , or infections although there are limited studies of that route of use. in general this is not the drug to abuse if one is seeking a high, and not the drug to combine with something else to try and get high. combining this drug with something else may cause the other drug to act highly differently then what it was intended for thus creating a unsafe situation. anyone using the drug who is not prescribed the drug is acting illegally, consequently conviction is a possibility. selling it or even giving it away to someone is also illegal.

now people who are prescribed the drug do often overuse it because they generally don't understand the right way to get relief. so you might be "hearing" of persons inhaling this med
inappropriately because they are mistreating their condition. they need reeducation and redirection.

for yourself, just refuse to do what the herd does and you may find the herd wants to follow you instead of their own misguided way.

Source(s):

registered respiratory therapist