Posted by J.T. Dipiro on December 11, 1996 at 00:05:53:
In Reply to: Hey losartan posted by Lil Rob on December 10, 1996 at 15:06:23:
Lil Rob, I hate to break this to you and I know you have real world experience,but saying albuterol is more "potent" than ephedrine is not true. And its not why ephedrine is OTC. Ephedrine at under 50 mg per single dose unit is OTC while over this threshold is RX. The drug delivery of albuterol (inhaler) makes it very powerful in terms of effects (rapid onset). With increased dosing (higher than recommended) beta adrenergic activity crosses from selectivity to B2 over to B1 and possibly alpha adrenergic receptors. Ephedrine is non selective in its activity acting on all adrenergic receptors making it much more dangerous. Currently, FDA and DEA are looking at taking all OTC ephedrine off the shelves and making it RX as well as scheduled due to adverse effects even death. It is even scheduled at level 3 in a couple of states. Certain limitations apply here though to be considered in this class. If you were to take ephedrine by inhalation at high doses it would do more than give you more than tachycardia and a pissed off mood.