Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with sudafed

Will these totally legal drugs keep me from getting the job?

croutonsupafreak — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:31:54 -0800

I may have to take a pre-employment drug test very soon, and I'm worried about whether the totally legal and authorized stimulants I'm taking are going to keep me from getting hired. Are my worries reasonable, and if so is there anything I should do to protect myself? I've got to either accept or reject a job offer on Monday. If I accept it, I suspect that I'll be asked to go pee in a vial somewhere within 24 hours of saying "yes." I've always passed these tests in the past, but I'm worried because of my totally legal recent pill use.

I have a prescription for Vyvanse, an ADHD-treating amphetamine, and I take these pills five days a week to function at work. I hadn't been diagnosed and prescribed anything last time I started a new job. I took my last Vyvanse pill on Friday, and plan on taking another tomorrow morning before I head to the office.

I'm also sick right now, and this morning I took some Sudafed (the controlled substance kind that you have to show ID for). If I'm still feeling this crummy in the morning, I'm planning to take another so that I can be a functioning worker bee instead of a mess of hacking phlegm.

Should I skip these pills tomorrow as a precaution? Should I mention them when I go in for drug testing? Are my worries unfounded?

Why is Sudafed (pseudoephedrine) back on the shelf?

JimN2TAW — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 07:09:44 -0800

Why is Sudafed (pseudoephedrine) back on the shelf? Both Sudafed and Duane Reade's store brand are back out on the open shelf at Duane Reade here in NYC. I've searched but I can't find any recent change in the regulations that have kept these drugs behind the store counter with purchasing restrictions for a couple of years now. Have the rules changed?

The "Missing my Sudafed" blues

nonliteral — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 08:49:07 -0800

Sudafed (the real and the cheap generics both) are gone; I've been taking the stuff for 30 years, and I'm having trouble finding an alternative that works well. Can anyone share any experiences with good alternatives? I developed moderate to sometimes not-so-moderate allergies back in my teens, and as a result I've been taking Pseudoephedrine hydrochloride ("Sudafed") for about 30 years now -- originally as a prescription drug, then over-the-counter, and for the last few years as the cheaply available generic. I normally only take the stuff at bedtime, as I often seem to get congested late at night and wake up stuffed up, or with red and sore eyes, etc., although I'll occasionally take a dose during the day if I've been around something that bothers me.

Unfortunately, due to recent skirmishes in the "war on drugs", Sudafed and the various generics are no longer available (apparently they can still be sold with lots of information gathering, but my local pharmacies are telling me they've decided not to bother).

I've tried a couple of the alternatives - my local pharmacies have started selling a phenylephrine-based alternative in place of the pseudoephedrine, which I've tried, and I've also tried loratadine ("Claritin") -- my reactions range from they don't do anything to they dry my sinuses and make me miserable. After a week of staying away from the Sudafed, I broke into the last of my stash last night and felt halfway human this morning for the first time in a week.

Are there any other formerly happy Sudafed users who've found a decent alternative?