Got the sniffles? Take a hit of this

Vicks Vapor InhalerWhen I use it, I hold one nostril down and sniff strongly with the other. I keep it bedside as I sleep. It’s the first thing I reach for in the morning, the last thing I put down before sleeping. It’s within reach at all times.

It’s my Vick’s vapor inhaler.

I initially wanted the Vapor Rub, you know, the kind Monica used in an episode of Friends to rile up Chandler. But we instead opted for this inhaler. It’s like crack, I tell you.

It seems I’m not the only one who drew this conclusion. Check out this epinions.com review:

Using the Inhaler/How Well It Works
I pulled the inhaler out of its packaging in the CVS parking lot and used it immediately, I was that congested. I took a long, long deep breath through my nose, with all the enthusiasm you might see from a drug film, I was so sick of my congestion. What was amazing was that I could inhale fully from the instant I used this product. I went for the second nostril, again with a big, emphatic, glorious inhale. The first good inhale I had experienced in weeks. Perhaps it’s one of these ‘active’ ingredients, but I did feel much more energetic, I think in part because the strong menthol/camphor smell has an invigorating effect but also in part because finally I could breathe! I could smell. It was glorious.The effect lasted for about an hour. I used this product many times throughout the course of my head cold and I found that depending upon how determined my sinuses were to produce congestion the effect would last anywhere from half an hour to the full two hours. After I recovered from my cold, sometimes using this product only once was all it took to knock out temporary congestion.

But it seems that, if you’ve got a drug test coming up, maybe you should avoid this “crack”:

A note about the ingredients: I have read in other reviews that this product contains 50mg of Levmetamfetamine (apparently a methamphetamine derivative) which can cause you to test positive for illegal drugs. The little wrapper on my inhaler says L-Desoxyephedrine. So I checked drugstore.com’s information, where they also have it listed as L-Desoxyephedrine. So I checked Vick’s website, where they list the ingredient as Levmetamfetamine. I’m not a drug specialist and I don’t know what the difference is between these two types of drugs, or how they’ll show up on drug tests. I’d advise you to not use this product if you have an upcoming drug test, no matter which ingredient is on the label. I welcome any input in my “Comments” section that might shed some light on why there are two conflicting ingredients listed in separate places and what the differences are in the ingredients.

2 thoughts on “Got the sniffles? Take a hit of this

  1. Karl Dahlquist

    Hmm…to get rid of my congestion I just chewed on one of those black peppers at Panda Express!

  2. shruti

    I’ve been so sick for a week. The last few nights I’ve been rubbing vicks all over my chest and sitting in shorts and a tank in my bathroom, with the shower turned on as high as it will go, so it can steam everything out!

    I think I’ll go for tom yum soup for lunch today =)

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