Sudafed?

[theodosia.livejournal.com]

This may seem a very small crisis indeed, but for the past couple of weeks I've been unable to get real Sudafed (the behind the counter stuff) at obvious places like CVS and Stop & Shop pharmacies. I keep getting told they're "back-ordered" and the pharmacists seem confounded that it is so.

Sudafed is the only decongestant that works for me WITHOUT putting me to sleep -- I guess I've got a weird personal biochemistry, but at least I have a large assortment of sleep aids should I ever want them. I am the person for whom "do not use while operating heavy machinery" warnings were intended.

Before I start canvassing all the RiteAids, Walgreens, Target Pharmacies and et cetera within reasonable distances, has anybody recently purchased real Pseudepinephrine nearby in the last week or two?

Comments

Walgreens, Central Square

[misterthorn.livejournal.com]

...had it in stock on Friday.

[ron_newman]

I have three really old Sudafed tablets remaining from a box whose expiration date is May 2002. If you're really desperate I can deliver these to you.

[cravereality.livejournal.com]

I think I have some Sudafed also that I'd be happy to give you. I don't respond well to it at all and occasionally forget and buy it anyway. If you're interested, I can check the type and such.

[mjrocks98.livejournal.com]

I got it a few weeks ago at the Harvard Vanguard Pharmacy. It was a generic, & I think it only cost $1.10. All the same ingredients of the name brand

[pywaket.livejournal.com]

This is good to know. I get it cheap at the MIT pharmacy, but since I no longer work over there, it requires a special trip now. Glad there's somewhere closer.

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

It's probably related to the huge number of drug recalls from McNeil in the last year http://www.mcneilproductrecall.com/ I heard that they have had to shut down one of their production facilities.

[davelew.livejournal.com]

Have you tried Claritin? Even though it's sold as anti-allergy and not as a generic decongestant, loratadine works similarly to pseudoepinephrine for me.

[jadelennox]

the behind the counter stuff isn't pseudepinephrine, it's pseudoephedrine. Not the OP, but in the cases where I need pseudoephedrine, neither pseudoepinephrine nor loratadine will do the trick.

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

the cvs in belmont center has it on the shelves but i don't know about the behind-the-counter stuff.

[ron_newman]

If it's on the shelf, it doesn't (or at least shouldn't) have pseudoephedrine in it.

[gingicat]

Costco.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

i was at the star market at brighton mills and they had plenty of vouchers for it, but the pharmacy was closed so i couldn't get any much to my and my boyfriend's dismay.

WTF is up with that anyway?? then i was carded for buying vick's cough medicine. fucking retarded.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

then i was carded for buying vick's cough medicine. fucking retarded.

This reminds me: Has anyone else been carded for buying cold medicine that doesn't even contain pseudoephedrine? I've had this happen a couple of times at CVS in the last several months.

[thesoxgap]

Yes, Target now IDs me for Nyquil.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Some drugstores card for dextromethorphan, which is a cough suppressant. It's not related to pseudoephedrine control, which is trying to block the methamphetamine supply chain. Restricting dextromethorphan comes from concern that somebody will drink several bottles of cough syrup in an attempt to get high. (People do such things, especially when they can't get their hands on alcohol, and it's not at all good for their health.) I think it's store policy rather than state law, but it's store policy at more than one store.

[ron_newman]

Don't some Vicks formulations contain pseudoephedrine?

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

i don't know, but then it seems like it's either all available through the pharmacy, or it's on the shelves. not all these different combinations of rules, that's weird and i don't see the point.

[kpht.livejournal.com]

i'm sure all these stupid rules TOTALLY STOP ALL THE ADDICTS. GOOD JOB AMURICA.

[busylilbear.livejournal.com]

Not helpful at ALL, but my first thought when i hear about sudafed outages is that someone out there is making a loooot of meth.

That's why they card you and put limits on the # of boxes you can buy per month, btw.

[nurrynur.livejournal.com]

Apologies for non-helpful comment, but I wanted to chime in and say Sudafed doesn't make me sleepy either.

[nathanjw]

I bought some (well, store-brand, but the real drug) from the pharmacy of the Davis CVS just a few weeks ago.
I had to buy a bit more than I wanted, as they didn't have all the different package sizes in stock, but they did have it.

[green-limousine.livejournal.com]

i had the same problem as you a few weeks ago.
they had no sudafed (the real stuff) but they DID have advil cold and sinus, which is just ibuprofen and pseudoephedrine (sp?)

so if you don't mind taking ibuprofen with your sudafed, that could work.

i guess i'm not the only one :P

[rendernot.livejournal.com]

From the Boston Community: http://community.livejournal.com/b0st0n/7181755.html