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Secobarbital is a short-acting barbiturate that was once a common sleeping pill and sedative, sold under the name Seconal. Its rapid onset and short duration made it popular but also gave it high abuse potential and a bad overdose record. Like all barbiturates it has a narrow safety margin and is very dangerous with alcohol or opioids.
- Rapid sleep onset
- Strong sedation
- Historically used for short procedures
- Respiratory depression
- Narrow safety margin
- High dependence potential
- Dangerous withdrawal
Mechanism
Secobarbital is a positive modulator at the -A receptor. It prolongs the opening of the chloride channel in response to GABA (the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter) and, at higher concentrations, can open the channel directly. The result is strong central nervous system depression producing sedation and sleep. The direct channel-opening effect at higher doses is what removes any ceiling on depression and makes overdose so easy.
receptor fingerprint
-A receptor (barbiturate site)Positive allosteric modulator; direct agonist at high doses
Safetyrisks and cautions, not medical advice
Secobarbital overdose readily causes fatal respiratory depression, and its narrow margin plus fast onset make miscalculation deadly; there is no naloxone-equivalent antidote. Combining it with alcohol, opioids, or other sedatives sharply raises the risk. It produces tolerance and dependence quickly, and withdrawal can be life-threatening with seizures. Not medical advice.
Subjective profileweighing the evidence above
Obsolete and dangerous. The gap between a sleeping dose and a fatal one is narrow, there is no antidote, and with alcohol or opioids it stops breathing. Dependence builds fast and withdrawal can kill. Modern sleep drugs replaced it for very good reasons.
Resources
This entry is here for reference.
Research
- 1.Old and Cold: A Novel Case of Combined Secobarbital and Pentobarbital Poisoning in an Elderly Woman
- 2.Enhanced elimination in acute barbiturate poisoning - a systematic review
2 listed here; entry last updated July 2026
Reviews
My notesprivate to this device
FAQ
Why did secobarbital fall out of favor?
Its high abuse potential and easy, often fatal overdoses led safer sleep aids to largely replace it.
How does it compare to phenobarbital?
It's shorter-acting with a faster onset, which makes it more abusable, while phenobarbital's long action suits maintenance seizure control.
What makes overdose so likely?
The gap between a sedating and a lethal dose is small, and there's no reliable antidote; combining with other depressants makes it worse.
Adverse effects
- Respiratory depression
- Narrow safety margin
- High dependence potential
- Dangerous withdrawal