Love/hate relationship w/Sudafed | Arthritis Information

 

I've got another &^#$%^ cold, and I've been taking Sudafed and naproxen for a few days in hopes of preventing a secondary bacterial sinus/ear infection from settling in.  Sudafed (the real pseudoephedrine, not that phenylephrine "Sudafed PE" crap) works great a clearing my sinuses and eustachian tubes.  Unfortunately it also keeps me up damn near all night long.  Last night I took a Lunesta (2mg) around midnight and all it did was make me a bit giddy.  At 2:00AM I took another one with another dose of Sudafed (it had been 4 hrs since the last one) and I finally fell asleep for a few hours.  I woke up at 6:15AM wide-awake and full of energy, but exhausted at the same time.  Kinda hard to explain.  Anyway, the sudafed is at it again tonight.  If I don't take it before bed, I can't sleep due to the congestion and sinus pressure.  If I do take it, I almost need an elephant tranquilizer to put me down for the night (and I'm not a big girl).

Grrrr....

PS does anyone know if plaquenil is an immune suppressant?  The official prescribing information doesn't say that it is an immune suppressant, but some general medical info sites lump it in with other immunosuppressant DMARDs.  I'm wondering if I'm getting more colds these last few months because of the plaquenil.  It could also be the fish oil I take.  3 grams of omega-3's every day can lead to immune suppression and increased susceptibility to infection.

If it's not one thing it's another!!!!

Oh well, gonna try to go to sleep now.
I can't take Sudafed. Whatever's in the med it makes me really anxious and I have this fear of falling asleep because it feels like I might not wake up. Benadryl does the same thing to me if i take it for 2 days in a row. I've been taking Dristan Sinus Cold Relief and steaming my self with Vicks Vaporub.

Re: plaquenil... my pharmacy pamphlet says that it's an immuno suppressant, but my RD has never said to come off it if I'm ill. I didn't realize omega 3's can increase susceptability to infection and that's the big dietary push these days. I have to stay away from omega -3's because it thins the blood and affects my platelet levels. Jasmine Rain said

"3 grams of omega-3's every day can lead to immune suppression and increased susceptibility to infection."

Is that right as I take 3 grams daily?  I haven't heard that before, I thought it just helped with the inflammation?  Cheers Janie.

Edited by me.
janiefx2008-04-23 00:39:39 [QUOTE=janiefx] Jasmine Rain said

"3 grams of omega-3's every day can lead to immune suppression and increased susceptibility to infection."

Is that right as I take 3 grams daily?  I haven't heard that before, I thought it just helped with the inflammation?  Cheers Janie.

Edited by me.
[/QUOTE]

Yep - that's 10 capsules per day of fish oil - a much higher dose than the 1-2 a day as directed on the bottle.  There are many studies showing that large amounts of fish oil/omega-3 can suppress the immune system, which is probably why it has benefit for autoimmune diseases.  My allergies also improve when I take fish oil, but I am more susceptible to sinus infections.
^ Sudafed can be great if you need to stay up all night writing that essay, but it generally wears your body down, making it hard to fight back from infection.

^ Plaquenil is not an immuno-suppressant in the traditional sense. It is not like MTX or chemotherapy which stops your bone marrow from creating certain types of new cells which stop the immune system and get all up in its grill. Plaquenil is an anti-malarial which stops or binds to certain cells to stop them producing the lysomal PH in antigen cells that reproduce the disease (malaria and lupus as well as RA ) and cause inflammation. One of its affects is that it may or may not affect T cells (immune system blood cells) and chemotaxis, which happens in RA when all the white blood cells move to your synovial joints and decide to move in and have a big party, causing inflammation and damage. I think that is what they mean when they say immunosupressant, but they don't mean it in the traditional sense. _popupControl(); _popupControl(); paperdoll2008-04-23 04:56:34I've been fortunate enough to have had few colds and practically no sinus problems, but I remember being nailed once by the latter and have the stupid acting CIO calling me about some programming issue (as if I knew every line of code in my head) while I'm practically blotto in pain and fever. I was sick for a week with that one and then I had pneumonia while on chemo.

It's not the drugs, it's the awful Midwest weather and the people who are sick around us who give us their infections if we don't develop one on our own. I see a lot of folks here wind up getting sinus surgery for what is surely an environmental issue.   Jasmine, I am the same way. I can't take sudafed. It makes me have muscle spasms. Weridest thing ever. I take zicam when I get a cold or sinus problem. It relieves my congestion alllll night long. I have allergies too so I always have congestion, but this stuff works so good I sleep better than when I dont have a cold. I try to use it sparingly because I know I will get addicted to it! JasmineRain: Is the sudafed you use the "non-drying" type? Finding the regular sudafed hasn't been a problem BUT it seems as though the "non-drying" type is now unavailable. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the fact that low-lifes were using it to manufacture illegal drugs?
Copyright ArthritisInsight.com