Suggest Treatment For Accidental Consumption Of 0.25 Mg Xanax By Child

Posted on Wed, 8 Apr 2015

Question: My son just accidentally took a 0.25 mg Xanax (he thought is was Allegra). Should I be concerned? He is small for his age, around 65 pounds.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Pradeep Kumar Jain (47 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Watch for the symptoms,the dose consumed is not very high

Detailed Answer:
Hello

The xanax is a sedative benzodiazepin contains Alprazolam. The usual dose in child is 0.0025 mg/pound per dose and it can be increased upto 0.01 mg/pound per dose and a maximum of 0.03 mg/pound a day.

If we calculate the dose consumed by your son is about 0.004 mg/pound. The toxic dose is much higher and your son has consumed it in therapeutic dose. Therefore we need not be worried. However he can have side effects such as excessive sleeping, drowsiness, dizziness, irritability, mood disorder, inability to concentrate and sometimes nausea, vomiting, chest pain or excess sweating. The effect can persist for 12-18 hours.

In short, I would not be worried much as he has consumed it in a therapeutic dose. Apart from drowsiness / sleeping if you find any other major symptoms, consult emergency room.

I would be glad to answer if you have any further query

Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad