In response to the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act, pseudoephedrine containing products are now controlled by the pharmacist at grocery stores. This over-the-counter but behind-the-counter approach prompted many medications to switch to phenylephrine as the active ingredient in their nasal decongestants.
Not wanting to wait in line to get the pseudoephedrine containing decongestants, I got the new phenylephrine containing medicine. My mistake, didn’t work very well for me, and now I know why. Scientists and medical doctors in Vienna, Austria recently finished a study comparing pseudoephedrine, phenylephrine and a placebo (no active ingredient). Their conclusions to the study showed no significant difference between the new active ingredient phenylephrine and the placebo. The older pseudoephedrine showed greater improvement in symptoms compared to the other two. I know what line I’ll be standing in come allergy season.
I knew there was something up with that. Its a great medication in the ICU for helping blood pressure, but didn’t seem to ever help me with decongestion. Props to those in Vienna for saving me from trying the phenylephrine again.
I believe it. I used to be a great fan of sudafed. It helped me lots. I guess my allergies didn’t just get worse all of a sudden, they just changed the active ingredient in my decongestant.
I use to take pseudoephedrine daily for allergies and found my blood pressure got out of control. I tried phenylephrine and did not get any relief at all. Glad to find out it wasn’t just me.