As long as you dont suffer from cardiovascular disease or high blood pressure the suggested adult dose is 25mg every 4 hours up to a max 150mg/day which is a whopping dose that I shouldn't ever want to do. But I'd probably feel differently if I suffered from severe asthma.
(TCM) Traditional Chinese medicine classifies má huáng as a warm/acrid herb useful for treating cold, fever, headache, respiratory diseases like asthma, allergies, nephritis, edema among others. It's many actions include sweating, urination & promoting circulation of Qi in the lungs (a good thing given asthma results from "patterns of disharmony" that create "rebellious Qi" or the reversal of one's life force so plainly evident in the frightening wheezing/breathlessness of severe attacks).
Dosing: One source gave a range of 3-9g of dried material.. Because ephedrine content averages 0.5 - 2% across several commercially available species, that suggests a dose between 15mg to 180mg (!). That can be discarded for 2 reasons: modern ag techniques have boosted alkaloid content compared to ephedra of the past harvested in the wild and the underestimated impact of taking the pure alkaloid rather than a Chinese herbal preparation. TCM formulas usually contain several ingredients that are synergistic, and though má huáng is considered a "king ingredient" what the West might call an active ingredient, in point of fact they probably have learned over thousands of years what to combine it with to potentiate desired effects and reduce side effects...typical preparations for asthma have as many as 9 different natural ingredients. Based on my and other people's experience the low end of the spectrum taking 15-45mg seems more accurate, especially over 24-hours.
Both TCM and Western medicine caution against taking it for extended periods of time or in larger doses than needed. Your temporary working relationship with the alkaloid of this prized plant, which is most definitely a stimulant, is harm reduction when you consider the alternatives such as street meth
I posted a thread on stimulants for help w opioid dependence you should check out, and Please share your experiences if you're inclined I think it could help a lot of people especially taking buprenorphine, which to me is a stealth opioid: it slips in under the radar and many people get put on it without proper informed consent as to its potential risks v. rewards, especially when combined with naloxone, the justification for which seems dishonest at best.
It's not as surprising as you might think. Coca-Cola: In 1886 Civil War veteran John Pemberton created his mix of cocaine and kola nut extract to ease morphine withdrawal. Morphinism, as it was then called, had afflicted an est. 400,000 veterans by the end of the war in 1865, though it is not...
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