Decongestion can potentially cause serious brain side effects

Health experts are assessing rare but potentially severe side effects of nasal decongestants bought in high street stores.  

Nasal decongestants, specifically those including pseudoephedrine – a drug commonly used to relieve the effects of a ‘blocked nose’ – are being reviewed as they may be causing blood vessels in the brain to contract or spasm, ultimately reducing blood flow.

Pseudoephedrine often comes in the form of sprays, liquid medicine and tablets, but it can also be mixed with medicines designed to help colds, coughs or allergies. The drug can be sourced from local high street shops and supermarkets including Superdrug, Boots and Tesco.

The UK-wide review for pseudoephedrine was initiated after regulators in France alerted drugs regulator, the European Medicines Agency, which is also conducting a review about some recent, rare cases.

Although drug regulators are claiming the likelihood of this happening is extremely low, not enough blood flow to the brain can lead to strokes or seizures.

Whilst assessing the drug, experts are looking at two brain blood vessel conditions – posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) and reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS).

RCVS can lead to sudden, severe thunderclap headaches that often recur over a span of days to weeks and symptoms of PRES may include blurred vision, headaches, seizures, and confusion. In the UK, people are being advised to report any of these symptoms to the Yellow Card Scheme – run by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The MHRA claims it has recently received a small number of reports – one case of PRES where the person recovered and one for RVCS where the outcome was marked as ‘unknown’.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) said pseudoephedrine was widely used and that medicines like this were carefully assessed before being made available to the public.

Claire Anderson, President of the RPS, said: ‘When new risks come to light it can be worrying for patients. It’s right that they are investigated by the appropriate authorities and we await the outcome of the EMA and MHRA reviews.’

Photo by CDC