My Ephedrine Story

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Fearless

New member
About 6 years ago I took Metabolife 356 for 2 1/2 months. It killed my appetite and I went from 250 lbs to 225 lbs. I'm 6' 4". My side effect from taking Metabolife 356 ended up being very painful gallstones. I went to two different doctors and both wanted to yank my gallbladder. Thanks to the Internet I found out my rapid weight loss and hardly any fat in my diet caused the gallstones. I decided to keep my gallbladder and stop taking Metabolife 356. I passed the gallstones and today I have a healthy gallbladder.

I gained back 10 lbs to 235 lbs and have stayed in the 230-235 range all these years. About a month ago I decided to try and shoot for 210 lbs by using the remaining Metabolife 356 I kept. This time around I'm only taking one pill in the morning and I'm leaving some fat in my diet. I'm also monitoring my blood pressure closely. The pill is amazing. Not only does it reduce my appetite and increase my energy level, it also seems to switch off my procrastination gene for labor intensive projects around the house. In the last month I've completed numerous projects I've been putting off for months.

I weighed 231 lbs when I started taking Metabolife 356 this time around. This morning I weighed 225 lbs. I know I'm taking a risk by taking Ephedrine but I'm also taking a risk by being overweight. I've proven that once I reach a desired weight I can maintain that weight level. I do it by weighing myself every day and adjusting my lifestyle accordingly. If I gain a pound or two, I take in less calories and exercise more that day. If I lose a pound or two, I reward myself with Mexican food. :)
 
I bet you reduced your calorie intake didn't you?

I bet you started exercise more and move around more huh huh?

Guess what? You would have lost weight without putting your heart and future at risk. It worked for you..I'm glad but I hope that your future health is ok.

For everyone else who comes to the forum, don't take these pills. You don't need them for weight loss and the medical documentation shows the risk is was too much.

Sorry, but I hate seeing people come here saying 'I took Ephedrine and lost weight' when the reality is, you changed your diet. You changed your exercise. You did the right things and the pill was not the reason.
 
Jericho said:
I bet you reduced your calorie intake didn't you?

I bet you started exercise more and move around more huh huh?

Guess what? You would have lost weight without putting your heart and future at risk. It worked for you..I'm glad but I hope that your future health is ok.

For everyone else who comes to the forum, don't take these pills. You don't need them for weight loss and the medical documentation shows the risk is was too much.

Sorry, but I hate seeing people come here saying 'I took Ephedrine and lost weight' when the reality is, you changed your diet. You changed your exercise. You did the right things and the pill was not the reason.
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I know from searching Ephedrine on this forum, you're the gloom and doom guy. Unless you've taken this pill, you can't speak from experience. I can though.
 
I agree with Jericho. And even if they do "kill your appetite", there's no reason for that. Food is good, you need food. Food is not the enemy. The wrong foods are. If you are hungry, eat something! But pick something healthy like fruits, veggies, whole grains, etc rather then fatty, sugary things.

Don't risk your health just to decrease your appetite. Just eat an apple (which is low calorie and has fiber to keep you full) instead of a bag of chips!

Oh and I wouldn't say Jericho is the "doom and gloom" guy. More like a voice of reason.
 
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Agree. Believe a little more in your own ability. You don't need that to lose weight. I'm sure you would do fantastic with just you. As awesome as it is to say "ephedrine helped me lose weight and I kept it off", wouldn't it be even better to say "I lost weight and I kept it off!"

Are you sure the good is outweighing the bad? I bet speed is a pretty effective weight loss drug too, but you wouldn't take that would you?
 
I am so not the gloom and doom guy.

I'm the 'you don't need a pill that can frigging KILL YOU' guy.
 
Geez Jericho, why do you have to rain on everyone's parade? There's only a CHANCE that it makes your heart stop. No definites there.
 
USA

Ephedrine distribution is controlled by the government, and pharmacists may refuse to sell it to customers without a prescription.

In 1997, the FDA proposed a regulation on ephedra (the herb from which ephedrine is obtained), which limited an ephedra dose to 8 mg (of active ephedrine) with no more than 24 mg per day.[16] This proposed rule was withdrawn in part in 2000 because of "concerns regarding the agency's basis for proposing a certain dietary ingredient level and a duration of use limit for these products."[17] In 2004, the FDA created a ban on ephedrine alkaloids that are marketed for reasons other than asthma, colds, allergies, other disease, or traditional Asian use.[18] On April 14, 2005, the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah ruled that the FDA did not have proper evidence that low dosages of ephedrine alkaloids are actually unsafe,[2] but on August 17, 2006, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver upheld the FDA's final rule declaring all dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids adulterated, and therefore illegal for marketing in the United States.[

3] Ephedrine is, however, still legal in many applications outside of dietary supplements. However, purchasing is currently limited and monitored, with specifics varying from state to state.

