I get a sinus headache or a migrane, this is the only medicine that helps

[bigtree]

Wyden Thinks Pseudoephedrine Ban Should Be Nationwide

January 15, 2010


Senator Ron Wyden says he’ll introduce a bill that would nationalize Oregon’s groundbreaking meth control law. April Baer reports.

In Oregon, if you want cold pills with pseudoephedrine, a key meth ingredient, you have to have a prescription.


Ron Wyden “The problem now is that smurfers can still roam the aisles of stores in Vancouver, stores in Boise, Northern California, and elsewhere, buying pseudoephedrine products that are then used to manufacture meth.”

He says he’ll introduce a bill that would make pseudoephedrine a prescription drug nationwide. Making his announcement, Wyden was backed by a who’s who on the Oregon justice scene.

Wyden says he expects some pushback from the pharmaceutical industry, but adds he thinks Oregon’s success with the state rule speaks for itself.

http://news.opb.org/article/6564-wyden-thinks-pseudoeph... /


I guess the senator forgot about those of us who don't see the wisdom in paying for a doctor to get medicine that we used to get at a 7-11. Fuck these idiots.

[vadawg]

1. an aside, the best sinus cleanser ive ever seen is pepper spray

everytime i get sprayed (about once a week or so) my sinuses have huge ropes of snot coming out and they are cleared right up. not the most pleasant way to do it but it sure as hell works...

[bigtree]

4. nettie pot

. . . warm water and some sea salt pored out of the little pot through each nostril till it comes out the other side. Mildly effective.

[asjr]

20. Oh, a Snottie Pot. My sister gave

me one and to my surprise it works.

[rucky]

35. Try the Sinus Rinse from Neilmed

you'll blast right through that stuff.

[RobinA]

65. Sorry, No

I am a sinus sufferer, and while the Neti Pot feels good and sometimes takes care of some superficial congestion for a few minutes, when your sinuses feel like they are about to explode and take your brain with them, you need the heavy artillery. I just bought Suda-fed from behind the counter the other day and the pharmacist made the comment that they should just go ahead and make the stuff prescription. If I had had a hammer, I would have taken it out, whacked him between the eyes, and told him to make an appointment with his Dr., go see the Dr., and then have a prescription filled if he wanted relief from the pain.

[backscatter712]

44. They work quite well.

It seems gross and uncomfortable, but once you try it out, it's great!

[JCMach1]

45. completely useless... I am with the OP, Pseudoephedrine is one of the few things

that works for me... It is also rather mild with very few side-effects.

[dorktv]

66. I use one of the ones that lets you push the water through

because otherwise you are standing there for six hours while the blockage eventually gets warm and loose enough to fall out.

[Blue-Jay]

5. OK... I'll ask.

Why do you get pepper-sprayed every week?


(this ought to be good...)

[gkhouston]

7. Maybe he can't get a date any more often than that?

[vadawg]

12. rofl, nah my wife just uses the taser on me, its quicker, less cleanup and is immediate :)

[vadawg]

9. i am in law enforcement, and work in a very violent career path

so i tend to be in a lot of fights, hence a lot of pepper spray...

[1awake]

50. Nothing like a slight breese coming back at ya.

Have experienced it many times.

[dorktv]

67. And duct tape as a restraint is still illegal.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. My mom used to snort salt

She swore it was the best sinus cleaner she had ever used.

[Warpy]

2. This is stupid

Having them behind the counter and the sale restricted to one package per customer has put most meth labs here in NM out of business.

This is overkill and overkill encourages people to flout unjust laws.

[DJ13]

3. Typical overreaction just to look tough on drug abuse

I thought he was better than this.

[havocmom]

23. That, and maybe contributions by 'business men' who sell other drugs?

Hey, meth has probably cut into some other markets.

[Edweird]

6. Really? It makes my migraines worse. Excedrine does the trick for me.

I love that stuff.

I'm not knocking it as a cold medicine, only as migraine relief.

[Caretha]

19. I'm with you

Doctors for years prescribed all sorts of addicting drugs for my migraines. If I feel one coming on, I take Excedrin and can 99 times out of 100 avoid a full blown, vomit spewing, eye-splitting debilitating migraine.

I know that sounds gross, but the reality is even worse.

