‘Replacement’ ingredient in cold medicines NEVER worked
REVEALED: ‘Pseudo’ cold & allergy drug DOESN’T WORK
Well, it’s that time of year again, friend.
Everyone’s putting away the BBQs… and bringing out the sweaters.
While you’re winterizing your home or car… you might be thinking about STOCKING UP on supplies for your medicine chest…
To ARM you against cold and flu season.
But stop right there…
Because there’s been a SHOCKING revelation about one of the STAPLE medicines that folks use when they get the sniffles.
This news will STOP you in your tracks…
And make you think twice before EVER taking this stuff again.
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I’m talking about Sudafed.
Now, this OTC cold and allergy med gets its name from the ingredient pseudoephedrine… a synthetic version of the chemical ephedrine, which comes from the ephedra plant.
It’s a decongestant that helps DRY UP a runny nose… or CLEAR UP stuffed sinuses…
But it’s also a stimulant.
When folks realized they could take ephedrine to stay awake… enhance their performance… or even lose weight…
The feds got nervous.
But they finally stepped in… and RESTRICTED this ingredient… when it started appearing on the black market for drug addicts to make meth out of it.
That’s why Sudafed moved BEHIND the pharmacy counter in 2006… which meant you had to ask the pharmacist for it… and them show your ID in order to buy it.
Then a funny thing happened. Sudafed sales took a NOSEDIVE.
Big Pharma SPRUNG into action… offering a “pseudo” Sudafed that could be safely sold on drugstore shelves, no gatekeepers needed.
Its active ingredient was a substance approved back in the 1970s, called phenylephrine…
And isn’t it suspicious that its name looks an awful lot like “pseudoephedrine”? In fact, maybe they kind of look the same in the fine print of a pill bottle.
Is it possible that Sudafed’s maker, Johnson & Johnson, hoped that nobody would notice the difference? After all, BOTH versions of the cold medicine… on the shelves and behind the counter… were called “Sudafed.”
But there was a dark secret behind the “safe” Sudafed – one that’s just coming to light now.
According to a shocking new report from an FDA advisory panel, the stuff DOESN’T WORK!
Not when taken as directed… and not even at 4X the recommended dosage!
Pseudo-Sudafed is NO better at relieving congestion than a dummy pill, a.k.a. a placebo…
Which is the #1 measure by which the FDA decides whether a drug is effective.
And the sad truth is, phenylephrine NEVER worked.
Experts are now saying that the studies that supported phenylephrine getting greenlit a half-century ago were BUNK.
In reality, when you SWALLOW the stuff… very little if ANY of it makes it to your nose to relieve congestion!
Now, here’s the problem…
Once a drug gets the good ol’ green light… it’s not easy to hit the brakes on it.
If the feds decide to YANK it… it could take YEARS for it to actually disappear from shelves.
That’s especially true with phenylephrine… which isn’t just found in Sudafed products… but also some Benadryl- and NyQuil-branded medicines.
Here’s the other problem…
Once phenylephrine goes away… IF it goes away… drugmakers will just look for something ELSE to replace it with…
Or they’ll find a way to direct consumers back to the “original” formulation, the one with ephedrine.
I say, toss it in the garbage… ALL OF IT.
Those concoctions just put a band-aid on your symptoms… and carry risk of side effects.
Phenylephrine, for instance, could SPIKE your blood pressure – especially if you find yourself taking A LOT of it because your symptoms are PERSISTING.
Instead, try natural remedies for opening your airways and clearing your passages, like…
- eucalyptus oil
- horseradish
- Mormon tea, which comes from the ephedra plant
Don’t bother going BEHIND THE COUNTER for the “controlled” version of any drug… especially when there’s a time-tested, non-drug alternative readily available!
For better health,
Dr. Marc S. Micozzi, M.D., Ph.D.
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