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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Is It Possible To Have Radiotherapy While Having GHB Addiction?

Hi I don't know if you can help me because I live in the UK but I can't find any sites that can help me and I've been looking for days. My friend has just been diagnosed with Breast cancer and has just had a lumpectomy. She is due to start radiotherapy in 5 weeks however she has a GHB addiction and I am terrified of what the side effects maybe.The problem we have is in Scotland it is not recognised and there is no support AT ALL for this addiction and I have several friends addicted to it but my concern right now is for my friend about to have radiotherapy.My friend is 50 I TOTALLY understand if you can't advise me but I thought I would try.Many Thanks
Thu, 27 Oct 2016
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Addiction Medicine Specialist 's  Response
I cannot give direct information on a particular patient without seeing them. AND this is a general medical question that the site is designed to answer!
First, the real danger is if a patient does not tell her doctor all the chemicals she is exposed to. This comes up more with regular prescribed medicines than with illegal drugs surprisingly.

GHB is perhaps the worst drug to interact with medical care. It is a strong depressant and will make other depressants (narcotics, sedatives, muscle relaxants, alcohol, everything used in anesthesia) far, far more likely to have someone stop breathing.

Also, withdrawal from continual GHB use causes seizures and these are very difficult to prevent.

That being said, radiotherapy MIGHT not involve either any other drugs nor a length of stay away from GHB that will produce withdrawal seizures if she just goes in and gets a treatment for an hour and comes right out.

Ironically, the wait in the waiting room might be the most dangerous feature of radiotherapy. BUT if they merely give her a mild benzodiazepine with it as a sedative this could be fatal.
Main advice is the doctors have to know the GHB is there.
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Is It Possible To Have Radiotherapy While Having GHB Addiction?

I cannot give direct information on a particular patient without seeing them. AND this is a general medical question that the site is designed to answer! First, the real danger is if a patient does not tell her doctor all the chemicals she is exposed to. This comes up more with regular prescribed medicines than with illegal drugs surprisingly. GHB is perhaps the worst drug to interact with medical care. It is a strong depressant and will make other depressants (narcotics, sedatives, muscle relaxants, alcohol, everything used in anesthesia) far, far more likely to have someone stop breathing. Also, withdrawal from continual GHB use causes seizures and these are very difficult to prevent. That being said, radiotherapy MIGHT not involve either any other drugs nor a length of stay away from GHB that will produce withdrawal seizures if she just goes in and gets a treatment for an hour and comes right out. Ironically, the wait in the waiting room might be the most dangerous feature of radiotherapy. BUT if they merely give her a mild benzodiazepine with it as a sedative this could be fatal. Main advice is the doctors have to know the GHB is there.