What are the symptoms of acute poisoning due to sleeping pills and sedatives?

Question
Hello doctor,
Can I ask what are the symptoms of acute poisoning caused by sleeping pills and tranquilizers? In the case of finding out at home but not knowing when to start drinking, when the ambulance has not arrived, what to do?
Anonymous customer
Answer
Answered by BSCK I Tran Quoc Vinh - Emergency Department, Vinmec Nha Trang International General Hospital.
Hello,
With the question “What are the symptoms of acute poisoning due to sleeping pills and sedatives? ”, the doctor would like to answer as follows:
At home, to know if the patient is at risk of poisoning with sleeping pills, tranquilizers or not, it is necessary to consider the possible circumstances of drug use such as: suicidal ideation, having medicine packaging, loss of medicine in the family medicine box, recently bought medicine,..Symptoms may occur depending on the time of taking the medicine and the dose of the drug used: drowsiness, lethargy, coma, difficulty breathing, respiratory failure (weak breathing, cyanosis).
When detecting suspected poisoning with sleeping pills, tranquilizers while waiting for the ambulance to arrive, there are 2 main points to consider and handle:
Ensure breathing: the patient is poisoned with sleeping pills, dangerous drugs. If there is a high risk of respiratory failure, measures can be considered such as: moving the patient to a well-ventilated area, tilting the neck, removing foreign objects, respiratory secretions if visible, lying on the side safely to avoid choking into the respiratory tract, loosen clothing, belt to make breathing easier.
Decreased absorption of drugs from the gastrointestinal tract: if the patient is awake and cooperative, the time to use the drug within 3 hours (the best effect is within 1 hour) should be performed to induce vomiting by: giving from 300 - 500 mL of clean water/time, then self-stimulate the pharynx (also known as throat hook) to induce vomiting, can be repeated 3-5 times until the vomit is clear. Patients with impaired consciousness, lethargy, or coma are uncooperative and should not take this measure.
If you still have questions about acute poisoning due to sleeping pills, tranquilizers, you can go to a hospital of Vinmec Health System for further examination and advice. Thank you for trusting and sending questions to Vinmec. Wishing you lots of health.
Best regards!