The present disclosure provides a safe method for anesthesia or the treatment of pain by safely administering an amount of active agent to a patient while reducing the incidence or severity of suppressed respiration. The present disclosure provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising a therapeutic agent and a chemoreceptor respiratory stimulant. In one aspect, the compositions oppose effects of respiratory suppressants by combining a chemoreceptor respiratory stimulant with an opioid receptor agonist or other respiratory-depressing drug. The combination of the two chemical agents, that is, the therapeutic agent and the respiratory stimulant, may be herein described as the “drugs.” The present compositions may be used to treat acute and chronic pain, sleep apnea, and other conditions, leaving only non-lethal side effects.
