title: Acute clenbuterol overdose manifestations in a suicide attempt--a case report.
abstract: A 30-year-old man was admitted to the intensive care unit after a suicide attempt with respiratory difficulties, tremor, sinus tachycardia and significant hypokalemia. On examination, the patient was lucid, fully conscious and did not exhibit positive symptoms. Sings were not typical for overdosing olanzapine, alprazolam and alcohol as declared by the patient. Additional anamnesis revealed high doses of ingested clenbuterol, a selective β2-adrenergic agonist. Due to its anabolic and lipolytic properties, clenbuterol has become a commonly abused drug in bodybuilding industry and is not routinely detected by toxicology screens. This is the first known report of suicide attempt by clenbuterol overdosing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hypertension and Vascular Diseases, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Izabela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nawrocka
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hypertension and Vascular Diseases, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Maria H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Kowalczys
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hypertension and Vascular Diseases, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Abramczyk
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002976:Clenbuterol / Q000506:poisoning*; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007008:Hypokalemia / Q000139:chemically induced; D008297:Male; D013406:Suicide, Attempted; D013616:Tachycardia, Sinus / Q000139:chemically induced; D014202:Tremor / Q000139:chemically induced
chemical_list: D002976:Clenbuterol
keywords: adverse drug reaction; clenbuterol; drug overdose; hypokalemia; suicide attempt