# Will an Epipen reduce the effects of sedation?



## Eicca

I've got an MC trying to rescue his brother from a hospital in the middle of a terrorist attack. The brother is all drugged up. If the MC shoots him with an Epipen (or two), will that negate the sedation enough to make a viable escape?


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## Morkonan

What sort of sedation? 

"Sedation" is basically targeted at putting someone in a state where their brain is "asleep." It mimics a sleep state, but is artificial. In fact, it enforces that sort of state, forcing a barrier between the body and willful reaction, or any reaction, and, as a consequence, unconsciousness. ie: There is something there that is interacting with the brain's receptors, directly.

Your MC might only succeed in giving his brother a heart-attack with a bunch of epinephrine. He's under the influence of a drug that is designed to artificially shut down the senses. You likely need something that will interact with the same receptors that the current sedative interacts with, blocking that sedative effect.

Everyone say's to give coffee to a drunk, right? Well, that only creates a wide-awake drunk.  Giving epinephrine to someone under a medical sedative isn't likely going to help them regain consciousness, I wouldn't think. I'm not a physician, though, so I could be wrong. (I doubt it, though. It depends on the sedative, I guess.)

Look up the sedative or type of sedative being used and see what the antidotes are. If you want a commonly available antidote so your MC can have access to it, then reverse-engineer a sedative for it to act against. (ie: Cross-reference until you find a good combination.)


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## Gargh

I've asked medical/pharmaceutical questions in student forums before with good results. This one's free and easy to join, with several medical sub-forums.


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## Eicca

Cool, I'll take a look at that forum.

Based on Morkonan's response, I have made note of a few changes I can make to the situation to hopefully make this work.

The background is that the MC's brother was the victim of an attempted murder the night before and had his gut stab stitched up. Would it seem more feasible if the MC's brother were simply on a painkiller drip? I only need to get him from the state of barely-unable-to-escape-the-hospital to barely-able-to-escape-with-the-MC's-help and an adrenaline injection would seem like the way to pull that off when the MC stumbles into a supply room during the escape.


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## Gargh

It's my belief that epinephrine can be used to counteract certain anaesthetics, in the same way your own natural adrenaline might. If that was what was making the MC's brother groggy and inept, rather than his being deliberately kept under sedation, then that could work... couldn't it?


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