There is no specific antidote for strychnine. Half an hour later, as I could judge, I took the same quantity of bromide of potassium and chloral, and a little time after I lost consciousness and fell into a " profound sleep," awaking in the morning with no unpleasant symptoms, no headache, &c., but a desire " to be on the move " and a slight feeling of stiffness in the jaw. There was no opisthotonos, only a slight stiffness at the back of the neck. I felt better, but my lower limbs were as cold as ice, and the calf muscles kept tense and jerking. My whole body was in a cold sweat, with anginous attacks in the precordial region, and a feeling of "going off." I did not call for medical aid, as I thought the symptoms declining. chloral-put them in a tumbler with some water, and drank it off. I had no confidence or courage to weigh them, so I guessed the quantity-about 30 gr. I then knew something serious was developing, so I crawled off the bed and scrambled to a case in my room and got out (fortunately) the bromide of potassium and the chloral. My toes drew up under my feet, and as I moved or turned my head flashes of light kept darting across my eyes. I lay on the bed and the calf muscles began to stiffen and jerk. There was great uneasiness and restlessness, and I felt a desire to walk about and do something rather than sit still and read. On the second day of taking it, towards the evening, I felt a tightness in the "facial muscles " and a peculiar metallic taste in the mouth. I took 10 minims of strychnia solution (B.P.) with the same quantity of dilute phosphoric acid well diluted twice a day. Three years ago I was reading for an examination, and feeling "run down". One medical student in 1896 described the experience in a letter to the Lancet: The subject dies within 2–3 hours after exposure. Death comes from asphyxiation caused by paralysis of the neural pathways that control breathing, or by exhaustion from the convulsions. These are followed by postictal depression. Convulsions lead to lactic acidosis, hyperthermia and rhabdomyolysis. The convulsions progress, increasing in intensity and frequency until the backbone arches continually. The spasms then spread to every muscle in the body, with nearly continuous convulsions, and get worse at the slightest stimulus. Ten to twenty minutes after exposure, the body's muscles begin to spasm, starting with the head and neck in the form of trismus and risus sardonicus.
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