Amiphenazole is a respiratory stimulant

Respiratory stimulant

A respiratory stimulant is a drug which acts to increase the action of the respiratory system.An example is doxapram....

 traditionally used as an antidote for barbiturate

Barbiturate

Barbiturates are drugs that act as central nervous system depressants, and can therefore produce a wide spectrum of effects, from mild sedation to total anesthesia. They are also effective as anxiolytics, as hypnotics, and as anticonvulsants...

 or opiate

Opiate

In medicine, the term opiate describes any of the narcotic opioid alkaloids found as natural products in the opium poppy plant.-Overview:Opiates are so named because they are constituents or derivatives of constituents found in opium, which is processed from the latex sap of the opium poppy,...

 overdose, usually in combination with bemegride

Bemegride

Bemegride is a central Nervous System stimulant and antidote for barbiturate poisoning.- John Bodkin Adams case :...

, as well as poisoning from other sedative drugs and treatment of respiratory failure from other causes. It was considered particularly useful as it could counteract the sedation

Sedation

Sedation is the reduction of irritability or agitation by administration of sedative drugs, generally to facilitate a medical procedure or diagnostic procedure...

 and respiratory depression produced by morphine

Morphine

Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...

 but with less effect on analgesia. It is still rarely used in medicine in some countries, although it has largely been replaced by more effective respiratory stimulants such as doxapram

Doxapram

Doxapram hydrochloride is a respiratory stimulant. Administered intravenously, doxapram stimulates an increase in tidal volume, and respiratory rate.-Mode of action:...

 and specific opioid antagonists such as naloxone

Naloxone

Naloxone is an opioid antagonist drug developed by Sankyo in the 1960s. Naloxone is a drug used to counter the effects of opiate overdose, for example heroin or morphine overdose. Naloxone is specifically used to counteract life-threatening depression of the central nervous system and respiratory...

.