During the fall of 1970, I was prescribed Sodium Seconal when I was hospitalized. I took it for sleep. At nine PM, the nurse doled out my sleeping pill. I never taken Seconal before. And so, at nine PM, I take my med with a glass of water. At about 9:30 PM, I had a panic attack.
Secobarbital
Well-documented
Well-documented
Multiple authoritative sources agree on dosing and effects.
- 3 corroborating sources
- 1 ROA with full dose ladder
- duration data present
- 17 combo interactions documented
- toxicity data (PsychonautWiki, PubChem)
Well-documented
Multiple authoritative sources agree on dosing and effects.
- 3 corroborating sources
- 1 ROA with full dose ladder
- duration data present
- 17 combo interactions documented
- toxicity data (PsychonautWiki, PubChem)
Aliases: Reds, Seggy, Seconal, Red birds, Red devils
Summary
Secobarbital, also known as secobarbitone in British English and by the brand name Seconal, is a short-acting psychoactive drug of the barbiturate class which produces powerful anxiolytic, hypnotic, muscle relaxant and amnesic effects. The combination drug Tuinal has a combination of secobarbital and amobarbital. Secobarbital is used medically as a hypnotic for the short-term treatment of insomnia and as an anticonvulsant in emergency situations, such as status epilepticus.
Dose Information
| ROA | Light | Common | Strong | Heavy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral | 25-50mg | 50-150mg | 150-300mg | 300mg+ |
Light
Common
Strong
Heavy
Sources
Oral
Dose ladder — dose.wiki, PsychonautWiki, TripSitOnset, Duration & After-effects
| ROA | Onset | Peak | Offset | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral | 15-60 min | 4-8 hrs | 2-4 hrs | 6-10 hrs |
Tolerance
Build-up
develops over 1–4 weeks of daily use; hypnotic tolerance faster than anxiolytic tolerance
Reset
Falls after you stop, at a rate that varies from person to person. If you've been using regularly, cut down gradually with medical help rather than stopping suddenly.
No tolerance chart. Our decay curves for these drugs were estimates, and a curve can make tolerance look longer-lasting than it is, which is the dangerous direction.
How fast tolerance to these drugs fades after a break has not been measured well enough to draw, so don't count on a dose you used to take still being safe: after time off, start with a much smaller amount and don't use alone. Mixing sedatives with each other, with alcohol or with opioids sharply raises the risk of a fatal overdose. If you've been using regularly, don't stop suddenly: withdrawal from benzodiazepines, alcohol or GHB/GBL can cause seizures or delirium, so get medical help to cut down gradually. With barbiturates, you get used to the effects much more than to a dangerous dose, so the gap between a dose that works and one that kills shrinks the more you use. Stopping suddenly after regular use can cause convulsions and delirium.
Sources: FRANK: benzodiazepines · Alcohol and Drug Foundation: GHB · FDA 2020: benzodiazepine boxed warning · FDA 2019: gabapentinoids and breathing · NHS: alcohol use disorder · Phenobarbital label: drug abuse and dependence
Effects
Effect glossary — · full glossary
Positive
Negative
Positive
Negative
Positive
Negative
Combinations
Cross-Check Secobarbital with another substanceCommunity Trip Reports
Anecdotal first-person accounts from Reddit, Erowid, Bluelight, and Dose.wiki. Click a source to expand. Reports are harm-reduction context, not medical guidance. Tags summarise each author's own verdict — how reports are classified.
Erowid 1 report 1 neutral visit
Bluelight 2 threads 1 positive 1 cautionary visit
A friend of mine emailed me the other day bragging about the Seconal (secobarbital) he had gotten... i figured i'd post his email (with his permission of course) about the substance since it's such a rarity these days. I got my Seconal (secobarbital sodium) filled last night, finally.
So on Friday I tried Methiopropamine (orally, then afterwards IVed), a relatively safe RC stimulant, however I used a pretty large dose (over 200mg) and the first euphoric effects lasted for about 6 hours, and after that I just felt strong energy and motivation, followed by insomnia, so I didn't sleep on Friday night,...
Pill Identifiers
1
known pill identifiers on record — view imprints, colors, shapes, and images
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Secobarbital's nerd page
Pharmacology, chemical data, effect profiles, and more
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Helpful Links
Import into PsychonautWiki Journal
The PsychonautWiki Journal app includes Secobarbital, but its built-in data can be thinner than ours. Importing this file adds a separate "Secobarbital (Substance Search)" custom substance with our dose ranges and durations, so you can log against whichever you prefer. It leaves tolerance out on purpose, for the reason given under Tolerance above.
⬇ Download import file
Import this file as custom substances
and you get "Secobarbital (Substance Search)" with every
route's full dose ladder and timeline, no typing. Works on iOS and
Android (v15+); the format is confirmed by the app's
developer.
Ranges are harm-reduction guidance, not a prescription.
Report an issue or suggest an edit
Spotted incorrect or dangerous information, have a correction, a new study, or a useful addition for Secobarbital? Let us know. Reports are reviewed by moderators — this is not posted publicly.