[HillbillyBob]

49. I have wicked sinus and migraines too

I have tried everything.
Ephedrine pills jack my BP. Imetrex works but knocks me out. Aspirin, Ibuprofphen, and most other over the counter stuff doesn't touch it.
I used to be able to get the sinus spray that had a little ephedrine in it helped the swelling and if I can stop that I can avoid the migraine., the pill form does help, but the blood pressure thing has landed me in the hospital with super high bp and an allergic reaction requiring epinephrine (artificial adrenaline to keep my heart going).
I have tried the netty pot, it helps with air borne allergies, but not the swelling that causes the headache then triggers a migraine.
Depending on the trigger Skelaxin and Metaclopramide (spelling?) Baclofen also can help if I take it after the auras start, but before my stomach starts.
Like the other poster I vomit sweat and fell like I am gonna die, lights feel like knives in my eyes and sledgehammers against my head. I can take the Imetrex and get some relief if I can keep it down, but as I said it knocks me out for at least 10 hrs.

[hlthe2b]

32. Excedrine helps me too, but it is a real trick to avoid rebound

headaches... But, the damned cotton headed lobotomized feeling I get from Imitrex and other tryptans, plus my intense reluctance to give money to Big Pharma, makes it the better solution, I think..

[Edweird]

39. I've dealt with mine strictly OTC. For me, it's all about prevention/early intervention.

3 extra strength Excedrine taken before hand does wonders. If I wait and things spiral out of control, all hope is lost. I sometimes take plain old aspirin and No-Doze together to help avoid Tylenol related health problems.

[robinlynne]

8. bigtree, try excedrin migraine. works on both, spectacularly.

[bigtree]

10. thanks

I'll definitely keep that in mind.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. I won't go anywhere without my bottle of Excedrin Migraine

Best over the counter med I have ever used.

[havocmom]

25. Excedrin always made me violently ill

Puking on top of a migraine is just not fun for a lot of us. Hell to have violent vomiting and STILL have the damned headache.

Excedrin would leave me sick for DAYS.

[Pithlet]

28. I can't take excedrin either.

It's too bad because I know it works so well for a lot of people.

[la la]

34. ....taken with Diet Pepsi

works like a charm---but not too good on the stomach ;>

( I've been chewing rolaids when i use this migraine 'cure'!)

[flyarm]

41. I get horrible migraines..Excedrin does nothing for me! except make me sick to stomach

and delays me taking hard core meds to get rid of migraine.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. Tylenol with pseudoephedrine is the only thing that stops my headaches

For a while, it was completely unavailable here, and I was relying on a box of the stuff I had bought in England, rationing the tablets very carefully.

Fortunately, it is now available at my local Target, one box per customer, kept behind the counter.

[Pool Hall Ace]

13. Jesus Mary and Joseph

and all the little fishes in the sea, this stupid beyond words.

[rwheeler31]

14. I you go to the doctor these are much better solutions.

[bigtree]

29. The one time I did (when I thought I had a brain tumor)

I was prescribed this medicine in a high dose.

[Fumesucker]

17. Think of the children, won't you?

[aquart]

18. What a complete, blithering asshole that man is.

Legalize other drugs, watch support for meth drop to nothing.

[begin_within]

21. He's not quite right about California

You can't just "roam the aisles" of a drugstore in California and stock up on pseudophedrine. Anything with that in it is sold by the pharmacist only, and you have to swipe your driver's license through the machine when you buy it. I bought some Advil Cold & Sinus last week and I had to do that. I think there are limits too, on how much you can buy at one time of anything with pseudophedrine in it. So it's not like the picture he paints of someone just sweeping through a store and grabbing all the Sudafed they have. The purchases are closely monitored now, at least in California.

[hvn_nbr_2]

59. "Not quite right" or "completely idiotically wrong"?

Okay, you said it tactfully. I'll say it bluntly. His premise of roaming aisles and going from drugstore to drugstore is complete bullshit.

When I bought some pseudoephedrine, the statement that I had to sign said that the drivers license info goes into a federal database that they check, so you can't roam from drugstore to drugstore. This screwball idea is just another case of the war on common sense.

A few weeks ago, there was a story here on DU about some woman (don't remember where but pretty sure it wasn't either California or anywhere else in the far west) who got arrested for buying a second package of pseudoephedrine a few days too soon. It's a federal database, and they do check it.

[elfin]

22. Alka seltzer plus

(And yes, the old stuff before the restrictions worked the best), but the new stuff also works WITH sugared Pepsi (with caffeine) and AND ginger tea (with lemon and honey) AND chicken broth with tabasco and Ritz crackers crumbled into it AND a temple massage and a short nap.

