Summary
The FDA has proposed removing oral phenylephrine, a common ingredient in over-the-counter cold medicines like NyQuil and Sudafed, due to evidence that it is ineffective as a nasal decongestant.
The proposal follows a unanimous vote by FDA advisers last year, and recent studies showing less than 1% of the drug is absorbed into the bloodstream when taken orally.
The public comment period ends on May 7, after which the FDA may finalize the ban.
No worries, three months from now it’ll all be back on the shelves again
Something tells me the Trump Administration won’t allow this ban to go through.
If you want some real solid advice: never buy the nasal spray that has phenylephrine. It may well be one of the most addictive substances man has ever made.
The pills do absolutely nothing. About once or twice a year I have to get the good stuff from the pharmacy, but I’ve refused to even buy the new stuff.
I can’t help but feel like they could just put something in the regular Sudafed to make it not methy, but I took physics and not chemistry so idk.
What do I use then? I’m already addicted to Oxymetazoline (Afrin) and I need a way out. I’ve tried Propylhexedrine (Benzedrex) but it works for all of 30 seconds before I’m congested again. Even quitting cold turkey didn’t work. I went an entire year without any nasal spray, suffered through the rebound congestion for over a month and was in the clear for awhile… Until the congestion came back. I don’t know what to do.
I swear by this stuff and saline mist. You can use it as much as you want. It’s the miracle nobody is willing to try.
The newer allergy medicine is good, but I think you have to take it for a couple of months before you really notice it. I like the generic Allegra from Costco.
And get some real Sudafed from the pharmacy. I do the generic 12 hour and split them in half (helps you from feeling queasy).
It’s a little weird the first couple times you do it, but holy shit is it the most effective way to deal with congestion for me, but a fucking long shot. For real, saline sinus rinse works like a fucking miracle
You can roll your own saline nasal rinse, but it takes a little care to get the salinity just right. And best to boil the water first in case of brain eating amoebas (seriously — not common, but very, very bad).
I can’t help but feel like they could just put something in the regular Sudafed to make it not methy
What are you talking about? Sudafed is not “methy”, but it can be used to make meth
That’s what I meant by methy.
Is this the shit they started using when they started using the original stuff to make meth?
By my understanding yes, pseudoephedrine was being used for meth so they put it behind the counter and the name brand “Sudafed” made a PE line that was this, phenylephrine, to stay over the counter.
I like in the article how it says they’ll get some time to reformulate, but if it doesn’t work, they could just turn off the widget inserting it and bobs your uncle!
Fucking finally.
Interesting. I use phenylephrine pills (no other active ingredients) for nasal congestion every time I’m sick, and it has always worked very well for me
I do tend to be extra sensitive to most drugs though, so maybe that has something to do with it
Maybe for you it does, although you’d need to test with placebo to really know. It’s amazing how much our minds can effect things if we expect things to change.
It could also be that your pills are a significantly higher dose. If 1% is absorbed orally, maybe that pill has 100x the dose required otherwise.
Sooo I see the thread is full of US people here and it’s so strange. I don’t have drug brand preferences. I go to my doctor, my doctor tells me what to take, I go to the pharmacy, they give it to me, and I take it as instructed.
Am I missing out on anything?
These are over-the counter cough suppressants that you buy from the store without ever needing to see a doctor.
I still usually call my doctor for OTC stuff, and if my doctor says I need it, insurance gets to pay for it. Going to the doctor usually saves me money. And if I schedule it during a workday, it’s not my time going either but my employer’s, if it even needs more than a phone consult.
Over here having your doctor would cost at least a $40 copay and wouldn’t get insurance to pay
Well look at fancy pants over here with a Doctor.
(Really here in Canada I have been without a Dr for about 9 years now, it sucks)
You’re missing out on a lot of ads telling you how much you need to ask your doctor for certain drugs. That’s about it.
I remember like a year or two ago when they officially announced these products are LESS effective than a placebo. How the hell is it taking so long to get them off the shelves?
I assume they submitted the results and stated they need to be removed, then reviewed the supreme courts measure that stated they only have power to make measures if Congress grants them privilege to do so (precidence, set in Julyish of 2022 with the EPA) making the specialized divisions of government created by Congress illegitimate unless Congress votes on the measure afterwards, making them just superficial recommendations for Congress to wait and see what their lobbyists think is okay.
Aka will drug companies pay enough to keep us lying to the public, vs maybe we will go by the recorded data.
Exon mobile recorded their data of environmental impacts in what year? And we had battery powered vehicles traveling up to 100 miles before that time. Instead of doing what was best for the future of the people, we chose what was best for profits. Reference article for fun; https://www.corporateknights.com/transportation/half-a-century-ago-one-u-s-senator-fought-to-ban-gas-powered-cars-almost-won
Point being. what power did they have to remove them from the shelves. I assume they are launching these last ditch efforts before Biden leaves, and praying to get some support before they get chiseled away at.
