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CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

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Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#191

Post by shrugthug »

jtbayly wrote: post #147
jstarfish wrote: post #132

Heh. I'm at the tail end of either COVID or the worst sinus infection of my life. I asked my wife to grab some (real) Sudafed from the CVS, which they also were not stocking (they are constantly robbed), but the pharmacist recommended "oxymetazoline hydrochloride" (Afrin?) as being just as effective without the side effects. Gotta say, she wasn't wrong. As a nasal spray it works way quicker than Sudafed pills and wit…

Works great, BUT easily habit forming. Beware.

What do you mean by this? I’ve been using Afrin to deal with nasal congestion when I get a cold for 10+ years now.

Do people continue to use the stuff once they have recovered or something?

Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#192

Post by 2devnull »

CodeAndCuffs wrote: post #173
pdonis wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if you are actually congested, go to the pharmacy counter and get Pseudoephedrine Yes, that's what works for me. And of course it used to be available OTC until the government decided to control access to it because of fears of meth.

I mean we can see a demonstrable and quantifiable MASSIVE decrease in meth usage and overdose circa 2005 when the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act went into effect. Also, it's still available without a prescription, last I checked, it was just behind the counter/required an ID to track if you're grabbing a pack from every Walgreens in a 50 mile radius in a single night

Do you know it was pseudoephedrine?

I remember you could buy bottles of mini-thins at the pos of pretty much every liquor store in the country in the late 90s/early 00s. Used to be sold in bottles of 100 for like 5 bucks.

Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#193

Post by Uehreka »

Auracle wrote: post #178
pyrophane wrote: post #90

My understanding is that they are only removing products that ONLY contain Phenylephrine, which means they will still sell it when it is part of multiple-ingredient formulations, which are in themselves kind of a scam. For example, many OTC "severe cold/flu" formulations contain: - Acetaminophen. Potentially helpful for the body aches that come with the flu, but a lot of the time when I'm sick, I don't exactly need o…

For what it’s worth, Afrin and other similar nasal sprays are by far the best decongestant. The only issue is you can only take them for a few days straight, or you’ll have rebound congestion when you try to quit. There are oodles of stories online of people who didn’t heed that advice and upped their dosages again and again for months. Here’s the best method: Afrin (etc.) at night so you can sleep, and during the da…

> (Also, Adderall is great for colds)

Do not go around saying this, even if it’s true. We’re experiencing a huge Adderall shortage, and the last thing we need is people who were on the fence deciding to get a Rx because it might help them with cold symptoms in the winter.

Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#194

Post by AmericanChopper »

phpisthebest wrote: post #183
pyrophane wrote: post #90

My understanding is that they are only removing products that ONLY contain Phenylephrine, which means they will still sell it when it is part of multiple-ingredient formulations, which are in themselves kind of a scam. For example, many OTC "severe cold/flu" formulations contain: - Acetaminophen. Potentially helpful for the body aches that come with the flu, but a lot of the time when I'm sick, I don't exactly need o…

>>go to the pharmacy counter and get Pseudoephedrine Thanks DEA, you used to just be able to get that in Nyquil and all the others, but the DEA in their moronic idea that drug dealers are going and buying precursors from the local CVS (not stealing them in bulk) has to abuse millions of law abiding sick people forcing them to sign the "papers please" log book treating them like criminals for wanting to feel better.

There’s some places where you can’t get it at all without a prescription.

Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#195

Post by The_Blade »

titanomachy wrote: post #99
crtracker wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not easy in my state. It goes like this: go to inside counter of an open pharmacy (can't use drive thru for it). Wait, for a long time (aren't all of your pharmacies massively overloaded with 30-60m lines? ours are). Ask for a 96-count sudafed (generic or regular) and hope they have it. If they don't, get 48. If they don't, get 24 (forget that I need 2 tabs every day as prescribed by my doctor -- yet can only bu…

Do you usually take decongestants for 12+ days? I usually just take them a couple of times on the worst days of a cold, maybe 5 pills every time I get sick. And pharmacies in my city don’t usually have more than 1 or 2 people ahead of me in line.

