Sudafed/psuedoephedrine triggering anxiety

[Captain irrational]

Hayfever has been playing havoc with my sinuses today, so I decided to take a Sudafed tablet when I got home from work. Big mistake!:doh: My heart has been racing like crazy for several hours now and I'm feeling very tense and on edge, like almost on the verge of a full blown panic attack. I know psuedoephedrine is a stimulant, so I should have guessed this would probably be a bad thing for an anxiety sufferer to take. I just really hope these awful feelings go when the effects of the medicine wear off, these past few weeks I have been really good at keeping my anxiety under control. Anybody else had a similar experience?

On a positive note, my sinuses feel great now.

[ankietyjoe]

Yes, sadly that's a pretty potent stimulant so I think you'll just have to sit it out.

I had a similar experience once when I took a fast acting painkiller that turned out had caffeine in it (my fault for not reading the label) but it turned out that two tablets had the same amount of caffeine as a double espresso or 1 1/2 cans of red bull. Several hours of anxiety for me!

[Captain irrational]

Thank's, Joe. I'm starting to feel a little more normal again. Heart rate has gone down too. I guess it's no more Sudafed for me anytime soon.

Funnily enough, energy drinks are another thing that seem to set my anxiety off, but weirdly, I am absolutely fine with coffee.

[glassgirlw]

Yep, I cannot take Sudafed for that reason. Have to be very careful with what I take to make sure it doesn't have Pseudophedrine or Caffeine in it.