Imagine where we would be if GM/Ford and such started forcing the R&D in 1975 instead of 2005, 2015 or whatever we call it now
About time. Thankfully in Australia we can still get access to the ones containing psuedoephedrine, which works amazingly well.
Can’t believe it has taken this long to see the inefficacy of these.
In the US, you can still get the stuff containing pseudoephedrine but you have to go to the pharmacy and ask for it and then show your ID. Out of curiosity, what’s the process in Australia?
It’s the same here. The Therapeutic Goods Administration, our equivalent to the FDA, generally follows along with FDA regulations (though I don’t think that will continue from next year somehow).
(though I don’t think that will continue from next year somehow).
Yeah, might be hard to follow FDA regulations when the FDA gets dismantled and no longer exists… eye twitch
I have been railing about how this shit doesn’t work for what feels like forever.
The entire cold/cough aisle is essentially a scam. Pick up some generic diphenhydramine, APAP, ibuP, and some Pseduophedrine. It will cheap as dirt and do all the things that overpriced shit will do. Anything else that actually helps with a cold/cough is prescription only.
Pseudoephedrine can’t legally be sold in the aisles, and requires you to get out from the pharmacist’s counter and provide an ID.
That’s why they push the aid that doesn’t work. It can be sold at a gas station and after hours.
Damn meth heads ruining it for the rest of us.
It won’t be pulled from the shelves - it’ll just be getting some new fine-print.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Good. Now do something about homeopathy. I’m so sick of having to explain to people that homeopathy is not medicine in any shape or form. It’s not even a home remedy. And it sits right next to actual medicine so people might accidentally buy it unwittingly.
I’m sure the Trump Administration will get right on banning homeopathy, or even just labelling it properly. lol
Most certainly! They surely won’t completely dismantle the FDA and then allow big-pharma to dictate everything. /s
Right? You can’t even get ear drops that work anymore because all of the ones they stock over the counter are homeopathic where I live.
Ummm they did? That is what this banned, an advertised effective treatment that does nothing.
Tell me you didn’t read the article without telling me you didn’t read the article.
Seriously dude, you just had to read the first sentence. They only banned one particular ingredient.
That is included in most over the counter decongestants as the active ingredient.
Please tell me this is not the first you have heard of the switch to combat meth production to a worse then placibo replacement?
Dude, what are you even talking about?
I said it was good they banned the ineffective ingredient so now they should do something about banning homeopathy. You said, “Ummm they did? That is what this banned, an advertised effective treatment that does nothing” but they did NOT ban homeopathy, just that one specific ingredient which had nothing to do with homeopathy. Now you’re talking as if the first comment you said was something completely different.
So please, tell me what argument you’re actually trying to make.
The problem is, unlike homeopathy, this drug was ineffective for what it was approved for while actually causing side effects. At least the water doesn’t do anything.
This was so infuriating during covid as it was hard to find children’s cold medicine already and half the time you’d see a couple bottles of “Children’s cold and flu” on the shelf, buy it, and get home before you notice “homeopathic” written in 3pt font along the bottom of the bottle. Shit’s completely useless.
I’ve gotten into the habit of checking active ingredients after almost accidentally buying something homeopathic that was immediately adjacent the thing I actually meant to grab.
Right, but what can they do, short of banning small bottles of water?
Ban small bottles of water that claim magical fixes?
Or ban it from being placed next to actual medicine. Go put it in the candy or soda aisle.
Nyquil is the only thing that works as a decongestant for me…
That’s probably the doxylamine succinate, which is an antihistamine and also relieves congestion.
As I understand it, studies have shown phenylephrine simply doesn’t do anything at the oral doses we get. It’s in there because pseudoephedrine got moved behind the counter because meth production can use it, but it’s essentially useless.
If what you’re really after is a decongestant, go to the counter and ask for Sudafed (or generic pseudoephedrine). They’ll probably ask for your ID because meth, but that shit works. I get the 12-hour kind, personally.
(Just know that it might keep you awake.)
Keeping me awake would be a nice side effect if it meant I could take it whenever I realize my nose is fucked. With Nyquil I can only take it at night because it knocks me on my ass. It works great but I have to struggle through the first day I start having problems.
Yeah, if DayQuil doesn’t work for you and NyQuil does, then it’s the antihistamine.
Use Sudafed or it’s generic during the day, that shit’s amazing.
and Sudafed
Isn’t Sudafed supposed to be short for pseudoephedrine , the stuff that actually works but they have to keep behind the counter?
There’s also Sudsfed PE which is Phenylephrine instead of pseudoephedrine. Presumably only the PE sub-brand would be banned under this rule
