Safety of taking ephedra and running?

SpicedCider

SpicedCider

Well-known member
Is it as dangerous as the FDA made it out to be back in '04 - '05 to take ephedra and run (or do some other form of cardio)? I figured that it would be dose-dependent, but I wanted to get the general consensus. Generally speaking, if someone is free of congenital heart defects and BP-related conditions, how safe/unsafe is it to take 20-25 mg of ephedrine and run 7-8 miles?
 
Thanks; I figured it would be a bad idea to do sprintwork while taking ephedra. I guess I will just stick to taking it when I'm sticking to a 7:00 - 8:00 min./mile pace. I think I also read somewhere that most people don't even experience a substantial increase in HR or BP when taking 20 mg/less, but I could have misread/misinterpreted this.
 
mr.cooper69 said:
Ephedrine in the absence of caffeine is perfectly fine to take for any running.
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What's the danger of taking it with caffeine and running? Overstimulation? Just curious...

Also, is it still effective if taken without caffeine? I remember taking around 20 mg of ephedra a few years ago without any caffeine and felt nothing at all (no energy boost or bronchodilation), but when I take it with caffeine, it's as if the caffeine "unlocks" ephedra's powers.
 
SpicedCider said:
What's the danger of taking it with caffeine and running? Overstimulation? Just curious...Also, is it still effective if taken without caffeine? I remember taking around 20 mg of ephedra a few years ago without any caffeine and felt nothing at all (no energy boost or bronchodilation), but when I take it with caffeine, it's as if the caffeine "unlocks" ephedra's powers.
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Caffeine heavily potentiates the activities of ephedrine...including blood pressure.Is it effective for fat loss if taken without caffeine? Not really. Is it effective for bronchodilation? Yes.
 
mr.cooper69 said:
Caffeine heavily potentiates the activities of ephedrine...including blood pressure.Is it effective for fat loss if taken without caffeine? Not really. Is it effective for bronchodilation? Yes.
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Appreciate the info. Is the increase in BP that arises from taking E+C really significant? How dangerous do you think it would be to take 20 mg of ephedra, 150 mg of caffeine, and then run?

Also, even though ephedra still acts as a bronchodilator even if taken without caffeine, do you still feel an energy boost when taking it without caffeine?
 
SpicedCider said:
Appreciate the info. Is the increase in BP that arises from taking E+C really significant? How dangerous do you think it would be to take 20 mg of ephedra, 150 mg of caffeine, and then run? Also, even though ephedra still acts as a bronchodilator even if taken without caffeine, do you still feel an energy boost when taking it without caffeine?
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If you were sprinting and you took the combination prior to developing a tolerance to side effects (about a one month buffer period), then it would be very dangerous. By very dangerous, I mean a single digit or less percent chance of something happening, but that is a rather higher percent risk when death is an endpoint (obviously this is just an abstraction).Ephedrine barely penetrates the BBB and will create an ever so mild stimulant effect if taken without caffeine. You may not notice it at all if you are tolerant to stims.
 
mr.cooper69 said:
If you were sprinting and you took the combination prior to developing a tolerance to side effects (about a one month buffer period), then it would be very dangerous. By very dangerous, I mean a single digit or less percent chance of something happening, but that is a rather higher percent risk when death is an endpoint (obviously this is just an abstraction).Ephedrine barely penetrates the BBB and will create an ever so mild stimulant effect if taken without caffeine. You may not notice it at all if you are tolerant to stims.
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Thanks. Okay, last question... if I'm not sprinting (instead, let's say running a 7-8 min. mile pace for about 8 miles), would you still consider it to be very dangerous to take E+C if I'm running at that easier pace?
 
mr.cooper69 said:
Definitely not as dangerous, no.
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That's good to hear. I have only gone running while on E+C a few times, but on every single occasion, I loved the clean energy, bronchodilation, and the overall feeling of just being lighter on my feet. In my experience, nothing else has compared to it. I guess I will just limit my dosages to 25 mg or less of ephedra with 150 mg of caffeine on long distance, non-sprinting days and make sure to run near crowded, highly-public areas (preferably with defibrillators nearby).
 
mr.cooper69 said:
If you were sprinting and you took the combination prior to developing a tolerance to side effects (about a one month buffer period), then it would be very dangerous. By very dangerous, I mean a single digit or less percent chance of something happening, but that is a rather higher percent risk when death is an endpoint (obviously this is just an abstraction).Ephedrine barely penetrates the BBB and will create an ever so mild stimulant effect if taken without caffeine. You may not notice it at all if you are tolerant to stims.
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*looks at possible side effects*
hmm... heart could explode inside my chest...
[video=youtube;SNJ1DpN07LM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNJ1DpN07LM[/video]
FFFUUUUUU!!! ;)

I always did my HIIT fasted first thing after waking up and dosed my first EC around an hour after that was finished.

Don't end up like Bill! Listen to Coop :D
 
mr.cooper69 said:
Definitely not as dangerous, no.
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I have an interesting quandary for you to consider. I live in an area of the southeastern US that becomes EXTREMELY humid during the summer months as well as during other times throughout the year, and as I'm sure you're aware of, there is a proportional increase in HR as relative humidity percentage increases. In other words, when it's 85% humidity and even just 85 degrees, you can really feel your heart practically beating out of your chest even during a slower-paced run. In fact, the left side of my chest will actually be sore during the last half mile or so of my run when the climate is that humid. Sometimes I will even get the feeling that death must be imminent and that I won't possibly be able to make it another mile back to my car. This is drenched-in-sweat humidity, where you get so sweaty after 30-40 minutes that your running shoes squeak when you walk in them.

So which do you think would make for a more dangerous workout that would be more likely to lead to having a heart attack and/or cause a greater increase in HR: not taking any stimulants and running in extreme humidity, or taking EC and running in a dry, tolerable climate?
 
SpicedCider said:
I have an interesting quandary for you to consider. I live in an area of the southeastern US that becomes EXTREMELY humid during the summer months as well as during other times throughout the year, and as I'm sure you're aware of, there is a proportional increase in HR as relative humidity percentage increases. In other words, when it's 85% humidity and even just 85 degrees, you can really feel your heart practically beating out of your chest even during a slower-paced run. In fact, the left side of my chest will actually be sore during the last half mile or so of my run when the climate is that humid. Sometimes I will even get the feeling that death must be imminent and that I won't possibly be able to make it another mile back to my car. This is drenched-in-sweat humidity, where you get so sweaty after 30-40 minutes that your running shoes squeak when you walk in them.So which do you think would make for a more dangerous workout that would be more likely to lead to having a heart attack and/or cause a greater increase in HR: not taking any stimulants and running in extreme humidity, or taking EC and running in a dry, tolerable climate?
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If the left side of your chest is sore, it's not due to your heart. Heart pain would refer onto your left shoulder due to its innervation by general visceral afferents. It's more likely that your lungs are getting taxed and pushing against the parietal membrane of the mediastinum, causing somatic pain at the region.Taking EC and doing low intensity, steady state cardio in a dry environment is less likely to cause cardiac issues, though neither should really do you in.
 
Cooper, I have just one other quick question. I'm going to run in a 10k race today in a few hours. How safe do you think it would be take 24 mg of ephedrine but without any caffeine? You stated earlier in the thread that there was no problem with taking just ephedrine by itself and running, but I just wanted to make sure.

Thanks...
 
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