rooma-zoom-zoom

[saffronhare]

Wow, this Aleve Cold & Sinus is some powerful shit. It's an OTC cold/sinus medication, but you have to pick it up from the pharmacist. They take your driver's license and everything. You know, because people do crazy things and we somehow feel like we ought to keep them in the gene pool against all odds or reason. Or something.

Anyway. I was looking for something to get me through the nasty 48-72 hours of a cold. Cherry-flavored Nyquil does me just fine through the night if I need something, but daytime? Everything makes me drowsy or loopy or otherwise interferes with my functioning. And I can't really afford a day off work to whimper at home, or even a particularly unproductive day at work, what with the Chicken Pockalypse and all. So I heard about this stuff and figured I'd give it a try.

Damn. When they say "non-drowsy," they really really mean it. I am zooming. No palpitations or sense of fairies crawling on my skin, thank all the little gods, but I'm seriously ramped up. Much like the impulsiveness and derring-do that happens at the two-drink mark, but friendlier. Maybe. Yeah, I think I'm friendlier. Very chatty too.

Trouble is, I stoopidly took the first dose at 8:30 p.m. yesterday. Yeah. I don't know what I was thinking. I was miserable with congestion and it seemed like a good idea at the time, and I totally underestimated the non-drowsiness that would descend. It's a 12-hour dose, so I was able to take a second tablet at 8:30 a.m. today, and that will get me through kiddie bedtimes at home this evening...after which I can collapse in a little puddle and get some sleep tonight. With any luck, the furnace will even be working. ::fingers crossed::

Today, I am almost literally an Introvert On Speed.

Comments

re: Introvert on Speed

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

You're almost literally correct, which is why it's an OTC with controls in place. Check your active ingredient list: pseudoephedrine is a precursor for methamphetamine. Many states now control how much you can buy, and some have gone to a "you have to ask and sign for it" methodology.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoephedrine#United_States_State_Law

Re: Introvert on Speed

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

yup yup yup
bounce bounce bounce

I read the active ingredients before I bought it and read the package insert before I took any. I just don't think I've ever had pseudoephedrine before, so I wasn't certain how it was going to affect me.

Answer: a lot, but not dangerously so.

It's interesting for the day, but I don't think I'll be taking any tomorrow. This is definitely one of those things I'll only take when it's absolutely necessary. Sheesh.

Re: Introvert on Speed

[akaashben.livejournal.com]

Hmm... never taken pseudoephedrine before? For some reason, I am a little surprised by that.

I know my parents gave me that (Sudafed) when I was a kid (my mom was a nurse and my dad is a doctor).

And I find it quite annoying how you have to provide driver's license, passport, birth-certificate, DNA sample and first-born to get it anymore. Pharmacists have much more important things to do than play big-brother.

Re: Introvert on Speed

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Yeah. The pharm tech clearly felt the procedure was crap. "They'll just figure out some other way to get it," she muttered. I just smiled and didn't give her a hard time about compliance.

As for never having taken it, I sure don't recall ever having it. My tastes run more toward the drowsy-making stuff than the non-drowsy stuff. (grin) And I think my brother was real sensitive to it, so it wasn't ever in the house.

Heck, honey. I've never even smoked a cigarette. :)

[zylch.livejournal.com]

Much like the impulsiveness and derring-do that happens at the two-drink mark, but friendlier.

Lucky for your coworkers, then... Feel better soon!

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's really just an ordinary cold, but I can't spare the time to be Truly Miserable with it, that's all.

I've also got the Emergen-C, Zicam, and zinc lozenges goin' on. Covering my bases, you know?

I'll get home tonight and get a warm bath, then an early bedtime. Not trying to get out of the cold entirely...or skip the basic healing decisions...just trying to minimize down time.

[matchgirl42.livejournal.com]

You know, because people do crazy things and we somehow feel like we ought to keep them in the gene pool against all odds or reason. Or something.

*Snork* Oh, that just made my day honey. I'm snickering as quietly as I can here in the public library.

[womanofsalt.livejournal.com]

Me too! What a crack up! I hope you get some much needed rest after your crash-down.

[celticwhistlin.livejournal.com]

Do not take the "fake" stuff.

The process you went through to get your OTC stuff is to keep people (as others have said) from buying too much and making Meth.

I have taken the "new" stuff that has no effidrine (sp) in it and it is CRAP! It did nothing for me. So I call it the "fake" stuff.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

I dunno. Yes, it's PSEUDOephedrine, which I guess means it's the "fake" stuff you're talking about.

But it's having an effect on me for sure. If it's relieving my symptoms without unacceptable side effects and I'm otherwise monitoring how I take it, etc., then I don't see why I shouldn't take it. :)

[celticwhistlin.livejournal.com]

The pseudoephedrine is the real stuff. The "fake" stuff says "pseudoephedrine free"

Pseudoephedrine is my friend... :-)

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

ahahahahaha!

That makes much more sense, thank you!

::is less confuzzled now::

[celticwhistlin.livejournal.com]

It's the medicine... ;-)

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Well, pseudoephedrine is fake compared to ephedrine (now highly controlled), but they went one step further for a while and were trying to phase out pseudoephedrine for something even harder to cook into meth (phenyledrine, maybe? I forget).

It turned out to not be very effective, and still converable, if I remember correctly...hence the fake-fake part. ;)