Complicated, but effective for me for those really nasty episodes that threaten to last a few days.

[gateley]

24. In Seattle I have to sign for it and show ID, and I'm limited to 2 boxes of 24 ea.

It's the generic version of Acti-Fed.

[havocmom]

26. Same for me in Montana, with the added caveate that it is a 3 hour drive to get to where it is sold

Three hours... each way. Only once a month? Oh, and we have weather sometimes.

I may try the vadawg's pepper spray instead. Hey, I saw my niece's boot camp video... those young women looked cute with snot down to their knees.

[gateley]

33. Only a very few drugstores sell it here, but I don't have to drive 3 hours! That

sucks.

Hope the pepper spray works for you.

[crazyjoe]

27. I agree with this, meth kills

There is literally a meth epidemic in this country, and the worst effected are the middle class and poor. I saw a documentary not long ago, it was frightening.
If this helps to save lives, how can we be against it ? Because it works on your headaches is not a good enough reason, IMHO

[havocmom]

31. so does booze, but they know prohibition doesn't work

Makes no sense to deny people a med which is helpful because some addictive personalities are using the ingredient to make their latest drug de jour.

[crazyjoe]

74. it most certainly does make sense, when there are alternitives

that are much less dangerous and addictive that work just as well.

[verges]

42. But there are other, less draconian

solutions to the problem.

[Caretha]

54. After experiencing

just one of "my headaches", I would bet you, you'd do almost anything to have it stop. If the government could bottle migraines they wouldn't need waterboards.

[Flaneur]

62. No, there is not literally a meth epidemic in this country.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) National Household Drug Use Survey, one half of one percent of the population used meth within the past month.

And: "The number of past month methamphetamine users decreased by over half between 2006 and 2008. The numbers were 731,000 in 2006, 529,000 in 2007, and 314,000 in 2008."

So no, there is NOT a methamphetamine epidemic, but there is a class war against illicit amphetmaine users. Wealthier people just get their prescriptions for Adderall and Ritalin refilled.

Making pseudoephedrine prescription only penalizes tens of millions of Americans for no good reason.

[crazyjoe]

75. OK, you convinced me, methamphetamine should be sold

at the 7 11, completely harmless

[Lex]

76. no one said "completely harmless"

nice strawman

[parasim]

30. Weird. Back when I used to use Ephedrine (not the pseudo stuff), I'd get migraines.

I could stay up all night and work (which is why I took it in the first place) but eventually the headaches it caused would lay me out for a day or two. I was up to 6 to 8 pills a day though.

So glad I quit that stuff.

[BrklynLiberal]

36. Have you ever tried Imitrex? It is the only thing that helps my migraines.

BTW in NY you have to show ID and sign a list to get meds with pseudoephedrine. You do not need a prescription, but they do limit how much of it you can purchase.

[REP]

40. I take Topamax, an anti-seizure med, for my migraines - it's a freaking miracle

I used to have chronic, severe migraines with only 3-5 days a month headache-free. Since starting the Topamax, I only get 1 or 2 a month, and they only last 2-3 days plus they're not as severe (the blindness only lasts an hour or so). It's only available as a name brand now, but if you have an Rx plan, it is worth asking about.

[BrklynLiberal]

63. When I had insurance I used that. It was amazing.

The migraine prevention part was off-label for a while, but then they started advertizing it for migraine prevention.

It was good, but now I cannot afford it..

I have friends who get me Imitrex, so I use it whenever I get a migraine.

[gkhouston]

68. There are generics now. The side effects getting used to Topamax were nasty,

but man, is it great to not retch at the smell of tap water when I have a migraine, and yes, it it soooo good to not be in that vicious cycle where you have headaches all the f-ing time.

[Pithlet]

71. Yeah, I didn't like the side effects either, but for me they got better with time.

They don't bother me anymore. I'm so glad because it's been the only thing that has worked for me.

[gkhouston]

72. Yes, most of my side effects went away after a few months, but the first six

weeks were as bad as having all the migraines. Long term, the only side effect I had was dry eyes, and I don't even have that on the generic.

[Pithlet]

70. Topamax has worked very well for me, too.

I don't get them nearly as often.

[femrap]

37. I miss

ephedra....which is really an old Chinese herb. Yep...sure killed a lot of Chinese folks, huh?

