372 Phenmetrazine
bedwetting, the drug produced mixed results. The compound has also been
used to treat asthma and Parkinson’s disease.
Drawbacks.Intravenous abuse can harm muscles and kidneys. Phenmetra-
zine can produce standard amphetamine effects such as euphoria, restlessness,
jumpiness, insomnia, tics, fatigue reduction, faster breathing, and higher blood
pressure. Studies have found phenmetrazine’s actions on patients with heart
trouble or hypertension (high blood pressure) to be measurable but negligible.
Taking the high blood pressure medicine propranolol along with phenmetra-
zine can relieve cardiac effects without diminishing anorectic effects. Studies
with diabetic users find phenmetrazine having little influence on blood sugar
levels or on insulin needs.
Fluctuating emotions and even psychosis have been attributed to phenmet-
razine abuse. Psychosis can include hallucinations and paranoia. That afflic-
tion can stop when drug taking stops, or instead the drug may break down
barriers releasing full-fledged and long-lasting schizophrenia. Phenmetrazine
interferes with dreaming during sleep, which in itself may cause psychological
trouble.
Abuse factors.Tests of drug preference, in which users could choose among
several substances, found benzphetamine and phenmetrazine to have about
the same amount of appeal even though benzphetamine is a Schedule III sub-
stance (a status implying a lower addictive potential than phenmetrazine). In
one such test, volunteers found phenmetrazine to be a satisfying substitute
for dextroamphetamine but preferred the latter. Abusers of amphetamine and
methamphetaminehave routinely switched to phenmetrazine when their fa-
vored drug was unavailable.
Drug interactions.An experiment found that chlorpromazine (Thorazine)
interacts with phenmetrazine, hindering phenmetrazine’s normal anorectic
benefit.
Cancer.In pregnant women phenmetrazine may undergo transformations
suspected of promoting childhood tumors.
Pregnancy.Phenmetrazine was formerly prescribed to pregnant women
seeking to lose weight. A study of over 10,000 birth and childhood records
found the drug having no “severe” impact on fetal development. Other stud-
ies have found no birth defects at all, although medical literature from the
early 1960s does contain a handful of reports in which the drug is suspected
of harming fetuses. Those suspicions were never verified but were strong
enough to suspend medical use of the drug in some countries for a while.
Combination products.Filon combines phenmetrazine theoclate (CAS RN
13931-75-4) and phenbutrazate hydrochloride and is promoted as having
phenmetrazine’s weight loss characteristics while lacking hazard of addiction.
Initial clinical trials showed Filon to be an effective anorectic with fewer of
phenmetrazine’s unwanted qualities, but a later study found the two drugs
to have the same unwanted effects. A case of Filon addiction also surfaced,
but that single instance hardly proves Filon to have more addictive potential
than any other drug considered to have low or zero potential.
Additional scientific information may be found in:Gilstrap, L.C. III, and B.B. Little, eds.Drugs and Pregnancy. New York: Elsevier, 1992.
Martin, W.R., et al. “Physiologic, Subjective, and Behavioral Effects of Amphetamine,