This Sudafed "PE" stuff

*Randall* · 08-05-2008, 10:04 PM

Can anyone here say with confidence that Sudafed PE and other politically correct decongestants actually work? These would be the products that used to contain pseudoephedrine (aka The Good Stuff), but not anymore.

I'm open to the possibility that these wimpy phenylephrine things may become more effective after I've taken them for a while (I'm fighting a cold on top of a brand-new seasonal allergy). But I never had any reason to doubt The Good Stuff. The fact that phenylephrine doesn't lend itself to the production of illegal substances doesn't automatically make it a worthy substitute.

Today I needed to get more PE, but as a backup I signed my life away in exchange for some of the real Sudafed. What a PITA.

The best alternative I have is squirting salt water up my nose ... with a turkey baster.

Randall

*sheila* · 08-05-2008, 10:14 PM

I always sign and get the "real" stuff.

**Kevin** · 08-05-2008, 10:46 PM

IMO you currently have 3 choices for allergy/sinus medicine...

1) Take Benadryl. This generally works for me as my problems are almost always caused by allergies. Yes, it makes you drowsy but you build up a tolerance to that while it still does a great job of suppressing the allergic reaction. It works even better if you can take it before you are subjected to allergens (like if you take it about 20 minutes before mowing your lawn).

2) Spray gasoline into your sinus cavity to burn out the glands and insure you never have such problems again.

3) Submit to the government inquisition and buy the small ration of the stuff that works they will allow you to have.

While I personally would never choose choice #3, #2 is getting very tempting

**Bruce** · 08-06-2008, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin

IMO you currently have 3 choices for allergy/sinus medicine...

1) Take Benadryl. This generally works for me as my problems are almost always caused by allergies. Yes, it makes you drowsy but you build up a tolerance to that while it still does a great job of suppressing the allergic reaction.

I recommend at least trying antihistamines based on loratadine. It was sold as Claritin or Reactine, but is now a generic, so it's fairly inexpensive. It contains no stimulants but is non-drowsy (except in the usual rare cases). However, it doesn't work for everyone, so YMMV.

*Randall* · 08-08-2008, 08:30 PM

Sorry for the late response. It's been a wild week -- I started writing this post two days ago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce

I recommend at least trying antihistamines based on loratadine. It was sold as Claritin or Reactine, but is now a generic, so it's fairly inexpensive. It contains no stimulants but is non-drowsy (except in the usual rare cases).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin

The problem I had was that pseudoephedrine was also a stimulant used to counteract the drowsiness created by the anti-histamines.

Here's where it gets complicated. Some of the medication I have to take every day happens to amplify the effects of antihistamines to insane levels. A 24-hour Claritin is like a nuclear bomb — one dose will last me a full week, but the "non-drowsy" part goes right out the window. Some days I can't wake up enough to do normal daily activities — like working, driving, walking — before noon.

My daily medication also has the effect of amplifying pseudoephedrine. The full recommended dosage would make me hyper like Kevin, so I only take half ... once a day. Then I use the PE stuff to supplement it later in the day. This offsets the Claritin-induced drowsiness. (You can see why I'd never even touch something like Benadryl.)

Anyway, the cold has been wiped out before it could get a foothold (another medication side effect), so now it's just the allergy I have to deal with. Next week will be less manic, so I can finally see an allergist to learn (a) what's causing the allergy and (b) what, if anything, can give me relief without antihistamines or pseudoephedrine.

Quote:

Wow, this is a whole new world to me. Sometimes I blow my nose with a kleenex or a handkerchief and never really thought there was any more to it than that. Live and learn.

Huh — I hadn't thought of it as a daily hygiene thing.

Now that my nose is generally clear, I should do some more experiments with the turkey baster.

Randall

*sheila* · 08-05-2008, 10:50 PM

It's funny you call the old Sudafed "the stuff that works." I had to take Jenny to the doctor almost two weeks ago. She had a cold, ear infection, etc. He prescribed antibiotics. I asked if I should give her sudafed to help with the decongestion. Old-timer pediatrician replied, that he didn't really think anything was very effective.

I believe he was excluding #2 above, though.

**Kevin** · 08-05-2008, 11:04 PM

I actually have a bit of an advantage here as I never really liked the pseudoephedrine stuff anyways. The problem I had was that pseudoephedrine was also a stimulant used to counteract the drowsiness created by the anti-histamines. The quantity of pseudoephedrine tended to be designed for the typical American who is addicted to caffeine and barely notices "normal" doses of all but the most powerful stimulants. I on the other hand very rarely drink things with caffeine in them (probably about 1 cup of coffee per 3 months and 1 2-liter of Coke per month) which means I am not used to stimulants. When I took daytime/non-drowsy allergy medicine I would feel the affects for at least twice as long as the allergy medicine. If I took 12 hour non-drowsy medicine it would be at least 24 hours before I could sleep and if I took another dose after the allergy part wore off in 12 hours I wouldn't even be able to sit down for more than a minute. I actually looked like Tweak on South Park!

Until the war on allergy medicine my favorite was "Tylenol Allergy PM". If I took the normal dose of 2 pills I would be happy but unconscious. I found that if I took only 1 pill and broke it in half so it would absorb quicker I would have about 20 minutes of drowsiness followed by about 5 hours of normality. Those pills had just enough pseudoephedrine in them to make them work and just enough to make them hard to get

Now I find that if I take Benadryl I have a few hours with no allergies and I only feel the drowsiness if I am inactive. As long as I stay active it doesn't bother me. Of course the first few times I took them they put me right to sleep. The only other side effect I have is that if I take them for several days in a row the day I stop I will not be able to sleep because my body has gotten used to the drowsiness. I will not be tired though either so that isn't really a problem just a minor inconvenience.

*sheila* · 08-06-2008, 12:13 AM

Hmmm. I'm drinking about twice as much coffee as you, but no sodas. So I think I'm getting less stimulants than you.

*johnfl68* · 08-06-2008, 12:22 AM

I had the same problem with a cough syrup, only one would ever really work, and you had to sign for it. Now it is prescription only, and nothing else over the counter works.

John

*Wassercrats* · 08-06-2008, 06:47 AM

I've tried salt water in a pressurized can. It didn't work well if at all. A doctor prescribed a steroid spray, but I did research when I got it home and just threw it out because that particular one (a cheap variety) had worse side effects than most. All of them hurt your immune system, even the salt water. They say drugs should be tried before surgery, but I'm not sure drugs are a good choice, especially if you'll get local anesthesia, though there are ways for a surgeon to mess up. I want to get turbinate reduction laser surgery some day.

Quote:

Spray gasoline into your sinus cavity to burn out the glands and insure you never have such problems again.

I never thought of that, but I have thought of "medical cocaine" because cocaine does the same thing, but there's no such program yet.