Clonidine Patches: Not for Eating!
Three adult patients in a detoxification unit deliberately ingested generic clonidine patches (Catapres-TTS®, Boehringer Ingelheim), reportedly to relieve symptoms of opiate withdrawal, and the result was three overdoses. The reporting physicians said that two of the patients chewed and swallowed their patches, and the third licked the patch and threw it away.
The symptoms of clonidine overdose include lethargy, hypotension, and brady-cardia. The patients later told a staff member that another patient had suggested that they ingest their patches; the patients may have done so to achieve a psychoactive effect, such as a “high” or a calming effect. As a result of this experience, the doctors have since stopped using clonidine patches in the detoxification unit and warn that the risks of overdose might outweigh the potential benefits.
