I always thought it was pretty brazen of them to openly label their cold medicine as 'placebo effect' (pretty sure that's what the 'PE' stands for).
The Uselessness of Phenylephrine (2022)
21–30 of 350 posts
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine (2022)
#22Probably will get downvoted for this, but a bunch of my family members are pharmacists. Their quiet opinion is that most pharmaceuticals don’t work. Even the ones that are thought effective. The data is anecdotal, but is over 15 years of watching people come in for prescriptions. The other aspect, is they say it’s mind boggling to see what kind of drugs people are on.
Anecdotally the most useful drugs are antibiotics and corticosteroids. Other remedies I found truly impactful are neti pot usage everyday if needed and zone 2 daily exercise.
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine (2022)
#23Probably will get downvoted for this, but a bunch of my family members are pharmacists. Their quiet opinion is that most pharmaceuticals don’t work. Even the ones that are thought effective. The data is anecdotal, but is over 15 years of watching people come in for prescriptions. The other aspect, is they say it’s mind boggling to see what kind of drugs people are on.
Placebo effect is strong.
"Medicine" never wandered that far from religion, after all.
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine (2022)
#24Probably will get downvoted for this, but a bunch of my family members are pharmacists. Their quiet opinion is that most pharmaceuticals don’t work. Even the ones that are thought effective. The data is anecdotal, but is over 15 years of watching people come in for prescriptions. The other aspect, is they say it’s mind boggling to see what kind of drugs people are on.
Of course you are going to get downvoted and you should.
I know my blood pressure medicine works for instance because every time I talk to my doctor about reducing it or getting off it, I monitor my blood pressure and it spikes.
I know psuedophredrine works.
And your data is just that, “anecdotal”, it’s no better than the people doing “research” by watching YouTube on the toilet.
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine (2022)
#25phenylepherine is the otc version of pseudoephedrine, what Sudafed was originally created with. If you need Sudafed that works, go to the phamacist and ask for "real sudafed". You might have to scan your ID if you live in certain states and you actually need a Rx if you're in Oregon (lol), but for most free states you're good to just purchase it at the counter.
> phenylepherine is the otc version of pseudoephedrine
That’s mostly incorrect, both are “otc” (over-the-counter) wherever you can buy them without a prescription. That’s what that means.
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine (2022)
#26Probably will get downvoted for this, but a bunch of my family members are pharmacists. Their quiet opinion is that most pharmaceuticals don’t work. Even the ones that are thought effective. The data is anecdotal, but is over 15 years of watching people come in for prescriptions. The other aspect, is they say it’s mind boggling to see what kind of drugs people are on.
This is a really bad take. I hope you or your family members reconsider. Also maybe they shouldn't hold negative judgemental views on the customers that make their job possible?
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine (2022)
#27The fact that phenylepherine is ineffective is quite old and has been common knowledge for many years. What is news is that the FDA is finally acknowledging it. I've maintained my own reserve of pseudoephedrine for years. https://gizmodo.com/report-many-over-the-counter-decongestan... https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2015/10/26/the-pop... https://www.newscientist.com/article/2089555-breaking-bad-sn...
Indeed. I've known that phenylepherine is worthless for a long while, and just make it a point to buy a pack of the real stuff every 6 months or so, so that I always have it on hand when I need it. In my state, it's controlled - you have to get it from a pharmacist (though you can do so without a prescription) - they take your driver's license and don't allow you to purchase it too often.
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine (2022)
#28phenylepherine is the otc version of pseudoephedrine, what Sudafed was originally created with. If you need Sudafed that works, go to the phamacist and ask for "real sudafed". You might have to scan your ID if you live in certain states and you actually need a Rx if you're in Oregon (lol), but for most free states you're good to just purchase it at the counter.
Psuedophedrine requires an ID to purchase and must be kept behind the counter in any state in the US. It's a federal requirement. Stores are also required to keep a record of purchases for 2 years.
If you were able to purchase Sudafed without having someone get it from the back or out of some locked cabinet, and also hand over your ID, it wasn't psuedophedrine.
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine (2022)
#29[deleted]
Re: The Uselessness of Phenylephrine (2022)
#30Probably will get downvoted for this, but a bunch of my family members are pharmacists. Their quiet opinion is that most pharmaceuticals don’t work. Even the ones that are thought effective. The data is anecdotal, but is over 15 years of watching people come in for prescriptions. The other aspect, is they say it’s mind boggling to see what kind of drugs people are on.
We now know that most published medical research findings are false. That likely includes many of the studies that the FDA relied upon to approve certain drugs. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124 My impression is that the situation has been improving in recent years. Between study pre-registration, larger subject groups, and greater statistical rigor I have a lot more confidence that drugs getting approved…
It’s been known for years that Phenylephrine is useless and was just kept on the market because of lobbying.