# Why are all decongestants now "Pseudoephedrine Free"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-decongestants-now-pseudoephedrine-free/391247>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 7, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-decongestants-now-pseudoephedrine-free/391247 "2007-02-07T19:22:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-decongestants-now-pseudoephedrine-free/391247/61 "2007-02-09T17:38:50Z")

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[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan]  
Before I came on duty, my colleagues had been trying albuterol nebulizers (she was coughing, not wheezing!) …  
[/QUOTE]

Heh. Confession time. I got such a spasmy awful cough a few weeks ago that I thought, “what the hell?” and took two puffs off my daughter’s albuteral inhaler.

Uh…

Turns out there really is a difference between a wheeze and a cough, even if you’re coughing so hard you can’t breathe. And the inhaler didn’t stop my cough one bit. It added a hell of a head buzz and room spin to the proceedings, however! I couldn’t stop shaking for a good 15 minutes. I have no idea how my daughter takes the thing and goes right to sleep! :eek:

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**Author:** ![Fridgemagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@Fridgemagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fridgemagnet)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-decongestants-now-pseudoephedrine-free/391247/62 "2007-02-10T14:07:56Z")

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Pseudoephedrine works just fine for me and is OTC in the UK, and I keep a permanent stash in my briefcase for those occasions when there must be an absolute absence of snot running down my face. I found it particularly useful for business trips to Japan, as I always catch some damn disease or other after a long-haul flight, and the Japanese don’t like catching colds (a complex snot-taboo thing). It’s a mild stimulant too, which is a bonus side effect when trying not to sniff and stay awake when jetlagged.

Recently I found out that pseudoephedrine is massively illegal in Japan, and I had a moment of horror as I recalled the occasions I would quite happily tuck into a packet of Sudafed in front of Japanese colleagues and customers blissfully unaware that I could be jailed for doing so. Plus all the times I took it through customs checkpoints.

I guess PE is illegal in Japan as the potential for abuse is huge. A drug that dries up a runny nose and keeps you awake during a long commute and gruelling working day? Perfect.

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