Good ol' Chloral Hydrate - a blast from the past.

[Zoops (OP)]

Chloral hydrate has limited use as a sedative and hypnotic. It was first synthesized in 1832 by some German cat by chlorination of ethanol. It is converted to trichloroethanol in vivo, which is the active principle of the drug. So, it is a prodrug.

It is a controlled substance in C-IV in the USA. I remember seeing packages of it back when I was working, and they had the "Warning: May be habit forming" legend on the label. A revamping of controlled substance laws in the past 10 years or so eliminated the requirement for this warning on all opiates, barbiturates, and chloral hydrate-containing products.

I have some limited experience with taking this drug. They had chloral hydrate syrup in the at CVS, and I sampled some. Poured some in a little 2oz bottle and took it home. It's somewhere between benzos and alcohol in its effects. A lot like GHB now that I think about it.

Used to be very widely used as a sedative and hypnotic and also as a general anesthetic, in combination with inhaled chloroform. With the advent of barbiturates in the early 1900s, and then later benzos, it has been relegated to the trash heap of old-timey drugs.  It still finds some limited use today in pediatric dentistry, as part of a pre-procedural sedative in combination with Vistaril (hydroxyzine pamoate).

It's also the original date rape drug. Back in the day, it was used in combination with ethanol as a method to knock out unsuspecting people, by adding a small amount of it to an alcoholic drink. Very soluble in ethanol, its effect is multiplied by combination therewith. This was known as a "Mickey Finn," as in "they slipped me a Mickey," or "I slipped her a Mickey and she was out cold in like 10 minutes... didn't even finish her drink."

Well, it so happens that I found a Chinese chemical company (Jadechem, based in Wuhan city of Hubei province) on Ali Baba that is willing to ship 100g of this material by FedEx for just the shipping cost! It's a free sample. Otherwise, the minimum order quantity (just recently found out that's what "MOQ" means) is 200Kg, at $7 per Kg. That's $14,000 worth! It's used as an industrial chemical for cleaning metals or some shit too... and something to do with electroplating. I don't give a shit about those uses, though.

I'm right now communicating with the rep from Jadechem, and am awaiting a quote on the shipping cost. They say they will put a "fake" customs declaration on the package, "to preventing it detained by custom."

Anyone else ever experimented with this stuff?

I think it will prove to be a good comfort med for opiates withdrawal. In combination with lope it would probably knock out the W/D's pretty thoroughly.

The usual dose is 1-1.5g (1,000-1,500mg), so I imagine 100g will last me a while. It can cause physical dependence of the alcohol/benzos/barbiturates variety which can be very nasty and possibly fatal in a cold-turkey withdrawal situation, depending on the depth of habituation to the drug.

[Chip]

Zoops, I like your (re-)pioneering spirit.

now there's a drug that nobody is watching.

report back but take it easy.

[Roman Totale]

Ah, chloral -- the original sedative/hypnotic.  Hell, even potassium bromide and later paraldehyde showed up in the later 1800s to as the new guys on chloral's block before Veronal and Luminal blew it away in 1908/1912, iirc. 

I've always been interested in CH, but thought it only existed on paper anymore.  Chloral hydrate and morphine, the two great pharmaceutical innovations of the early 1800s.  Keep us posted.

[Guts]

I've done this stuff... I got a bottle once from an IOP. It came in gel caps. I don't really remember much about it other than I did not think it was all that. I remember it being sedating but not all that euphoric. I would take a benzo over it.

[Zoops (OP)]

Yeah, @Guts, FWIW, I don't think it's "all that" really either. I mean I don't get too too euphoric off benzos either for that matter. But it is a strong sedative/hypnotic drug. And that's what I need to have in my "tool kit."

It beats diphenhydramine. This shit would be good for the comedown off amphetamines or cocaine.

[jdub]

The only time I've had it was in detox and it definitely helped the insomnia We'd call it the "knockout juice".

[Zoops (OP)]

They want $150 for shipping 100g of the stuff to me, via FedEx  . Isn't that a little bit high - even coming all the way from China? So, I won't be able to do it. I was hoping like $40-50. $150 is too much.

[Guts]

How much is a dose of that stuff? If you can find someone to send you a 100 g sample of fent for the same price, let me know 

[shoybs]

How difficult would chloral hydrate be to synthesize at home? For some reason i seem to recall that it's not that hard.

