This is not for people who don't read instructions or warnings on labels, but that is not you. We all know that ephedra is a stimulant that will increase your heart rate and can possibly increase blood pressure, it gets you physically motivated so that after a long tiring day you can get your lazy butt out the door to exercise.

Many of us need that kick we get from ephedrine, including me, to get moving. Another reason I use it is because I work 12 hour shifts at night in a factory. I sometimes use it to stay alert some nights working around dangerous machinery or to be awake for my drive home. Since my schedule is so different from the rest of the world when we go anywhere I am often up for 18-30 hours. Like you, I want and need my ephedrine.

Now, the government has seen fit to make a personal choice for you. They think you shouldn't have access to ephedrine either in a weight loss formula or even by itself in herbal form. Now everybody knows there are dangers associated with taking any kind of herb, OTC drug or prescription drug. Even Aspirin and other NSAIDs (Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs) caused over 15,000 deaths in 2001 alone.

Aspirin Kills More People

To date there have never been more than 100 deaths potentially associated with Ephedrine use. We are talking about adding up all of the deaths allegedly linked to Ephedrine in the last 10 to 20 years.

Lets do a bit of math. Theoretically, if there were 10 deaths in a year, and say only 1 million doses of Ephedrine were taken in that year, then the rate of death per dose would be around 0.00001. While one-one hundred thousandth is a very small number, the fact is that the number is actually even smaller. There have never been 10 confirmed deaths linked to Ephedrine in any one year.The number of Ephedrine doses taken per year was far greater than 1 million.

For comparison, lets look at some very common Over The Counter (OTC) drugs. Aspirin and other NSAIDs (Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs) caused over 15,000 deaths in 2001 alone.

Some experts suggest that the actual number of deaths from NSAIDs in one year exceeds the number of deaths from AIDS in this country. Surprised? Don't be, there is more.

Prescription related drug deaths far exceeded 100,000 in 2001. Some estimates have the numbers higher than 300,000. Where is the press on these far more prevalent incidences of injury and death? Ephedrine must be special in some way to garner so much attention for doing so little. Follow the money trail. Was it big pharmaceutical companies that influenced the government?

Do not take Ephedra if you have high blood pressure, high pressure in the eyes (glaucoma), weakened blood vessels in the brain, prostate cancer, an overactive adrenal gland, or a thyroid disorder. In general, avoid Ephedra if you have any condition that makes you anxious or restless. Combining Ephedra with a variety of other medications can lead to potentially serious problems. For example, when taken in combination with heart drugs such as digitalis or digoxin (Lanoxin), Ephedra is more likely to disturb the rhythm of the heart. Combining Ephedra with the blood pressure medication guanethidine (Ismelin) can dangerously exaggerate the herb's stimulative effects. A similar problem is possible when Ephedra is combined with drugs classified as MAO inhibitors, such as the antidepressants Nardil and Parnate and the Parkinson's disease medication Eldepryl. The combination of Ephedra and ergot-based drugs such as migraine remedies Ergomar and Wigraine can result in high blood pressure.