The House passed the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 as an amendment to the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act. Signed into law by president George W. Bush on March 6, 2006, the act amended the US Code (21 USC 830) concerning the sale of ephedrine-containing products. The federal statute included the following requirements for merchants who sell these products:

A retrievable record of all purchases identifying the name and address of each party to be kept for two years

Required verification of proof of identity of all purchasers

Required protection and disclosure methods in the collection of personal information

Reports to the Attorney General of any suspicious payments or disappearances of the regulated products

Non-liquid dose form of regulated product may only be sold in unit dose blister packs

Regulated products are to be sold behind the counter or in a locked cabinet in such a way as to restrict access

Daily sales of regulated products not to exceed 3.6 grams without regard to the number of transactions

Monthly sales not to exceed 9 grams of pseudoephedrine base in regulated products

The law gives similar regulations to mail-order purchases, except the monthly sales limit is only 7.5 grams.

UK
In the UK ephedrine is regulated as a P medicine: it may only be lawfully supplied within a registered pharmacy and while a pharmacist is present. The maximum amount of ephedrine legally available without prescription in one sale is 180mg- the only product commonly sold within these restrictions is ChestEze tablets which consist of 9 pills of 18.75mg ephedrine combined with caffeine and theophylline. These are intended as a nasal decongestant but are known to be used by bodybuilders. Higher strengths of pure ephedrine are available as prescription-only medicines but are not currently Controlled Drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

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so...I'm guessing that you didn't get any ephedrine through legal channels for weight loss since you can't. That means you are using a product in a way against it's intent?

This website does NOT endorse anyone using medications for a purpose it is not ment for.
 
Jericho said:
USA
so...I'm guessing that you didn't get any ephedrine through legal channels for weight loss since you can't. That means you are using a product in a way against it's intent?
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Wrong. If you had read my post thoroughly before being so eager to pounce, you'd see that my Ephedrine is 6 years old.
 
So if I had crack before it was illegal, I can still take it?

Don't think so. It's still illegal. I know people have come on here and tried to push using asthma medicine for it.


You lost your weight by changing your lifestyle. The pill had nothing to do with it. I applaud you chaning how you eat and exercise but I won't praise taking that crap.
 
Thermogenesis:

One of the side effects of thermogenesis is a slight increase in pulse rate and an elevation of blood pressure. Ephedra is therefore not recommended for individuals with high blood pressure, heart problems, and may cause problems for people with insomnia, pregnant mothers, and those who suffer from panic attacks.

Obesity:

In a 2000 article in American Family Physician, Louisiana State University researchers Morelli and Zoorob review the role that natural products can play in the treatment of obesity. Morelli and Zoorob begin by reviewing the past studies done on the herbal supplement Metabolife 356? . The studies that are discussed include the ones done at Vanderbilt University and Columbia University. To find a clear relationship between herbal supplements that contain ephedrine and caffeine and obesity Morelli and Zoorob reviewed two studies. The first study was conducted as a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study of 180 obese patients over a 24-week period. Results of this study concluded that weight loss with a combination of ephedrine and caffeine (20-200mg) was greater than with a placebo. Another study found that 54% of patients treated with 20-200mg of ephedrine experienced central nervous system side effects, especially agitation. Morelli and Zoorob also reported that another study that side effects of ephedrine and caffeine combination increased blood pressure and heart rate. Morelli and Zoorob concluded their review by stating that although weight loss effects of ephedra and guarana have not been completely studied, everyone should be aware of the beneficial and adverse effects of these diet aids.

Psychosis:

In a 1995 letter to the editor in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Robin R. Capwell reviewed sympathomimetic drugs, such as ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine, in association with manic episodes. Capwell determined that a 45-year-old man with no history of psychiatric illness or substance abuse, who had undergone personality and behavioral changes in one month. This letter reviewed the findings that he was experiencing hypertension and after three days of discontinuing the use of an ephedrine supplement his hypertension decreased to normal. Capwell concluded that intoxication with ephedrine could occur in the context of incidental exposure for people who take weight loss or other health benefits.

Karen Ruiz purchased a bottle of an herbal supplement equivalent to Metabolife 356 . She began taking the supplement as a means to shed post-pregnancy weight and to increase her energy. Right away she began to see results; she was loosing weight and staying up for almost 24 hours. However, by day 6 Ruiz, with no history of mental illness, began to hear the voice of God. After seeking medical help she discontinued use of the herbal supplement. Within months of cutting out the herbal supplement Ruiz regained her grip on reality, but has since struggled with bipolar disorder, suggesting that herbal supplements with ephedrine and caffeine can have permanent effects of mental disorders.

