Drug info - OTC Cold Medicines

[old hippie 56]

Old swim has a really bad cold, so he went down to local wally world to get him some medicine. All the good stuff was behind the counter and jacked-up in price, so he picked up some pills with Tyenol, dxm, and phenylephrine in them. Let the world know, this shit is a waste of money. He hopes whoever decided to replace the good stuff with that phenylephrine get the worst cold of their life.

[Nagognog2]

Bongo finds triprolidine pretty effective, but again it's usually in combination with the Evil Molecule pseudo-ephedrine (Actifed). Is that one also under lock & key and the watchful eyes of some old biddie who can't even read the label? Just don't up the dose of triprolidine. Lordy that makes Bongo feel worse!

[Ranke]

Swim is having the same problem. He has a sinus infection that has caused an imbalance in pressure in his ears. A few nights ago the pain became so bad swim ground up a phenylephrine tablet and snorted it. Even with 20mg oral and 10 nasel it did almost nothing to relieve any of sinus problems. Fortunatly with half a bottle of flonase, a steamer, and nasel irrigation. He managed to reduce the pressure enough to sleep.

[Zaprenz]

SWIMs use of phenylephrine has him convinced phenylephrine makes SWIM feel worse. Which would actually help cold&flu remedy manufacturers as you would be using their product for longer. They are loving psuedoephedrines replacement, less serious definitive side effects and therefore no official problems with selling them GSL and of course no lawsuits.

For the more reliable science this is a quote from wikipedia:

Pharmacists Leslie Hendeles and Randy Hatton of the University of Florida suggested in 2006 that oral phenylephrine is ineffective as a decongestant at the 10mg dose used, arguing that the studies used for the regulatory approval of the drug in the United States in 1976 were inadequate to prove effectiveness at the 10mg dose and safety at higher doses, [3] Other pharmacists have expressed concerns over phenylephrine's effectiveness as a nasal decongestant [1] and other clinicians have indicated concern for regulatory actions that reduce the availability of pseudoephedrine. [4] [5] A subsequent metaanalysis by the same researchers concluded that there is insufficient evidence for its effectiveness. [6] The matter is still under debate, though the Food and Drug Administration has stood by its 1976 approval. [2]

I imagine the science of phenylephrine was pushed through as a result of a. governments wanting to replace psuedoephedrine as a precurosor and b. pharmaceutical companies loving this oportunity to sell rubbish and make a mint.

[quote]Oral phenylephrine is extensively metabolised by monoamine oxidase , an enzyme which is present in the gastrointestinal tract and the liver. Therefore, compared to orally-taken pseudoephedrine, it has a reduced and variable bioavailability of only up to 38 percent , and is therefore less effective as a nasal decongestant.[/quote] Wikipedia

[DrMuffy]

SWIdr also has had trouble with phenylephrine many times in the past. He has pretty bad allergies which leave his nose a wreck. Since phenylephrine didn't do much, SWIdr just decided to request Deconamine (which is a Psuedoephedrine/Chlorpheniramine SR capsule) from his Uncle, who has an MD, so he would stop being hassled for buying behind the counter Psuedoephedrine-containing products. The reson why SWIdr didnt go through his normal doc was because, in his area, it is exetremly hard to get a prescription with any p-ephed in it, since meth is one of New Mexico's biggest drug problems. Nowadays SWIdr can live a much better life during allergy seasons, and when he gets a cold, all he has to do is get some Advil and DXM because his psuedoephedrine is already convienently covered!

[seanman05]

Phenylephrine does nothing. Get some mucinex or claritin-d with pseudophedrine. If they don't work it's probably because they are time release. Crush up the pills and take them and your sinus's will be clear and free. The only other thing I can recommend is get some chlorpheniramine pills, those will usually clear me up without the use of a decongestant.