i was going to say, what planet are you on where you have to wait 60 minutes at the pharmacy, and what you need more than 24 pills for?

you're either Jesse Pinkman or sicker than a vintage Jimi Hendrix lick

Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#196

Post by goodluckchuck »

phpisthebest wrote: post #183
pyrophane wrote: post #90

My understanding is that they are only removing products that ONLY contain Phenylephrine, which means they will still sell it when it is part of multiple-ingredient formulations, which are in themselves kind of a scam. For example, many OTC "severe cold/flu" formulations contain: - Acetaminophen. Potentially helpful for the body aches that come with the flu, but a lot of the time when I'm sick, I don't exactly need o…

>>go to the pharmacy counter and get Pseudoephedrine Thanks DEA, you used to just be able to get that in Nyquil and all the others, but the DEA in their moronic idea that drug dealers are going and buying precursors from the local CVS (not stealing them in bulk) has to abuse millions of law abiding sick people forcing them to sign the "papers please" log book treating them like criminals for wanting to feel better.

Obviously retail pseudoephedrine was never a substantial contributor to methamphetamine production (tell me again why that’s illegal?).

Which raises the question, what what the real goal in preventing people from buying functional medicines?

Frankly I think the specific intent was exactly this. The main effect was to cause human suffering and Occams razor tells me the main effect was probably the intended effect.

Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#197

Post by goodluckchuck »

CodeAndCuffs wrote: post #173
pdonis wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if you are actually congested, go to the pharmacy counter and get Pseudoephedrine Yes, that's what works for me. And of course it used to be available OTC until the government decided to control access to it because of fears of meth.

I mean we can see a demonstrable and quantifiable MASSIVE decrease in meth usage and overdose circa 2005 when the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act went into effect. Also, it's still available without a prescription, last I checked, it was just behind the counter/required an ID to track if you're grabbing a pack from every Walgreens in a 50 mile radius in a single night

Source?

Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#198

Post by fnordpiglet »

jtbayly wrote: post #174
fnordpiglet wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My doc gave me a trick that prevents the rebound effect of Afrin (and other addictive vasoconstricting sprays). When you start the Afrin, or about a week before you want to stop it, start using a nasal steroid spray (nasalcort or whatever you prefer). The steroid will prevent the swelling and itself has no rebound period. After a week after stopping the Afrin, stop the steroid as well, and you will successfully be co…

Why not just use the steroid spray, then? Cool hack to get off it, but I would still be wary of being on it too long.

Because the congestion usually starts quickly and there isn’t time to build up the steroid response, which can take a week or more. People with allergies use steroids chronically, so they’re generally considered safe for long term use.

Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#199

Post by goodluckchuck »

azinman2 wrote: post #172
pdonis wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if you are actually congested, go to the pharmacy counter and get Pseudoephedrine Yes, that's what works for me. And of course it used to be available OTC until the government decided to control access to it because of fears of meth.

Not fears, but actual improper usage.

What does that even mean?

If you try to keep milk cold by putting it in the oven, that’s improper usage. It won’t stay cold.

If you’re saying people are trying to get high and are successful getting high, then it sounds like they’re accomplishing their goal and their usage of the product is proper for their intended use case.

Edit: Oh, you’re saying you don’t like what others are doing, but aren’t actually willing to state the fact that its just like your opinion man.

Re: CVS ditches common cold meds after FDA advisers say they're useless

#200

Post by fnordpiglet »

Auracle wrote: post #179
fnordpiglet wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My doc gave me a trick that prevents the rebound effect of Afrin (and other addictive vasoconstricting sprays). When you start the Afrin, or about a week before you want to stop it, start using a nasal steroid spray (nasalcort or whatever you prefer). The steroid will prevent the swelling and itself has no rebound period. After a week after stopping the Afrin, stop the steroid as well, and you will successfully be co…

I made this comment elsewhere but I do a sinus rinse in the morning with Xylitol, and do Afrin at night. Rinsing it out helps with dependence and Xylitol helps with congestion too.

I use xylitol rinse daily anyways ;-) helps keep sinus infections at bay.
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