[jdub]

How much is a dose of that stuff? If you can find someone to send you a 100 g sample of fent for the same price, let me know 

From drugs.com

Usual Adult Dose for Insomnia
500 mg to 1 g 15 to 30 minutes before bedtime.

Usual Adult Dose for Sedation
250 mg 3 times daily after meals, or

500 mg to 1 g 30 minutes before surgery

[Narkotikon]

Just because this is a little bit about history:

Queen Victoria swore by chloral hydrate (and chloroform) during her pregnancies. She strongly encouraged her daughters to use it as well.

The Church of England at the time strongly disapproved, because they argued that all good, Christian women should feel the pain of childbirth because God had made it so.

Victoria basically told church leaders to fuck off, she wasn't having it.

There's actually a very interesting theory citing the birth of Kaiser Wilhelm (William) II, the last German Emperor, who was an enthusiastic supporter of WWI, and how his personality was directly caused by his mother's difficult delivery.

Wilhelm was a grandchild of Queen Victoria. His mother was Victoria's eldest daughter, the future German Kaiserin / Empress Frederick. During her labor, her doctors gave her so much chloroform that she was unconscious, and couldn't assist in the delivery.

Wilhelm was also a breech birth, so it was even more complicated. The doctors used forceps aggressively, and ended up causing severe nerve damage to Wilhelm's left arm. His arm never developed normally, and ended up being 6 inches shorter than his right arm. It was also moderately useless. He was diagnosed as having Erb's Palsy.

This was perilous in the hyper-masculine, highly militarized culture of Prussia. His parents were also advised to have minimal emotional contact with Wilhelm, as it was considered inappropriate at that time in history for royal and aristocratic parents in Prussian culture.   

All of this created a very immature, bombastic, imperious personality. Historians theorize this is one of the main reasons Wilhelm was so enthusiastic to go to war in WWI. He felt like he had to overcompensate for his arm.

Also because Wilhelm had a great resentment toward Britain. Despite being Queen Victoria's eldest grandchild, and his uncle Edward VII's eldest nephew, they didn't really like him. He was an overly arrogant asshole. His uncle Edward especially disliked him, often choosing to be elsewhere when he came to visit for family functions.

Wilhelm also deeply resented Britain because the British Empire was the world's largest empire, spanning a fourth of the globe. He thought Germany was lacking in comparison, so he pushed rapid industrialization and militarization to compensate and catch up with Britain.

All of this helped to create a tyrannical ruler, who often blew up in fits of rage.

In part because chloral hydrate / chloroform caused a very difficult labor, and subsequently a damaged left arm.

[Snout]

Good stuff nark! I thought you were going to tell my fave chloroform anectdote , about how religious folks tried to stop an early pioneer of anesthesia, dr James Simpson from using chloroform, saying the bible said women should suffer pain during child birth. He quoted genesis (not the band!) where God causes Adam to go to sleep before making eve out of his rib, as biblical use of anesthesia !

[Narkotikon]

Great point, Snout.

I guess it's okay for Adam to get to sleep during a painful operation, but Eve (and therefore all women) must suffer. Lovely Christian mentality. LOL

Seriously though, it's a good thing Dr. Simpson thought of that retort. There's nothing like using intelligent interpretations of the bible to counteract the ignorant bible interpretations of others.

Contemporary, intelligent Christians should take a page out of Dr. Simpson's playbook to deal with the ignorant Christian asshats in today's world. I'd suggest they start with evolution.

Speaking of intelligent people, LOL, I'm pretty sure Anna Nicole Smith used chloral hydrate. That may have even been what killed her. I forget.

[Guts]

From drugs.com

Usual Adult Dose for Insomnia
500 mg to 1 g 15 to 30 minutes before bedtime.

Usual Adult Dose for Sedation
250 mg 3 times daily after meals, or

500 mg to 1 g 30 minutes before surgery

I remember it being big like that... 100 grams of that stuff isn't as much as it sounds.

[theSWPK]

I've been wanting to get my hands on chloral hydrate for years. I've tried all kinds if drugs for sleep any nothing really seems to do the trick for me. Benzos get close,  but no cigar. I'd love to have something that would give me lights out, just make me pass out for a set amount of time. It'd be awesome just to have for passing time waiting on cash deposits or the dboy.