Ephedra 101 part 3

Side effects

Ephedra at low doses does not do much, but when the drug is taken for long periods and in high doses, the side effects are quite obvious. The side effects include:

- skin itchiness
- hot flushed skin
- extreme irritability and nervousness
- dizziness
- tremors
- headaches
- inability to sleep
- profuse sweating
- high body temperate
- fast heart rate

When the alkaloid is taken in high doses, it can even cause seizures, heart attack, stroke and even death.

Purity

One of the major problems with ephedra was that the product sold in health food stores was unregulated. Each store sold a different formulation with unknown dose. The quality and the quantity in most cases was not known. Plus, many of the herbal medications came from the Orient. And there have been many reports of fake and counterfeit drugs. Coupled with contamination and lack of quality, the FDA finally banned the drug from sale. There have been many studies which have shown that the dose of ephedrine from one store to another frequently varied by 10 folds- and this was in the same brand. No wonder why side effects developed!

The health supplement, Metabolite, had ephedra as its constituent and there were thousands of complaints of adverse reactions with this product, including death. It was the death of Steve Belcher (Orioles pitcher) which led the FDA to finally clamp down on ephedra sales. Despite legal challenges by many weight loss firms who sold, ephedra, the drug is only now available on the black market.

Detection

Ephedra is very easily detected in the urine. So for those who take it, it must be understood that the alkaloid can be identified in the urine at least 7-10 days after the last dose.

Options

For those still seeking ephedra, the other option is bitter orange which has similar effects as ephedra- and is legal. Studies today indicate that it has similar side effects like ephedra. So far, the going has been smooth for bitter orange