Pseudoephedrine

[desolated000]

Is pseudoephedrine(sp?) the same as regular ephedrine? Erowid makes it sound like its the same but with less side effects, but can it be used the same way for recreation? The prefix "pseudo" is what has me worried, since it means fake/imitation.. If it is the same thing should the doses be changed?

[Abrad]

Pseudoephedine is much less recreational than ephedrine. The only thing it is usefull for is chemistry (if thats SWIYour thing).

[trptamene]

the only difference between pseudoephedrine and ephedrine from a chemical standpoint is the stereochemistry of the hydroxy group @ the beta position.

As far as a precursor for meth (if the precursor has the correct sterochemistry @ the alpha position), these are the same; as the stereochemistry of importance is the alpha position, and the hydroxy group is reduced and this beta position becomes achiral (CH2)

As far as dosages (from erowid):


Oral Ephedrine Dosages
Threshold 5 - 10 mg
Light 10 - 20 mg
Common 15 - 30 mg
Strong 30 - 50 mg
Heavy 50 + mg

and if one were to look on a sudafed box, most OTC pseudoephedrine comes in 30 or 60 mg...so one would probably conclude the dosage would be higher for the pseudoephedrine.

pharmacologically (is that spelled right?) I really don't know, but chirality usually has more drastic effects on response than one would imagine if they were to simply look at the molecule. (for example l-methamphetamine is OTC available, while d-methamphetamine is the meth everyone knows and loves).

as far as the pseudo, this is a prefix that a chemist might add if he has isolated a known chemical that simply has a different stereochemistry ("like"-ephedrine, but not really)

[desolated000]

ok from the way it sounds pseudoephedrine is not worth using recreationaly. Less side effects mean less stimulation I'm guessing since it is sold as a decongestant. And no euphoria is a raw deal.

[imyourlittlebare]

theres nothing recreational about it except turning it into meth. psuedoephedrine is a mirror chemical of ephedrine. meaning it looks exacly the same except its like a mirror image. hold up your left hand and right hand face up to you. your left is psuedoephedrine and the right is ephedrine. it is a cns stimulant but much weaker and the side effects make it not worth it at all. its much more practical to use ephedra.

[Swimster]

Originally Posted by imyourlittlebare

psuedoephedrine is a mirror chemical of ephedrine. meaning it looks exacly the same except its like a mirror image.

Not the whole molecule. there are 4 diff isomer possibilities(i believe)[d,l,PS-d, PS-l]

@topic relavence: i dont think he asked for chem, as he dosent sound chem oriented(or else he would know). Anyway, dont take the "pseudo" part too-far, as it is only a "group" that is "flipped", though, like many say, no euphoria, and etc. (more healthy) In-fact, in the U.S, one would probably NEVER see Ephedrine in OTC products, hell, not even PseudoEphedrine! Atleast, not any more.

PSE: Precursor
Ephedrine: Precursor, Mildly CNS stimulation, etc

[imyourlittlebare]

just trying to explain why the drug was named psuedo. i was keeping it simple. thanks for the follow up though. im better at neuropsychopharmacology than i am chemisty

Originally Posted by Swimster

Not the whole molecule. there are 4 diff isomer possibilities(i believe)[d,l,PS-d, PS-l]

@topic relavence: i dont think he asked for chem, as he dosent sound chem oriented(or else he would know). Anyway, dont take the "pseudo" part too-far, as it is only a "group" that is "flipped", though, like many say, no euphoria, and etc. (more healthy) In-fact, in the U.S, one would probably NEVER see Ephedrine in OTC products, hell, not even PseudoEphedrine! Atleast, not any more.

PSE: Precursor
Ephedrine: Precursor, Mildly CNS stimulation, etc