Ephedra HCL
Ephedra HCL (hydrochloride) has been used for medicinal purposes. Other Ephedra products have been used for many medicinal purposes. It was used for the common cold, cough, congested lungs, sinuses, and bronchial tubes, fever, to stop sweating associated with an illness, as a weight loss aid, as an energy booster, and as a sports performance booster, and more. Some of the products containing ephedra have replaced ephedra with other ingredients and some products have been discontinued. It is not known for sure if any products with ephedra are still being sold in the United States or not because if you do a search online for ephedra, you can find a list of companies who had or still have ephedra products. Some of the products which are now ephedra free are Metabolife. Metabolite, Metabolift, Diet Fuel, Energy Fuel, Everslender, Ripped Fuel, Trimspa, Lipodrene, Hydroxycut, Xelerate, Phentramin, Zantrex, Stacker 2, Stacker 3, Stacker Lite, and more.
Some of the many side effects from the use of products containing ephedra are heart attacks, strokes, seizures, high blood pressure, insomnia, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, hives, allergies, itching, psychosis, nervousness, tremors, death, and more. There were just too many people who suffered serious injuries from ephedra based products for the Food and Drug Administration to ignore the facts. Ephedra was first banned in the US in 2003 after the FDA received over 800 reports of strokes, heart attacks, and some deaths from 1994 to 2003 which were related to products which contained ephedra. Ephedra was the common ingredient in all of the products reported. Some people felt that ephedra was not as dangerous as the FDA claimed so they got a petition together and filed it with the Federal court in 2004 and in 2005 the ban was lifted on ephedra. The FDA had some of the products tested and the results were interesting to say the least. Some of the products contained more ephedra and some contained less ephedra per dose than was stated on the labels of the bottles. Some of them did not contain any ephedra at all. The FDA received over 1,000 reports of hospital emergencies and at least 17 deaths from 1997 to 2006 from ephedra users even when as little as 8 mg per dose of ephedra was taken. The Federal court agreed with the FDA on the dangers of ephedra and banned it for the second time in 2006.
Ephedra has been used for over 5,000 years by the Chinese for lung illnesses. It has also been used for many years by the Native Americans, Mormons, and Mexicans. The ephedra shrub is found in desert regions around the world. The stems are dried and made into a white powder. Ephedra is also known as Chinese Ephedra, Herbal Ecstasy, Epitonin, Ma Huang, Squaw Tea, Mormon Tea, and Desert Tea.
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