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Pseudoephedrine can cause severe problems in certain susceptible persons. Although never diagnosed as having Parkinsons, I have mild to moderate autonomic dysfunction and I'm one of those. Have significant CNS depression (not mental depression), anxiety, respiratory difficulties, and hypotension. There seems to be a family history of anecdotal problems with pseudoephedrine including an aunt who died after a week of reasonable recovery for open heart surgery. The only thing different about the day she died was that the doctors started her on pseudoephedrine because of moderate hypotension... not an uncommon practice except that I had warned them about a possible family history. Continued administration of pseudoephedrine throughout the day resulted in increasingly profound hypotension resulting in death later in the day. Sympathomimetics can be deadly to some people. Don At 02:16 AM 5/15/96 -0400, you wrote: >The following is taken verbatim from a package of Tylenol flu, although I >have seen similar warnings on packages of some other special purpose Tylenol >products and on products marketed by competitors of McNeil Consumer Products >Co., who market Tylenol and own the Tylenol trade name: > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - >- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > >DRUG INTERACTION PRECAUTION: Do not take this product if you are presently >taking a prescription drug for high blood pressure or you are now taking a >prescription monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) (certain drugs for >depression, psychiatric, or emotional conditions, or Parkinson's disease), >or for 2 weeks after stopping the MAOI drug. If you are uncertain whether >your prescription drug contains an MAOI, consult a health professional >before taking this product. > >- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - >- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > >This appears to be due to the pseudoephedrine HCl, and I find information on >the internet, at this URL: > ><http://www.biostat.wustl.edu/ftp/aids/sci.med.aids/AIDS%20Drugs%20Data%20Sh >eets/Synonym/Dimacol%20[CHEMLINE]> > > >CONTRAINDICATIONS Contraindicated in patients with > hypersensitivity or idiosyncrasy to > sympathomimetic amines, severe hypertension, > or severe coronary artery disease, and in > those on monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor > therapy. [PDR 1991] > > >I cannot find similar damning information on the other active ingredients of >Tylenol flu, so I jump to the conclusion that the pseudoephedrine is the >culprit. > > >When I first read this last fall, I was at a store with a pharmacy, so I >asked the pharmacist, whom I consider to be a health professional. He >replied that drugs with MAOI's were not in common usage, and he did not >identify Eldepryl as an MAOI. I bought the drug, used it for my cold, and >identified no adverse reactions. > >After reading discussions on this list regarding Eldepryl and Demerol, this >incident came to mind, and along with it these two questions: > >1.) What are the risks of taking these cold pills with Eldepryl? > >2.) What is recommended for a cold, sinus trouble, flu, etc., if one can not >take the over-the-counter medicines which contain pseudoephdrine HCl? > >I think that this novice has done enough damage with the above. But I also >think that these are real concerns, and I would ask the more knowledgeable >recipients on this list for their advice. > >Art Hirsch >[log in to unmask] >Lewisville, TX >Home of the Fighting Farmers >