ChestEze

ChestEze (or Do-Do ChestEze) is a British over-the-counter pharmaceutical product manufactured by Novartis^[1] for "relief of bronchial cough, wheezing, breathlessness and other symptoms of asthmatic bronchitis and to clear the chest of mucus following upper respiratory tract infection." It contains 30mg caffeine, 18.31mg ephedrine hydrochloride and 100mg anhydrous theophylline.

It comes in a fawn brown tablet. Recommended doses are: Adults: not more than 1 tablet in 4 hours. Maximum 4 tablets in 24 hours. Young persons over 12 years: 1 tablet and no more than 3 tablets daily with an interval of at least 4 hours between each tablet.

Because ChestEze contains ephedrine, it is sometimes used illicitly in large doses by bodybuilders. This use can be dangerous, however, since theophylline can be toxic at relatively low doses.

In 2008, changes in the law regarding supply of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine-containing medicines^[2] resulted in ChestEze being withdrawn from pharmacies in the bulk 30 pack size. It is still available without prescription in the 9 pack size at the pharmacists discretion from most UK Pharmacies.

References

1. ^ eMC product summary
2. ^ "Drug Safety Update, March 2008" (pdf). The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the Commission on Human Medicines. 2008-06-30. http://www.mhra.gov.uk/home/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dDocName=CON014095&RevisionSelectionMethod=LatestReleased.