Histex PD and Methamphetamine Hydrochloride

• Generic Name: carbinoxamine
• Dosage Forms: n.a.
• Other Brand Names: Histex PD, Pediatex, Arbinoxa, Karbinal ER, Ryvent, Histex PD, Histex CT, Carbinoxamine PD, Pediox, Histex I/E, Palgic, Histex Pd 12, Carboxine, Cordron NR, Pediatex 12, Mintex PD

Cough/cold combinations are used mainly to relieve the cough due to colds, influenza, or hay fever. They are not to be used for the chronic cough that occurs with smoking, asthma, or emphysema or when there is an unusually large amount of mucus or phlegm (pronounced flem) with the cough.

Cough/cold combination products contain more than one ingredient. For example, some products may contain an antihistamine, a decongestant, and an analgesic, in addition to a medicine for coughing. If you are treating yourself, it is important to select a product that is best for your symptoms. Also, in general, it is best to buy a product that includes only those medicines you really need. If you have questions about which product to buy, check with your pharmacist.

Since different products contain ingredients that will have different precautions and side effects, it is important that you know the ingredients of the medicine you are taking. The different kinds of ingredients that may be found in cough/cold combinations include:

Antihistamines—Antihistamines are used to relieve or prevent the symptoms of hay fever and other types of allergy. They also help relieve some symptoms of the common cold, such as sneezing and runny nose. They work by preventing the effects of a substance called histamine, which is produced by the body. Some examples of antihistamines contained in these combinations are:

• Bromodiphenhydramine
• Brompheniramine
• Carbinoxamine
• Chlorpheniramine
• Dexchlorpheniramine
• Diphenhydramine
• Doxylamine
• Phenindamine
• Pheniramine
• Phenyltoloxamine
• Pyrilamine
• Promethazine
• Triprolidine

Decongestants—Decongestants produce a narrowing of blood vessels. This leads to clearing of nasal congestion. However, this effect may also increase blood pressure in patients who have high blood pressure. These include:

• Ephedrine
• Phenylephrine
• Pseudoephedrine

Antitussives—Antitussives help relieve coughing and are some contain a narcotic. These antitussives act directly on the cough center in the brain. Narcotics may become habit-forming, causing mental or physical dependence, if used for a long time. Physical dependence may lead to withdrawal side effects when you stop taking the medicine.

Narcotic antitussives
• Codeine
• Dihydrocodeine
• Hydrocodone
• Hydromorphone

Non-narcotic antitussives
• Carbetapentane
• Caramiphen
• Dextromethorphan

Expectorants—Expectorants work by loosening the mucus or phlegm in the lungs. The main expectorant used in cough and cold medicines is guaifenesin. Other ingredients added as expectorants (for example, ammonium chloride, calcium iodide, iodinated glycerol, ipecac, potassium guaiacolsulfonate, potassium iodide, and sodium citrate) have not been proven to be effective. In general, the best thing you can do to loosen mucus or phlegm is to drink plenty of water.

Analgesics—Analgesics are used in these combination medicines to help relieve the aches and pain that may occur with the common cold. These include:

• Acetaminophen
• Aspirin
• Other salicylates such as salicylamide and sodium salicylate

The use of too much acetaminophen and salicylates at the same time may cause kidney damage or cancer of the kidney or urinary bladder. This may occur if large amounts of both medicines are taken together for a long time. However, taking the recommended amounts of combination medicines that contain both acetaminophen and a salicylate for short periods of time has not been shown to cause these unwanted effects.

Anticholinergics—Anticholinergics, such as homatropine may help produce a drying effect in the nose and chest.

These cough and cold combinations are available both over-the-counter (OTC) and with your doctor's prescription.

Do not give any over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medicine to a baby or child under 4 years of age. Using these medicines in very young children might cause serious or possibly life-threatening side effects .

• Generic Name: methamphetamine
• Dosage Forms: n.a.
• Other Brand Names: Desoxyn, Desoxyn Gradumet

Used as an adjunct to psychological, educational, social, and other remedial measures in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (hyperkinetic disorder, hyperkinetic syndrome of childhood, minimal brain dysfunction).

Almost all studies comparing behavioral therapy versus stimulants alone have shown a much stronger therapeutic effect from stimulants than from behavioral therapy, and stimulants (e.g., amphetamines, methylphenidate) remain the drugs of choice for the management of ADHD.

Drug therapy is not indicated in all patients with ADHD, and such therapy should be considered only after a complete evaluation, including medical history, has been performed.

Use should depend on age and the clinician’s assessment of the severity and duration of symptoms and should not depend solely on one or more behavioral characteristics.

Not recommended for ADHD symptoms associated with acute stress reactions.

Has been used as an adjunct to caloric restriction in the short-term (i.e., a few weeks) treatment of exogenous obesity. However, because of limited efficacy (short-lived), such use no longer is recommended.

The anorexigenic effect appears to be temporary, seldom lasting more than a few weeks, and tolerance may occur.

Obesity usually is a chronic disease, and short-term or intermittent therapy with anorexigenic drugs is unlikely to maintain long-term benefit.

Misuse and abuse have experienced a resurgence, in large part, due to the relative ease with which methamphetamine can be synthesized clandestinely from readily available chemicals such as ephedrine, phenylpropanolamine (no longer commercially available in the US), or pseudoephedrine. Recent restrictions (including enactment of the Comprehensive Methamphetamine Control Act of 1996, the Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act [MAPA] of 2000, and the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act [CMEA] of 2005) on the availability of these compounds are hoped to reverse this resurgence in misuse and abuse.