Method SA through IV?

[AllThePsychMeds]

Im semi-regularly hooked up to an IV for a 6 hour round of chemo. IV tubing has side ports for piggybacking medicine or doing a push (bolus). You can do a push with a needless luer system, but you're limited to 10 or 20 mL. Everything I've read online says SA is quite soluble. I can probably get the necessary dose into two prefilled syringes I can take in with me? I know it would sting like crazy because of the isotonic and pH imbalance. The infusion clinic regularly gives you a blanket, and everyone is too busy to scrutinize you once your meds have started and everything looks normal—except for what I've noted below.

My questions are:

• This system is without metal except for the tip of the IV cannula itself. It's a very small amount, but I don't fancy my vein exploding. If people with amalgam dental fillings swallow this without going "boom", am I OK?
• The nurses come around to check vitals every 30 min. Sometimes they'll leave you alone if you look like you're sleeping, but that's unpredictable. Would I have enough time?

Doing SA through IV sounds a lot more pleasant than drinking the stuff. I already have a bottle of SA. I'm a biochemist by training and not concerned about the required techniques.

 

[spanishguy22]

Im semi-regularly hooked up to an IV for a 6 hour round of chemo. IV tubing has side ports for piggybacking medicine or doing a push (bolus). You can do a push with a needless luer system, but you're limited to 10 or 20 mL. Everything I've read online says SA is quite soluble. I can probably get the necessary dose into two prefilled syringes I can take in with me? I know it would sting like crazy because of the isotonic and pH imbalance. The infusion clinic regularly gives you a blanket, and everyone is too busy to scrutinize you once your meds have started and everything looks normal—except for what I've noted below.

My questions are:

• This system is without metal except for the tip of the IV cannula itself. It's a very small amount, but I don't fancy my vein exploding. If people with amalgam dental fillings swallow this without going "boom", am I OK?
• The nurses come around to check vitals every 30 min. Sometimes they'll leave you alone if you look like you're sleeping, but that's unpredictable. Would I have enough time?

Doing SA through IV sounds a lot more pleasant than drinking the stuff. I already have a bottle of SA. I'm a biochemist by training and not concerned about the required techniques.

There's very little info we have on Azide man, it's gonna be hard to answer that accurately.

 

[AllThePsychMeds]

Answering my own question for the curious: resoundingly yes. The required volume is much larger than I had anticipated, mostly due to the volume needed to correct the pH. Eh, huge syringes it is. At least it's all going through the IV, which is already in place.

There are a number of papers from the early 1900s and a few newer ones confirming blood vessel dilation in pigs. It's hard to judge, but 30 minutes is cutting it close. The lack of an antidote, or even a quick guess that the symptoms are caused by SA, might buy enough time. Already being in a major hospital makes things chancy, but these people nearly killed me by ignoring organ failure a few years back, anyway.

Notes: Make the solution up in sterile saline. Recall your basic chemistry. You'll need some sterile HCl or other acid to adjust the pH down to 7—7.5. The stock solution is going to be incredibly basic. Get some pH test strips from a pool supply store.

In case anyone wasn't already aware, SN through IV works perfectly fine. It is sold pre-made as half of the remedy for cyanide poisoning. Purchase requires authorization/prescription. Making it up yourself is quite simple, however. Likewise, adjust the pH. The final volume is going to be larger than that for SA. I have no idea about the required time frame.

Unless you've already got an IV in you, are pumped up on soporific pre-meds, monitored by overworked nurses, and have few hours of infusion to give you time to get it all in place, I wouldn't try it. For the rest of us getting chemo...

Additional safety note: unless you have access to an autoclave, don't store this stuff for too long.