Ephedrine

A customer asked me today for some Ephedrine tablets. I cannot remember ever dispensing a prescription for Ephedrine tablets. I've dispensed the nasal drops many times, but never before been have I been asked for the tablets-strange, very strange.

Ephedrine used to be used as a decongestant but it's not widely used today as it causes too many side effects (arrhythmias, raised blood pressure, thyroid problems). There used to be a few combination products available but I'm fairly sure these are not available in the United Kingdom in 2007.

There are two reasons that someone might want Ephedrine.

1.It's a precursor in the manufacture of Methylamphetamine/Crystal meth or Ice as the legendary"Dog the Bounty Hunter" would refer to it. It's not difficult to make, but it isn't easy either. Plus, you end up with a load of toxic waste products. Far easier to buy that sort of thing in bulk rather than trying a little bit of DIY manufacturing at home. However, you could end up looking like this.

2.The CAE Stack. Ephedrine is used in combination with Caffeine and Aspirin by bodybuilders. Apparently it helps you reduce body fat whilst retaining muscle mass. The bodybuilder takes the stack once a day before his workout: 125mg of ephedrine, 200mg of caffeine and 300 mg of Aspirin. You an buy 300mg Aspirin from anywhere and 200mg of Caffeine would be contained in 4x50mg Pro-plus tablets. I guess the customer could buy 1% ephedrine nasal drops. 10ml of those would contain 100mg of Ephedrine, reasonably close.

I cannot really see how it would work. Caffeine is a diuretic, 200mg would make you wee quite a lot. 300mg of Aspirin would do very little besides irritating your stomach mucosa. Ephedrine would act as an agonist on your beta-receptors making your heart beat faster. Supposedly it also increases thermogenesis.

My customer today is a fluffy-haired, public-school boy nearly as wide as he is tall.I suspect he wants Ephedrine for Reason 2 rather than Reason 1. He won't be getting it from me.