Ephedrine - The sports and fitness connection

In Her Own Words

Libby Heath, manager The Firm

 

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Saying "I do" to Banning Ephedrine

The Cobalt Blue Kitchen-Aid mixer arrived the other day, Lauren Graham cannot wait to get home to Texas and sneak a peak at it. It is an early wedding present complements of her folks, but the Cobalt Blue theme was Graham's idea.

The bride registered at Target and Bed Bath and Beyond, booked a swanky place for the reception, and ordered a Vera Wang gown. Like all brides, the USC graduate student would like to be able to slide on the mass of white satin without having to worry about breaking a stitch. Graham is determined to loose some weight for her big day, and ephedrine is a part of her workout routine. It allows her to exercise longer and burn more calories. A lot of women trying to lose weigh probably do not realize that a lot of diet pills contain ephedrine.

A leading weight loss manufacturer, Metabolife International, says it markets Metabolife 356 as a weight-loss aid, not a sports supplement even though it contains ephedrine. It says its supplement is "safe and effective when used at recommended doses by appropriate individuals."

People who have a history of kidney disease, pre-existing heart disease, high blood pressure, over active thyroid, seizures, diabetes or psychiatric disorders should avoid ephedra-containing substances.

Nothing is going to stop Graham from looking her best on the big day. "I find people who have never taken ephedrine are typically the ones who have the most negative opinions of the drug. Many people assume those who take ephedrine automatically abuse it and can't live without it. That is simply not true."

Fun Fact on Ephedrine

  • Ephedrine (eh-FEH-drin), a stimulate extracted from the Asian plant ephedra, is used for short-term energy boosts. This leads to improved performance and endurance which allows users to exercise longer and feel more alert.

Say What?

  • Arizona Diamondback pitcher Albie Lopez told USA Today that he used ephedrine for a couple of days in spring training as a pick-me-up and promptly quit. "My heart was racing," he said, "I felt like I wasn't in control of my body…That's what a lot of players say…and they don't like it." Lopez decided to get his caffeine boost from coffee, but claims he has seen other players using it.

The girl pictured lifting weights was only a student working out at the Wellness Center and is not associated with any of the people in the text of this website.

Sidelines

  • "For a while it was a trend, but after the deaths of those football players and the negative press it has lost some of its appeal. But sometimes these trends go out for a couple of years and then come back. One of the major problems with ephedrine is that its availability is widespread and can be hard to test for." --Skip Hunter, Former University of North Carolina Athletic Trainer not working for the Clemson Sports Medicine Clinic in Clemson, S.C.

Murder by Numbers

  • The Food and Drug Administration has reports of at least 100 deaths linked to ephedrine.
  • A 2000 NCAA survey of student-athletes revealed that 3.9 percent of athletes used ephedrine last year.
  • Ephedrine is used by an estimated 12 million Americans daily.

Scares on the Field

It's late. Lauren Graham is getting tired of shuffling through her notes and scanning the endless pages of text. By now all the information is starting to swirl into a mass of meaningless words. It's time. She lifts the cap and pops a couple of pills. At night ephedrine is her coffee, but as an athlete it is her vitamin.

The USC graduate student has been taking an ephedrine pill everyday since high school. Graham has no reason to doubt the drug. She is healthy and hasn't noticed any dangerous side effects. Even with the recent buzz surrounding the supplement, Graham is convinced ephedrine is safe.

But the Baltimore Oriole with the number, 51 embossed on his right sleeve, would disagree. He has seen the dark side of ephedrine.

It was another scorcher at the Orioles spring training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Pitching prospect Steve Bechler took some pills from his bottle of Xenadrine, an over-the-counter drug containing ephedra, and headed for the field. That was his last workout. Bechler's body temperature soared to 108, cooking his failing organs. The combination of sun and supplement proved deadly.

Bechler knew the risks.

The death of Northwestern defensive back, Rashidi Wheeler, a year earlier, sent up a red flag among all ephedrine users, distributors, and athletic organizations. Subsequently, the NFL, NCAA and Olympic Committee banned ephedrine, but it can still be bought at any nutrition store, gym, or supermarket.

As a senior, Wheeler desperately wanted to impress the coaches. Who would have guessed that his last moments would be spent lying on a field, struggling for air, while his teammates continued to run drills around him. Like Bechler, Wheeler was given two tables from a bottle of Xenadrine. Other teammates reported seeing Wheeler at his locker scooping Ultimate Orange into a squeeze bottle he drank before the fatal drill. Wheeler was not the only one out there using ephedrine. Jason Wright also admitted to drinking some Ultimate Orange, and reported feeling as thought he had "hit a wall" and had to lie down and vomit. He went on to say if felt as if his entire body was shutting down.

Graham understands the risks. She knows that sometimes her heart rate increases and she feels jittery when she takes ephedrine on an empty stomach, but to her all the negative press is ridiculous. She labels Bechler and Wheeler as abusers who should not have been out practicing in 100-degree heat. According to her, that is not how the drug is supposed to be used.