Active Low-Carber Forums - Ephedra: Is It Safe? Where's the Proof?

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- - Ephedra: Is It Safe? Where's the Proof? (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=62477)

Quote:

Originally posted by Miki
Beware!!!! I used it in the form of Ma Huang (herb). I started having dizzy spells, but never associated it with the supplement. It was helping me lose weight and I had lots of energy. I went to the dr when I started passing out - he thought it might be blood sugar problem. I had alot of horrible tests and nothing showed up. Finally, he asked me what supplements I was taking. I told him about the herbs I was using. He told me that ephedra could cause seizure, stroke, heart attack, and a whole list of other nasty things. I stopped taking the herb and within a week I was back to my old self - no more dizzy spells, heart palpatations, or fainting. I consider myself lucky - since then I've done some research and discovered people have died while using the supposedly safe all-natural supplements containing herbal ephedra.

A post above this one I wrote "However, you're not likely to find any physicians or dieticians who are not biased against ephedrine."

Can we please stop using our self-experiments with n=1 to draw advice for everyone? There is real research on ephedrine - see above.

It's great that you are able to use this product without any ill effects. As I understand it, the original post had asked for personnal stories from people who have used it. I did not intend to offend proponents of ephedra - I was just relating my personal experience as requested. Of course it is to be expected that different people will react differently to this product. I was using less than the recommended dosage and experienced the problems previously mentioned. I think if anyone is to make an informed decision about the use of such drugs they should have information from all sides, including personal stories. The decision to use any medication (natural or synthetic) should be made only after serious research into any benifits and all hazards. Are the benifits worth the risk? That's a question each person has to answer for themselves.

Agreed, and I apologise if my post came across a bit harsh.

In my experience of being involved in dieting and bodybuilding (5+ years), I've noticed that it is usually the opponents of ephedra that are most vocal, passionate, and "do-as-I-say", yet not always have a good case. Did not mean to generalise.

By the way, what kind of ma huang preparation were you taking? What you described sounds more like hypoglycemia due to chromium that it included in some ephedra products, such as Ripped Fuel.