A Late Night Game and a Sinus Cold

A late night game and sinus cold. This is a combination that really makes it tough to drag your butt off the couch to go play hockey. My first thought is to take some decongestant to clear the sinuses, probably Sudafed. I know what your thinking and stop right there! Sudafed, according to Sports Illustrated (SI) , may be “Hockey’s Little Helper” but do you really think that Beer Leaguers take it to enhance performance?

Well, people being what they are it wouldn’t surprise me. But if you think about it, beer-leaguers are by definition aging, beer drinking, hockey players exercising their mediocrity. Is this really something you want to enhance?

Unfortunately many people see the supposed benefits of taking something like Sudafed and then stop thinking. They don’t care to know more or consider the consequences.

Sudafed contains pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, a stimulant that many “users” believe heightens their awareness during the game. Great, now I can be even more aware of my diminished skill level and physical fitness. This could be the only time where a stimulant is the direct cause of depression.

Pseudoephedrine can increase breathing capacity by shrinking and unblocking nasal passages and dilating the bronchial passages (SI). Hence, a nasal decongestant. However, it doesn’t take a medical student to envision a correlation between increased breathing capacity and a possible benefit to athletic performance. This is the point where most people stop paying attention because all they want to hear about are the possible positive gains, not the possible negative side effects. But for those of us that are playing hockey for fun, and value our long-term health over the momentary ego boost of another tick in the win column, we continue.

The drug stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which controls involuntary muscles and responses (SI). This means that, among other things, it has a direct affect on your heart, raising your heart rate and your blood pressure. For the average beer leaguer where the weekly hockey game is possibly the only exercise they are getting, an additional stimulant to speed up the heart rate may not be a good idea. We’ve all read the articles that have warned the casual hockey player about the strain imposed on the heart during a game. And we’ve probably all rationalized that the benefits of exercise from hockey far outweigh any of the risks. But to add pseudoephedrine into the mix on a regular basis for the sole purpose of stimulation, just isn’t worth it.

Plus, according to an article from the mayo clinic published on the CNN website, pseudoephedrine has side effects such as nervousness and irritability that can actually impair athletic performance. As beer leaguers, we don’t need any additional distractions, besides the cold beer in the dressing room, taking our mind off the basic principles of the game.

Sudafed has other side effects as well. Here’s the official description of which I will leave any explanation up to those that can pronounce the words: Sympathomimetics have been associated with certain untoward reactions including fear, anxiety, tenseness, restlessness, tremor, weakness, pallor, respiratory difficulty, dysuria, insomnia, hallucinations, convulsions, CNS depression, arrhythmias, and cardiovascular collapse with hypotension.

So, am I taking Sudafed tonight?

Of course!

In the recommended dose for the purposes of clearing my nasal passages due to a head cold. After all, no head cold is keeping me from playing hockey. I won’t be taking it too late though, I do want to be able to sleep tonight and the natural norepinephrine rush from the game will be keeping me up into the wee hours as it is.