Atropine

Atropine mainly works by blocking some of the ways your brain sends messages to different parts of your body. In this way, it can cause useful reactions in your heart, eyes, or entire body. Atropine (tablets, eye drops, inhaler and injections) is a prescription-only medicine.

Atropine is commonly used:

• When you have slow heartbeats from permanent heart injury.
• To stop you from making too much saliva or mucus during surgery.
• To reverse or slow down the effect of poisons used to control the spread of insects and rodents (e.g. Otapiapia), where no specific antidote is available.
• In some eye disorders (e.g. Uveitis) or to relax the eye during a check-up by your doctor.

Atropine is a drug that works by blocking a chemical that sends messages from the brain to different parts of your body. Atropine treats abnormally slow heartbeats (bradycardia), relaxes the eye’s pupil during procedures and reduces the amount of saliva you make (during surgery). It is used to treat poisoning from Otapiapia (used as insecticide and rat poison), where specific antidotes are not available.

Atropine is a prescription-only medicine.

• Atropine is taken by mouth as tablets, inhaled from a device, dropped in the eye as eye drops or injected directly into your blood by a healthcare provider.
• Farms that use large quantities of insecticides and pesticides (e.g. Otapiapia)may have an auto-injector device in the first aid kit to treat accidental exposure.
• Atropine may be used alone or with other medications. Ask your healthcare provider if it is okay to use it with any other drugs.

You may experience one or more of these effects:

• Dry mouth or very little saliva in your mouth, dry throat, and you may produce little urine.
• Fever and general discomfort.
• Your eyes may hurt in daylight, and you may have trouble seeing.
• You may be dizzy and feel like fainting.

This is not a complete list of all the side effects of using Atropine. If you experience these or other side effects, mention them to your healthcare provider.

If you experience serious side effects, you must go to the health centre closest to you immediately:

• You may feel or hear your heart beating very fast.
• You may feel pressure or pain in the eye together with a headache.
• You may feel pain in your stomach caused by a blockage that stops food or liquid from reaching your intestines.
• You may be unable to hold your urine.

You must inform your healthcare provider if you have any disease condition. This will help them check your risk for any serious side-effects.

• Do not take atropine if you have kidney disease, liver disease, heart disease, or prostate enlargement.
• Do not exercise after using atropine; this can lead to serious fever and heat stroke.
• If you are pregnant or want to get pregnant, inform your healthcare provider.
• Inform your healthcare provider if you are taking or have recently taken any other medicines.