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Giggle Party Drug No Laughing Matter
Urgent health warnings are being announced cautioning the potentially lethal dangers of a new party drug. The herbal party drug called Giggle has raised health and media attention after a teenager took one tablet and developed a potentially dangerous heartbeat.
A Queensland teenager was taken by ambulance to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital emergency department after ingesting a Giggle tablet. The 19-year-old, who is 6″2 and weighs 90 kilograms had a heart rate of 166 beats per minute – more than double the normal range, and was unsteady on his feet, nauseous, dizzy, pale and sweaty.
His case has prompted Australia’s medicines and health regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to launch investigations into the drug manufactured in New Zealand.
Emergency specialists have also issued warnings about the potential dangers of the tablets, said to contain guarana, geranium extra, calcium, magnesium and ‘tableting aids’.
Australasian College for Emergency Medicine Queensland chairman David Rosengren described the pills as a “significant health risk”.
“Any person taking concentrated caffeine in either form of a drink, or tablets wrapped up as party pills, should be very cautious about going down that pathway.”
“It’s not uncommon for us to see people coming in with symptoms of excessive caffeine ingestion and irregular palpitations, heart arrythmias.”
Emed’s Comment:
It is truly astonishing that anything so potent and highly dangerous can be allowed in stores, let alone sold to anyone that happens to spot them.
Referred to as ‘natural’, these party drugs contain dangerously high amounts of caffeine – with one pill providing the equivalent of 29 cups of instant coffee. With reports that Giggle pills contain 2,000 mg of caffeine per unit, you’re exceeding your maximum recommended daily limit by around 500%.
Excessive intake of caffeine can lead to:
| – Impaired vitamin/mineral absorption | – Hyperactivity |
| – Abnormal sleep patterns | – Insomnia |
| – Nausea | – Anxiety |
| – Vomiting | – Headaches |
| – Severe dehydration | – Over-stimulation of the Central Nervous System |
| – Restlessness | – Increase heart rate |
| – Nervousness | – Excessive urination |
It is crucial to your health that you minimise the amount of caffeine you ingest. Though caffeine does have limited therapeutic qualities (very limited), there is no need to drink 10 cups of coffee a day. Limit coffee and tea to 2-3 cups a day.
Eliminate soft drinks from your diet – you don’t need them. If they aren’t full of sugar, caffeine and artificial colouring and flavouring; they’re full of artificial sweeteners, caffeine and artificial colouring and flavouring. Either way, they’re damaging your health and body.
- Soft Drinks Linked to Heart Disease and Diabetes
- The Dangers of Artificial Sweeteners
- Five of the Worst Foods You Can Eat
- Hidden Additives: What Nasties are Lurking in Your Food?
Excessive caffeine can be lethal for anyone with a pre-existing heart condition. It raises your heart rate dramatically, leading to palpitations or worst – a heart attack. This is especially dangerous for the young Australians who suffer from a heart condition, and don’t even know about it. Swallowing one Giggle pill could potentially put you over the edge.
Let’s just hope that the TGA see some sense in this and ban all legal ‘party’ drugs and stimulants from stores. Though Giggle Pills is possibly one of the worst ones out there, it’s only a matter of time before a competitor comes out with something stronger and more effective.
What else can I do?
Struggling for energy? Too tired to go out at night? Like millions of Australians, chances are you are vitamin deficient (and possibly stressed and sleep-deprived too!) B group vitamins are vital for our body’s ability to cope with stress.
Adequate vitamin intake will provide you with more energy everyday, without the dangerous side-effects. Vitamin B-12 is especially important for providing you with quick increases in energy and recovery for 100% the next day. Because caffeine can actually stop the absorption of calcium, magnesium and other important vitamins and minerals, it’s crucial that you supplement.
Emed stocks a range of the best multivitamin and multimineral supplements that are available in Australia. They provide excellent vitamin and mineral ratios that will work quickly to ‘fill in the gaps’ in your diet.
Feeling tired? Exercise more. Research studies suggest that regular exercise can increase energy levels even among people suffering from chronic medical conditions. Though it may seem counterintuitive, expending energy by engaging in regular exercise may pay off with increased energy in the long run.
Do you drink enough water everyday? Humans need to drink between 1 1/2 and 3 litres of water daily, however if you’re of the 75% of Australians who don’t drink enough water, you could be chronically dehydrated.
Chronic dehyration can cause fatigue, loss of energy and inability to concentrate. Ironically, caffeine contributes to dehydration, so for every cup of coffee you drink, you should drink another glass of water. Do you know exactly how much water you should be drinking? Educate yourself and feel better for it.
Combine a good multi with a healthy diet, a decent amount of exercise and good sleep habits and you will be glad that you took the time to find natural and healthy alternatives to increasing your energy levels.
Further Reading:
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