A single 27-year-old male Marine sergeant was brought to a military medical center for having suicidal thoughts and irritability. Although he has no history of suicidal tendencies, elicit drug or alcohol use, he did have a history of depression. This male was against taking prescription medications; however, he was taking two ephedra-containing supplements to improve his workout performance. At the time of his initial visit to the medical center he did not share his use of herbal supplements with the doctor. For five months treatment was not affective, his irritability and agitation persisted even with clonazepam. When questioned directly he revealed a two-year history of regular use of ephedra supplements. When he stopped ephedra use his mood returned to baseline and did not face further psychiatric problems. This case study effectively demonstrates the importance of physicians and patients discussing herbal supplements (Jacobs & Hirsch, 2000).

Stroke:

Anne Marie Capati, a 37-year-old who suffered a fatal stroke after taking an ephedra and caffeine supplement. In 1998 Capati joined a gym to work out and lose a few post-pregnancy pounds. She also paid extra for the services of a trainer who was also said to be a nutritionist. The employee had Capati taking several different dietary supplements. The trainer also knew that she has high blood pressure and was taking prescription medicine. One day Capati suffered a massive bleed in the brain while working out and died later that same day.

Amphetamine-like Stimulus:

Glennon and Young continued with their study of amphetamine-related drugs of abuse in this study. Here, they have already determined that amphetamine stimulus generalizes both to ephedrine and caffeine. In this study Glennon and Young was to determine if oral administration of either ephedrine or caffeine would result in stimulus generalization when given to rats trained to discriminate intraperitoneal administered amphetamine. The second goal of this work was to evaluate the effect of oral administration of an herbal supplement, Herbal XTC. The animals used in this study were six of the original animals used in the earlier study. The rats were trained to discriminate intraperitoneal injections of amphetamine. The results confirmed their earlier findings that both ephedrine and caffeine are capable of producing amphetamine-appropriate response. This is the first demonstration that a commercially available ephedrine-containing herbal preparation can produce an effect similar to that produced by amphetamine in animals (Glennon & Young, 1999).

Ephedra Overdose:

Ten healthy subjects were enrolled in a randomized, crossover study with four phases. The subjects were given one of four products during each phase: Escalation, Excel, Up Your Gas, and Ephedrine capsule. At given times and under restricted conditions blood was drawn for analysis. The results indicated that when ephedrine is administered as unprocessed Ephedra, typical of dietary supplements its absorption and disposition characteristics are similar to those observed for a single-ingredient ephedrine capsule. When comparing the results of this study with previously published studies, it appeared that the administration of ephedra herb with other "natural" stimulants had little bearing on the distribution and elimination of ephedrine. In conclusion, botanical ephedrine did not appear to differ significantly from conventional ephedrine. However, the question still remains as to why products containing ephedra have been associated with high incidence of morbidity and morality. The authors of this study mention two factors to account for ephedra toxicity. First, although most herbal supplements with ephedra have labels that indicate how much ephedra is contained in each dosage, this does not account for the amount of ephedrine in each dose. Ephedra species vary in their ephedrine alkaloid content and this difference can produce products with varying amounts of ephedrine. Secondly, consumers are lead to believe that "natural medicines" are safe. Caution and moderation are strongly encouraged when using any herbal supplement and especially with ephedra (Gurley, Gardner, White, & Wang, 1998).
 
Just injecting some alternate info.

Ephedrine is not illegal. It's simply restricted access. Ephedrine is the active ingredient in both Bronkaid and Primatine tablets, which are available over the counter to treat bronchial issues (although you usually have to provide ID and buy in single packs - that's more about Meth manufacturing, than about the drug itself).

I've taken the EC stack before. There's a lot of information to prove that it does increase the metabolism to a degree. It also does seriously suppress appetite - but those effects wear off as the body becomes adapted.

Ephedrine CAN cause adverse affects in some people. If you have high blood pressure, if you take anti-depressants, etc., the use of ephedrine is contra-indicated.

However. There's a knee-jerk reaction by a lot of people to the use of ephedrine because of the Phen-Fen thing and because, yes, some people have misused the drug and died because of it. OTOH, keep in mind that some people have adverse reactions to peanuts, too, and we don't ban those and freak out because some people die from eating them. And yes, there are stupid people who don't pay attention to proper dosage and who misuse it (i.e - if one dose is good, then I'll take 5 doses and the fat will melt right off!). But that can happen with any drug. Heck you can OD on ibuprofen and vitamins if you're stupid enough.

On the OTHER other hand ... :) ... ephedrine (or the stack) is not a magic bullet. You don't lose weight because you take ephedrine. You lose weight because you reduce the number of calories you eat and possibly because you burn more calories by adding in exercise. Ephedrine doesn't cause that. It can simply be an aid for some people in some situations to control appetite and help offset fatigue caused by a reduced calorie / lower carb diet to get a "boost".

