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September 12, 2005
Unintended consequences?
This better not be a conspiracy to deprive me of cheap, safe and readily available decongestants but it sure feels like it. I posted last month about the new Nebraska law severely resricting OTC sales of cold and allergy products containing pseudoephedrine.
I also noted at the time that Osco was clearing out all the store-brand and generic Sudafed™ and Claritin.™ At the time I thought maybe the store was just clearing out the current stock which would soon be replaced with new cheap decongestants in different packaging that worked better in behind the counter storage.
With the law going into effect last week, it looks like the generic versions of the drugs won't be available in some places. It's even worse elsewhere. My mom said she couldn't find Actifed™ anywhere in Beatrice this past weekend. It looks like some retailers are choosing not to sell pseudoephedrine at all rather than hassle with compliance.
I wonder if the people buying the stuff in order to manufacture illegal drugs are having any problem obtaining it? I doubt it. In the meantime, until this stupid law gets fixed, I'm going to have to go back to huffing gas to clear out my sinuses.
Posted by Half-Cocked at September 12, 2005 08:03 PM
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Comments
My girlfriend may not live to the weekend if she continues to be unable to get the Target brand of Claritin D. She's also been unable to get the Walgreen's version anywhere in town.
When I asked the pharmacist, he told me that they're just going through the process of making the package count smaller and that the stuff should be back behind the counter at some point.
Posted by: Mark at September 12, 2005 10:11 PM
"I wonder if the people buying the stuff in order to manufacture illegal drugs are having any problem obtaining it?"
They don't necessarily have to use pseudoephedrine. Other chemicals work just as well. In fact, you can pretty much guarantee that since the government finally got around to obfuscating the p.ephed. purchasing process, the meth-makers had long since moved on to a different manufacturing process. Thus, the only people hurt by the policy are, as usual, the average American consumers.
"In the meantime, until this stupid law gets fixed, I'm going to have to go back to huffing gas to clear out my sinuses."
That seems extreme. Allow me to introduce you to my friends Jalapen~o, Serrano, and Habanero...
Posted by: Mr. Wilson at September 13, 2005 09:34 AM
Of course, you're right. Which makes the law even more stupid.
I've found a freshly peeled clove of garlic up each nostril works pretty well, too.
Posted by: Steve at September 13, 2005 09:54 AM
The best thing to do right now is to take one generic of everything: a generic Claritin, a generic Benadryl, and a generic Sudafed. They used to make one pill that lasted 24 hours to do all three, but now with the new law, you must take three pills every six or twelve hours in order to achieve the desired effect. The bright side of this is that I think the combination has the same effect as meth, which increases my metabolism, so I've created a sort of diet pill, and I think I've lost two pounds, although I just took a big dump which may tilt the scales.
As for immediate sinus relief, I suggest generic Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold, and a shot of Afrin. You can taste your lunch for about ten minutes that way.
Posted by: Jack Jackson at September 13, 2005 11:21 AM
here's my evaluation of the whole thingy:
the sudafed PE does not work, plus i think it makes me DROWSY!
to the claritin-d person....just take a regular claritin and supplement it with a box of regular sudafed. that's what i do.
what i'm going to do: start buying allegra and sudafed from canada. now to just find the cheapest but most reliable site.
i'm back to benedryl at night, which just dries everything out. my cuticles and lips get pretty chapped, but the count's going up right now.
got a hepa air filter too. not sure if it's not doing anything, or it's just keeping me normal as the count increases.
what my SO has done for me: he's purchased me some of that "traditional medicinals gypsy cold care" tea. it works pretty well...but not so good if you don't want to drink tea. he also got me some breathe-right strips. that works well after a night of drinking where i didn't drink enough to pass out. he also said he'd find me an accupuncturist in omaha because he thinks that stuff really works.
a friend has offered to give me "allergy vitamins", but i can't find anything on the internet about that so i'm scared of them.
worst case scenario: i'll have to resort to my little bottle of "baby afrin" from columbia. (the doctor said the adult stuff there would be too harsh, and that the baby formula was the "american" formula.) slowly, the lining of my nose will receede from the use of my beloved columbian nose spray. (hey....NOT THAT KIND! )
Posted by: julee at September 13, 2005 11:27 AM
plus i'm super pissed at people telling me to take more vitamin c. my immune system is overactive enough, THANK YOU.
Posted by: julee at September 13, 2005 11:39 AM
Hey, we live in different states but I can sympathize. Everything's behind the counter, limited to 6g within a 30-day period, and I need to show my ID every time I buy 2 boxes of generic non-drying Sudafed. I've been treated like a criminal since July 1st just for having constant nasal congestion.
The sale of generic Claritin-D 24 hour has been yanked off shelves (it has "more than 3g of pseudoephredine in it"), Claritin-D 12-hour is hassle and exceeds your limit too fast, and regular Claritin doesn't work. I've actually had to order it from Canada....
To the person who thought Sudafed PE doesn't work...it doesn't, I agree. It sucks when it comes to clearing congestion.
Posted by: toni at September 17, 2005 07:35 AM
where do you buy them from canada? suggested website? i've been thinking about it.
Posted by: julee at September 19, 2005 10:26 AM
To all you folks with chronic congestion, here is a tip that is very much worth looking into. Find a Neti Pot online and use it. I was a chronic sinusitis sufferer until I did two things:
1. Have a turbinectomy
2. Start using a net pot as needed.
I went from eating Sudafed twice daily and using Afrin constantly to using Sudafed only here and there as needed. I haven't used any Afrin since I quit the day before surgery 2.5 years ago. THE NETI POT WORKS WONDERS!
Posted by: Nelson at October 16, 2005 10:32 PM
You guys are the 38417 best, thanks so much for the help.
Posted by: Caty Tota at July 6, 2006 11:19 AM