Repeated doses of 0.2 mg may be administered every 60 seconds to a maximum total dose of 1 mg. This initial dosing regimen may be repeated every 20 minutes for control of resedation up to a maximum of 3 mg in any 1-hour period. Dosing regimens vary slightly for the management of suspected benzodiazepine overdosage. Patients should be monitored for re-sedation. Adverse effects attributed to flumazenil include injection site pain, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness.
Seizures are the most frequently reported serious adverse effect.
Naloxone is a pure opiate antagonist with little or no agonist action. In the absence of narcotics, it exhibits no detectable pharmacologic activity. Naloxone appears to work by competing for opiate receptor binding sites and reversing or antagonizing most of the opiate effects. It antagonizes the respiratory depression, hypotension, and sedation observed with opiate administration. The duration of action of naloxone is often shorter than that of the opiate.