The other one is diphenhydramine (an antihistamine i.e. Benadryl) because its common side effect of drowsiness means that its also one of the most common sleep aids. It has been more than once that myself or someone near me was having an allergic reaction and the 7/11 down the block didn't have any Benadryl but did have some sleep aid.
The Uselessness of Phenylephrine
151–160 of 613 posts
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
For a long time, I've had the idea in the back of my mind that all laws should have expiration dates, and the maximum duration shouldn't be very long (12 or 18 years would be two or three senate terms in the US). Ideally, it would be combined with something to keep the scope of each bill narrow.
It wouldn't work because what would happen would be a mass reapproval of all regulations. What I'd like to see is a constitutional amendment that the total body of federal laws and regulations can't be any longer or more complicated than a person of average intelligence can be taught in a week.
To give an example, the regulations governing design of commercial aircraft can almost certainly be simplified from their current state without killing people, but probably cannot be simplified to the point that someone who isn't already an expert on aircraft design can learn them in a week without killing people. Knowing that field is subject to special rules is enough to avoid accidentally violating the regulations.
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe you're just not supposed to drink alcohol on Pseudoephedrine because you'd be combining an upper with a downer, and it's very easy to go overboard with the downers when you're on an upper (tolerance to alcohol increases dramatically and increases overdose risk along with all the other side effects and risks.) So a small amount of alcohol won't really have much of an effect, I'd claim.
In my experiences with old NyQuil it was enough to make you drowsier. And getting to sleep was the primary objective of NyQuil. Back in my college days you could replicate it with one 30mg Sudafed and a shot of Jagermeister. =)
I don't know about this medication in particular (since I don't live in the US), but I see it contains DXM (dextromethorphan), which is a dissociative (such as ex. ketamine), which probably causes the effects you described. I'm seeing it also contains acetaminophen, which probably makes it hard on your kidneys, if you take too much, so that is probably why people don't abuse it more (I guess or hope).
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine
#154I'm also irked by the fact that OTC cough suppressants like dextromethorphan are equally useless.
Citation? Dextromethorphan works very well for me. (Also DXM is a recreational drug which is why it's always sold OTC with either Tylenol in it or as an extended-release formula)
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine
#155Second, how did this sentence:
"There are a number of synthetic procedures for doing this, some of them quite alarming, and several of which can indeed be performed in the barn, garage, basement, or trailer park of your choice..."
make it through editing. This reeks of insensitivity and classism.
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine
#156Fuck senators.
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine
#157Because the cartels have gotten really, really good at making meth. Extremely pure and extremely cheap, and the proper psychoactive isomer. There’s a massive supply of cheap and “good” crank out there, so I doubt deregulation of Sudafed would really make a blip in the total supply.
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine
#158I'm also irked by the fact that OTC cough suppressants like dextromethorphan are equally useless.
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine
#159I've recently had to deal with the medical profession a lot more than in the past and I'm finding this sort of thing everywhere. OTC medicines that by current standards would not be made OTC, surgeries that are extremely common but have never had quality randomized trials, official sounding diagnoses that on inspection are actually defined as "we have no idea", lack of consensus about how to treat some of the most co…
In my experience, many people have a quasi-religious belief in the capability of modern medicine to perform what would otherwise be called a miracle. This belief is typically held without any evidence whatsoever.
In reality, there are a plethora of conditions, some very common and serious, that medicine simply has no idea how to treat. The set of completely treatable / curable conditions is much much much smaller than the set of all possible diseases, yet people act as if it's the opposite. This is why things like 'evidence based' medicine is so dangerous -- we don't have evidence for the vast majority of impactful conditions, simply ignoring patients with these conditions is not a workable solution.
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine
#160First, I find that Phenylephrine works well enough as a decongestant for me, without the jitters and heart palpitations. Of course, others' mileage may vary. Second, how did this sentence: "There are a number of synthetic procedures for doing this, some of them quite alarming, and several of which can indeed be performed in the barn, garage, basement, or trailer park of your choice..." make it through editing. This r…