Pseudoephedrine HCl

The long awaited typhoon finally arrived and 
with it the much needed rain.  The temperature 
dropped drastically, and my sinus succumbed 
to the lowered pressure.  I had about seven 
Sudafeds left.  Before leaving United States, 
I stocked up all the prescription drugs, but 
figured they must have the same over the 
counter stuff in Taiwan.

The secretary (a certain Miss Lin with an 
English name Shelley) at the math center told 
me to go to the local drugstore called 
"The Watson's" (This is like the 51st state.  
Of course its Chinese name "Chu-chen-shi" has 
nothing to do with "Watson's".  Note you need 
to pronounce the "u" in "Chu" as the French do.  
Ain't Chinese lovely?).  Needless to say, 
Sudafeds were no where to be found.  The woman 
behind the counter gave me a puzzled look when 
I said I wanted some Sudafeds.  I then looked 
at my empty drug box and said "Pseudoephedrine HCl".  
Her look essentially said "Get a grip, I am 
not a doctor." So I said, "Is there another 
drugstore somewhere nearby that may have them?"  
She said, "Oh just keep walking and eventually 
you will bump into another one", so I started 
walking.  Soon I saw a sign that said "So and 
so's clinic, graduate of Taiwan University and 
educated in U.S."  I said to myself, "Well, there 
I go," but then realized that it would be a mess 
to use my U.S. health insurance here, so I kept 
on walking.  In about 30 seconds, I saw another 
sign that said, "Western and traditional Chinese 
drugs".

"I want some Sudafeds", I said sheepishly.  The 
man behind the desk looked at the box I handed 
him.  "Where are you from, U.S.?  Are you 
teaching here?  What do you teach?"  "Oh, 
mathematics.  Do you have any Sudafed?"  He 
looked at the box for a few moments and said, 
"No, and I don't think you will find anything
like that in Taiwan, but we do have cold medicines.
How about some Contac or the local variant Weiger?"  
I looked at the price--90 yan for 6 pills (exchange 
rate: 30 yan to $1).

"Do you have any Pseudoephedrine HCl?"

"What is that?  Oh check out this book".  He 
handed me a book the size of the Boston telephone 
directory.

There was nothing under Sudafed, but I found 
Pseudoephedrine HCl in the index.

He took one look at that line and said, "Oh, 
fake Ma-huang extract" (he said its Chinese 
equivalent, even though the index was English 
only).  "That stuff is cheap, 3 yans a pill.  
How many do you need?"

"About 30."

"Ok, 90 yans," he started scooping the pills into 
a small zip-lock bag and I began to read the 
descriptions (page 8722A) of the drug.  The text 
was written in Chinese with English words, such as 
Pseudoephedrine, studded from place to place.  Just 
then a little boy came in with his mother.  The guy 
handed me the bag, then grabbed a flash light to 
greet them.  I thought that was interesting...  
He then turned on the flash light and the boy 
opened his mouth.  "Yea, yea, he is sick, but it 
is no big deal.  He doesn't need any medicine."  
And off went the mother and son.

The side effects for Pseudoephedrine include (not 
an exact translation): increase of blood pressure 
and heart rate, hyper-tension, insomnia, nightmare, 
cold sweat and etc.  Those who are infirm, old, 
young, man, woman and in general human beings 
shouldn't take this stuff.

"Oh never mind those.  These days, the pharmacists 
in Taiwan write the way they do in the United States.  
They include every bit of every little problem no 
matter how trivial it is.  Believe me, I have a 
degree in pharmacy."

I looked at the book again.  It was translated 
from Japanese.