IMO, the scare and hype over the use of ephedrine/EC stack is blown out of proportion.
 
Jericho said:
So if I had crack before it was illegal, I can still take it?
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You can't legally take crack to treat asthma. I can't speak personally to the addictive level of crack but I'm certain it's tremendously more addictive than Ephedrine. I do have a history of quitting Ephedrine and I quit with ease.

Some people smoke 2 packs of cigarettes/day and some people drink a fifth of whiskey/day. I'm taking a pill containing natural ingredients every morning until I reach 210 lbs reducing my chance of heart disease and cancer.

Just because some people didn't use Ephedrine in moderation or they had risk factors such as high blood pressure before taking Ephedrine and suffered bad effects including death doesn't mean I will suffer the same consequences.
Just about anything in excess, including water, can kill you.

I have a much higher risk of meeting my demise driving to the grocery store than taking a low dose of Ephedrine. It comes down to risk/reward. Just because I could be killed in a fatal car crash doesn't stop me from driving to the grocery store to buy groceries.

Some people take no risks and their self preservation mentality prevents them from living a full and productive life.
 
I gave my science, studies and facts. You gave yours. Kara gave her opinion. Congrates on your weight loss.

EDIT: removed spiteful comment
 
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I think some of the issue with the whole Phen-Fen fiasco is that the people who were taking it were already in a very bad state with respect to their blood pressure and heart health. For all the studies that show increases in risk from taking ephedrine, they also show it does help weight loss, and there aren't many that assess the risk to people who were not at high risk to begin with. There's also at least one study that made it to pubmed on people that were around 31 BMI that showed no increased risk.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To examine long-term safety and efficacy for weight loss of an herbal Ma Huang and Kola nut supplement (90/192 mg/day ephedrine alkaloids/caffeine). DESIGN: Six-month randomized, double-blind placebo controlled trial. SUBJECTS: A total of 167 subjects (body mass index (BMI) 31.8+/-4.1 kg/m(2)) randomized to placebo (n=84) or herbal treatment (n=83) at two outpatient weight control research units. MEASUREMENTS: Primary outcome measurements were changes in blood pressure, heart function and body weight. Secondary variables included body composition and metabolic changes. RESULTS: By last observation carried forward analysis, herbal vs placebo treatment decreased body weight (-5.3+/-5.0 vs. -2.6+/-3.2 kg, P<0.001), body fat (-4.3+/-3.3 vs. -2.7+/-2.8 kg, P=0.020) and LDL-cholesterol (-8+/-20 vs. 0+/-17 mg/dl, P=0.013), and increased HDL-cholesterol (+2.7+/-5.7 vs. -0.3+/-6.7 mg/dl, P=0.004). Herbal treatment produced small changes in blood pressure variables (+3 to -5 mm Hg, P< or =0.05), and increased heart rate (4+/-9 vs. -3+/-9 bpm, P<0.001), but cardiac arrhythmias were not increased (P>0.05). By self-report, dry mouth (P<0.01), heartburn (P<0.05), and insomnia (P<0.01) were increased and diarrhea decreased (P<0.05). Irritability, nausea, chest pain and palpitations did not differ, nor did numbers of subjects who withdrew. CONCLUSIONS: In this 6-month placebo-controlled trial, herbal ephedra/caffeine (90/192 mg/day) promoted body weight and body fat reduction and improved blood lipids without significant adverse events.
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Personally I've never taken an EC stack and don't have plans to, but really it's an individual's responsibility to decide on the level of risk they can accept - as long as they're not trying to sell me Metabolife :p And don't come crying to me if you take it and end up dead ;)
 
KaraCooks said:
You don't lose weight because you take ephedrine. You lose weight because you reduce the number of calories you eat and possibly because you burn more calories by adding in exercise. Ephedrine doesn't cause that.
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I disagree. You do lose weight because you take ephedrine. Ephedrine does make it easier to reduce the number of calories you eat. You have to want to reduce your calorie intake but I wouldn't be taking it if that weren't the case.
 
ok that I am going to dispute. If ephedrine caused weight loss by itself, then you are saying that you could change nothing in your diet and you will lose weight.

That's not the case. The instructions with your pills say you have to change your diet and exercise. This is the bigger part of my complant. You feel that because you lost weight while reducing calories and taking the pill. Instead of saying you lost it cause of reducing calories (science), you say it's cause you took the pill.

that logic fits to the idea that I lose weight just following this forum cause I lost weight since joining instead of the science of reducing calories.

One doesn't mean that is the factor. Now, studies do say that combined with caffine, it has shown weight loss (1-12 month study), but it also shows dangerous side effects.


Just wondering why you rather hold the pill up as the reason than the reduction in calories? Why not just eat a tapeworm or such then?
 
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