Is the stuff in Sudafed related to Ephedra?

[LaraMN]

Pseudoephedrine, that is?
I really have no idea, but I have my suspicions, because I've been taking Sudafed for the last five days for my cold, and I swear, I've felt like if I never ate again, I wouldn't even care. It's bizarre. I also have wretched dry-mouth.

[LynzM]

1. Ephedra contains Ephedrine

And Sudafed = pseudo-ephedrine, so I wouldn't really be surprised that they'd share some effects...

[LaraMN]

2. That was my thinking, but it just seemed too logical.

:hi:

[flvegan]

4. Ahem...WRONG!!

Not even close. Science and reality backs this up.

[idgiehkt]

7. do you know what the difference is?

is one synthesized in a lab? I'd love to know. I've asked a few times and no one seems to know. I know ephedra is ma huang, and I can't take it. For me it's a drug, same as pot, and it really messes with my heart. Whatever buzz I get is followed by double the amount of heart attack symptoms.

[sir_captain]

16. Actually

they're both synthesized in labs, just like 99.9% of all pharmaceuticals. Ma huang happens to contain both ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, but it wouldn't be very efficient to derive the drugs from it. Most is made using yeast, which is a very common technique.

Ephedrine is really, really strong stuff, and it fucks with dopamine which theoretically makes it physiologically addictive.

[flvegan]

17. Difference in what?

Ephedra is something that, if you can't take ma huang, you shouldn't mess with this. Same thing, only standardized...

[idgiehkt]

20. between ephedra and pseudo-ephedrine

I think it's already been explained down thread, even though it's a little over my head.

[LaraMN]

9. What's up with the stuff in Sudafed?

Is it known to profoundly kill one's appetite?

[sir_captain]

13. It is a CNS stimulant

which could suppress appetite a bit, I suppose, just as a sympathetic response, but that's not really a big deal.

[idgiehkt]

3. then it must be

when I worked at GNC we sold all that stuff that had ephedra in it by the boatload. Hydroxycut and Xenadrine, I think were the main brands. About $60.00 a bottle. I thought they were gonna take it off the shelves and make it illegal (ephedra products) but I don't know if they did or not. It's crack for dieters, total herbal speed. If it weren't for that stuff GNC would have gone out of business years ago. They are also called yellow jackets, etc, like they sell in gas stations.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

5. They made it legal again, just limited in how much the pill can contain.

Ephedra is safe when taken responsibly if you don't have heart problems.

[flvegan]

10. 10 mg

whereas the effective dose is 25 mg.

Ephedra is very safe...more so than the morning Starbucks...

[idgiehkt]

14. not for everyone. especially not for people with hypertension.

certainly not for me...I don't have high blood pressure, but I had heart surgery at 2 and maybe that has something to do with it. I talked to a woman who'd had it at GNC who went to the E.R. with her symptoms and her doctor told her she was the fifth person he'd seen that week having symptoms from ephedra.

[flvegan]

22. That woman should

have read the label. Any person with a heart issue should steer clear of ephedra. It's a given, and one that's not looked upon as much as should be.

Hence the ban...

[idgiehkt]

24. you are right.

I really tried to stress that because I was so afraid people were gonna buy it and go out and die on it and I would be smote down by the Gods. The danger was in people who didn't know they had heart problems taking it so I always asked. I would have gotten in trouble because that stuff keeps GNC in business, but I talked alot of people out of buying it if they had any of the contraindications. I'm not sure I agree that it should be OTC because of the problems some people have...kind of conflicted about that.

[sir_captain]

26. Considering

that the vast majority of heart problems are undetected until someone has a heart attack, something that could provoke such is probably not very safe, no? Particularly considering that heart disease (which to this day, is detectable only either by some sort of episode of an invasive procedure) is the largest killer in this country, by far.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[LaraMN]

6. I haven't noted any surge in energy; in fact I'm quite dragging, today.

Although that may well be because I've eaten approximately four items of food in the last two days. :rofl:
(I'd only be concerned if I didn't fully believe my body will right itself soon enough)

[flvegan]

8. Idgie...no, no, no.

It has been banned, yes, however it isn't crack for dieters. It's a legit supplement that's been used forever by other cultures that know better than we do.

[idgiehkt]

12. those aren't my words

they are the words of people who used it and who I sold it to. I talked to people about it every day at GNC when I worked there. I know it's an herb that has been used in Asia for thousands of years but I know that it feels exactly like speed to some people who've taken it, including me, and that lots of people end up in the emergency room after taking it and some have even died. I didn't go to the E.R. with my symptoms but I should have, because I had classic heart attack syptoms. The effects vary greatly from one person to the next.

[LaraMN]

21. I took ephedrine when I was in high school,

(mostly because I'd pretty much take anything I could easily get my hands on,) and I hated it. I seem to recall it made me really dizzy and REALLY shaky.

[sir_captain]

11. They are related, but not really the same thing

They have quite a similar chemical structure and are named as they are as such. Not too get too much into the organic chemistry of it, but the enantiomers of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine have different chimeric carbons.

In any case, in relation to your question, ephedrine is a thermogenic compound, which is why it can be used as a diet aid--if your appetite is supressed at the moment, that's probably not from the sudafed. Pseudoephedrine is obviously also a stimulant, but it doesn't have as strong of an effect as ephedrine does, which is why you don't hear about it killing anyone (unless they turn it into meth, of course)

[LaraMN]

15. Well, what the heck's up with me, then? Don't answer that.

That could be construed as "giving medical advice."
Bah.

[sir_captain]

18. Hehe

I guess it could be a little side-effect of sympathetic nervous system activation--as part of the flight part of "fight or flight" the digestive system kind of shuts down so you can get more blood to your leg muscles as while you run away. ;-)

[idgiehkt]

19. thanks.

I appreciate that. I understand about half of it, but that's more than I knew before.

[flvegan]

25. No, that's not true

Your second paragraph is severely contrived...wrong, and useless as advice.

[sir_captain]

28. Is that so?

What is wrong and/or contrived about it other than your anecdotal feelings to the contrary? Is ephedrine not a thermogenic stimulant? Does it not act on adrenergic receptors as part of the sympathetic nervous system? This is its mode of action plain and simple.

Honestly, pseudoephedrine isn't something I would hugely mess around with either.

[flvegan]

29. When you attribute it to killing someone

as you have, then you give in to your "feelings" thank you.

[sir_captain]

30. What?

I seriously don't understand what you're talking about. What are you mad about?

[flvegan]

31. Strawman elsewhere.

[sir_captain]

32. Where is my logical fallacy?

And if I am such a strawman moron as you seem to think I am, why don't you enlighten me instead of simply insulting me?

[flvegan]

33. I'm not insulting you

it just comes out that way.

[sir_captain]

34. Fair enough

Seriously, all I can say is, cheers. :toast: