(Insomnia’s got me again, so…what the heck)
I have a biochemistry question; I’m writing a story where a character is being chased up a mountain trail by monsters. I’m considering having her, becoming exhausted, trying to use the atropine autoinjector from a chemical warfare kit as an ad-hoc stimulant to get her to the top of the trail.
My question is: could this actually work, as intended (at least without killing the character)?
Well, reading the Wiki page on atropine it looks like it acts by damping down activity of the vagus nerve etc. which might be the opposite of what you want. I would have thought an epi-pen would be much more likely to do what you want, since it contains adrenaline.
IANAD but we use atropine in animals so know a teensy bit about it’s effects. I would think that atropine given when one already has an elevated heart rate from exertion could speed up the heart to a dangerous/deadly rate. It might help if your character were poisoned with something that slows the heart rate though.
Also, the dilation of the pupils might make it hard to see in bright light, no big deal if it’s at night but if it’s in daylight it could be a problem. I’d certainly want to be able to see if the monsters were catching up.
Actually, blocking the vagus nerve would lead to an increased heart rate. Vagal stimulation causes a decrease in heart rate and blood pressure. In some cases, it can cause a brief syncopal episode. It’s also used as a treatment for patients with certain types of fast heartbeats.
Atropine is a parasympatholytic drug, meaning that it blocks the effects of the parasympathetic nervous system. Parasympathetic stimulation increases salivary, digestive, and excretory functions. It also has an inhibitory effect on the sympathetic nervous system.
As far as the question in the OP. Atropine is a powerful drug, but I don’t know that it would have the effects you’re looking for. We use it on the ambulance for patients with severe bradycardias and patients in certain types of cardiac arrest.
St. Urho
Paramedic
Yes, this action is described on the aforementioned wiki page. However wouldn’t it also affect breathing and various other functions in an adverse? Either way, it would be a performance-enhancing drug, unless you want to perform an imitiation of a heart attack.
Actually, atropine should block bronchoconstriction and mucous production in the lungs, resulting in larger airways and better gas exchange in the lungs. We carry a similar anticholinergic drug called ipratropium for managing asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Atropine is chemically similar to scopalomine and hyoscamine, all of which are found in Solanacea spp. plants like belladonna, mandrake, and jimson weed. Therefor, wouldn’t it be more likely to cause one to start hallucinating wildly and become more or less helpless, as do those plants when accidentally or misguidedly ingested?
According to Wikipedia, atropine is hyoscamine.
It seems that hallucinations only start with toxic dosages:
The Mark I kit is the standard nerve agent antidote, IME. It contains 2 mg of Atropine in an autoinjector. Also note that this would either be given intramuscularly or subcutaneously depending on needle length, if given through clothing, etc. The cite on hallucinations is referring to IV dosages, so the likelihood of hallucinations would be much less with due to the slower absorption through other routes.
You would be better off using atropine on a monster.
A handy stimulant might be coca leaves. “When chewed, coca acts as a mild stimulant and suppresses hunger, thirst, pain, and fatigue.”