Anything that helps people deal with their medical problems in an economic way is simply going to end. Big Pharma must make fuckloads of $$$$$$.

I can still get your meds....must sign and give the pharmacy my drivers license. Crazy. Fucking crazy.

[HillbillyBob]

51. You know we overmedicate..because big pharma is only

in it for profit.

You can always grow your own echinacea flower!
No clue as to how to extract ephedra from it.

Too many folks like the idea of prohibition, are the really so dumb and or historically ignernt(sic) that they forget the era that gave us the fbi and al capone?

The other thing is that too many seem to think if a little is good more is better.
At least that is how it seems to me.
In my prior post I mentioned I can have bad reactions to Ephedra, if I absolutely have to take Sudephed with it, I take 1/2 dose or even split a pill.

[femrap]

55. ephedra doesn't come from

the echinacea flower...it's from the Chinese herb ma houng (sp?) which has appetite suppressant abilities and offers some added energy.

Some stupid college kid gulped down a bottle of them so he could drive back from spring break. He died. Take a bottle of anything and you'll probably die.

What I'm saying is that with obesity as an epidemic the ephedra really helped people to control emotional eating and lose weight. But since it occurred it nature, it could not be patented...bummer to Big Pharma.

I took ephedra...never had problems sleeping or got jittery...my late in the day appetite was controlled and I lost 30 lbs. It was effective, not costly, and now unavailable.

[jillan]

38. Omg - I live on Advil Cold and Sinus because it's the only thing that works - I already feel like a

criminal whenever I buy it - having to show my driver's license and sign for it.

The pharmacist told me that it would take a heckuva alot more pseudophedrine then the average person can get over the counter to even make meth.

These bans are ridiculous.

I saw upthread that someone suggested a neti pot - they are wonderful, great for people like us who have this problem....and it's all natural....just use cool water to make the swelling of the nasal passages go down.

[LatteLibertine]

43. If you can't get your hands

on a decongestant/antihistamine pill try something like Vicks Sinex. Get the ultra fine mist pump, not the regular bottle. That coupled with extra strength tylenol may help. For general wash Xlear's Nasal Wash is darn good.

http://www.amazon.com/Xlear-Nasal-Wash-1-50-Ounces/dp/B...

Constant really bad sinus congestion with flush on your cheeks that causes aching teeth could be a fungal infection. That could require a heavy dosing of anti-fungal pills and/or surgery.

[HillbillyBob]

52. Fluconazol is genaric anti fungal

it also helps for Thrush (candidaiasis) and even nail and athletes foot if you have a very bad infection (and low t cells from HIV) and topicals do not do the trick.
Edit to add.

I am a long term HIV/AIDs patient and have found a homeopathic treatment for Thrush..local unfiltered honey in my coffee instead of sugar.
Ever notice that honey does not mold or spoil..I tried it as an experiment and have had very little trouble from it since. At the time I had thrush all the wayinto my lungs..a very very bad thing.

[Hekate]

46. PBS did a lengthy report on meth a few years back. Here's what they found out about the cold drug...

I just googled for "Frontline documentary + pseudoephedrine + meth"
This is the program The Meth Epidemic, which you can watch online. If you have difficulty with that, you could ask your public library if they can get it for you.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/view /

Anyway, this is what I remember: The legal manufacturers of pseudoephedrine make far more than is ever needed for the legal cold drug. Along the way, it gets stolen in its pure form and makes "pure" meth. Pure meth is extraordinarily addictive, and addicts rarely if ever manage to kick the habit. The pleasure center of their brain literally gets burned away and the only way they can experience pleasure after that is by using meth.

However, at one point the US managed to get the legal manufacturers to make less and to regulate it more so that it would not be stolen and sold in its pure form. This worked. As a result, the meth that was made by illegal drug dealers was "dirty" and there was less of it. Strangely enough, the "dirty" meth was less addictive and addicts stood a better chance of kicking the habit.

I can't remember why the US and other governments gave up the stiff regulations on the legal manufacturers, but they did. All I remember is being appalled, because it had been working.

I understand about sinus and migraine sufferers, but what I am trying to do is give a context and hopefully a plan of action. Watch the program (or at least read the blurb at the website) and contact Wyden with this information. He may be ignorant of the extent of the information out there.

Hekate

From the website:
>> "The Meth Epidemic" tells the story of two potential solutions to the crisis and examines why neither was fully tried. In the mid-80s, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration first proposed controlling the retail sale of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine in cold medicines by having customers register at the counter and limiting how much they could buy. Pharmaceutical companies, however, resisted the DEA's plan. Allan Rexinger, a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry, felt the DEA was overreacting and unfairly punishing a legitimate business: "They have a different way of thinking. DEA agents carry guns; DEA agents are killed in the jungles of South America. But when you're working in Congress, you don't need to carry a gun. We felt like we were being treated just like a Colombian drug lord." Meanwhile, Gene Haislip, a former deputy administrator at the DEA, says: "They live in the business community, where the name of the game is to make money and sell product. They're highly skilled, very well organized and very well funded, and they can be quite formidable." Faced with a choice, the White House and Congress ultimately exempted cold medication from the regulatory proposals.
>
>> The second DEA approach was to regulate the source of the ingredients. Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are highly sophisticated chemicals that can only be produced in a handful of huge, legal laboratories worldwide, thus making them potentially easy to track. But with Washington's primary focus on cocaine and heroin, meth took a bureaucratic back seat.
>
>> The government's focus shifted after 1994, when a customs agent inadvertently discovered a large, illicit shipment of ephedrine on a plane traveling from India to Mexico. During an 18-month period in the early 1990s, a Mexican drug cartel had purchased 170 tons of ephedrine from Indian manufacturers and smuggled it into the United States, where it was turned into as much as 2 billion hits of meth. This accidental find was a hopeful moment in the history of the meth epidemic, and efforts to cut off the drug lords' supply escalated. Once U.S. authorities asked the manufacturers to cease exports to the Mexican cartel, the chemicals became more expensive, and the purity of meth on America's streets started to plunge—along with addiction rates. "We at Krebs Biochemicals would have been happy if the DEA or other American authorities had told us, 'You can deal with these guys, they're OK, but don't deal with these guys,'" says Dr. R.T. Ravi, an administrator at the company. "We would rather that our product did not fall into the wrong hands."
>
>> Soon, however, the cartel would be back in business. Cold medicines remained unregulated for years, and the cartel took advantage of the situation, scooping up pills by the tens of thousands, even punching them out of their packets and distilling the ephedrine and pseudoephedrine in them to make meth. Today, the number of meth addicts is skyrocketing: With 1.4 million users in the U.S. alone and millions more around the world, the United Nations calls meth the most abused hard drug on earth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Taitertots]

47. What is worse, your sinus headache or the problems caused by meth

So it will dramatically restrict the availability of methamphetamine. The only side effect is that you might get a headache once in a while. Why shouldn't we do this again?

[Norrin Radd]

48. Dumb. It's irritating enough having to show ID.

Pseudoephedrine loses efficacy after a while through tolerance if taken too often, though, and causes achy joints and muscles.

Natural, Pineapple-derived enzyme bromelain helps. Look for Bromelain Sinus-Ease. Caffeine and cocoa help with Sinus pressure, as well. Drink a mocha capp or frapp.

[eridani]

53. Ditto--this is the only way I can sleep at all n/t

[Statistical]

56. Why a prescription.

In VA all the drugs that can be made into meth are available WITHOUT a prescription but they are in the pharmacy dept.

To purchase you need to show ID which they enter in computer to ensure you can't go to another store.

The limit purchases via state issued ID.

Same level of control no need for doctor's prescription.

[Greyhound]

57. By all means, lets continue the failed program of deprivation instead of addressing

the cause of the problem.

Fucking idiots and their idiot flock.

[Motown_Johnny]

58. can you buy it online and have it delivered right to your door?

just keep a bottle or two on hand so you will never run out and everything should be OK

[treestar]

60. hold the phone

The pharmaceutical industry is on the right side on this?

[WilliamPitt]

61. Weed works miracles on migranes.

FYI.

[bigtree]

64. lol

+1

[Sebastian Doyle]

69. There's no reason to require a prescription for this shit

Though I do support the recent practice of locking it up and not selling it to obvious tweakers. They aren't that difficult to recognize.


If you don't know what a tweaker looks like, see Heidi Fleiss on the new season of Celebrity Rehab. She's got one of the worst cases of meth damage I've ever seen.

[itsrobert]

73. You aren't getting enough vitamin B

Change your diet and start taking Vitamin B (B-2 and B-6) everyday.