[HN Gopher] Phenylephrine for colds and allergies don't work, FD...
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       Phenylephrine for colds and allergies don't work, FDA panel says
        
       Author : johnkpaul
       Score  : 27 points
       Date   : 2023-09-12 18:52 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.cnn.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.cnn.com)
        
       | olliej wrote:
       | This is something literally anyone who was forced into the
       | penylephrine based allergy could tell you. Meanwhile banning an
       | effective drug did nothing to lower meth production.
        
       | randombits0 wrote:
       | Grammar.
        
       | m463 wrote:
       | that said, my doctor has told me the pseudoephedrine hcl it
       | replaced doesn't really help your cold or allergy, maybe just
       | your symptoms. I don't know the truth/reality of the matter.
        
         | viraptor wrote:
         | It is expected to just work on the nose/sinus congestion, so
         | yes, it's for managing symptoms. That's very useful though if
         | it lets you sleep.
        
         | arthur2e5 wrote:
         | The issue with phenylephrine is that it does not help the
         | symptom. Pseudoephedrine does not deal with the underlying
         | immune reactions, but it does constrict your nose blood vessels
         | enough to stop the mucosa from stuffing your nose holes.
         | 
         | Having your nose unclogged is very useful on its own,
         | considering otherwise you'd be forced into mouth-breathing,
         | which would lead to more discomfort and potentially worse
         | outcomes like sleep apnea.
        
           | Modified3019 wrote:
           | The problem with blood vessel constriction medicines, is the
           | body tends to very quickly adjust to their presence. Things
           | like "decongestant nose sprays" are known for being traps,
           | they work a few days, and then one needs an ever increasing
           | amount to achieve the effect. And if one stops using them,
           | then they'll be worse off because their blood vessels will
           | over expand again without the chemical present, resulting in
           | congestion even after the original cause is gone. It then
           | takes time to ween off the effect, during which the exact
           | problems you mention occur. Same thing with "redness eye
           | reliever" found in eye drops.
           | 
           | Basically, you shouldn't use these sorts of things for more
           | than ~2 days, but that is not well communicated with
           | consumers.
        
         | jnsie wrote:
         | I have a friend who won't take medication (cold meds and
         | otherwise) because they don't treat the illness "only the
         | symptoms". While I understand the distinction I don't
         | understand the lack of desire to treat the symptoms (assuming
         | the meds aren't themselves damaging)
        
       | philipkglass wrote:
       | The ever-excellent Derek Lowe has a deep dive on this from a year
       | ago:
       | 
       | "The Uselessness of Phenylephrine"
       | 
       | https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/uselessness-phenyl...
        
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       (page generated 2023-09-12 23:02 UTC)