Public Service Announcement- Re: Zicam Cold Products

[esavvymom]

Just got this from my SIL, and wanted to pass it along. I had heard something about the kids products recalled this summer, but not the 'why', or that it affected others. Here is the email i received, and the legitimate link to the FDA website with the Consumer Alert.http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm167065.htmhttp://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm166834.htm

This is crazy....It is true too! There is a link at the bottom of this to the FDA website with the information. You can also do your own search.


I want my friends and loved ones to know what has happened to me in hopes that it will never happen to you or anybody you care about. About 10 days ago, I felt a cold coming on; so before I went to bed I used Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel. It's supposed to help you "get over your cold faster." Immediately after I sprayed it into each nostril I felt the most horrific burning sensation imaginable. It literally felt like I had sprayed pepper spray directly into my brain. It burned all the way to the top of my skull. My nasal passages swelled, my eyes watered - the burning lasted all night long into the next day.
* *
After about a day, I realized I couldn't taste anything and I thought, "Wow - I must really have a bad cold." Then I noticed that I couldn't smell coffee
brewing, couldn't smell my perfume when I put it on, couldn't smell the popcorn I burned, couldn't smell my favorite candle. I panicked and starting smelling everything that I could find that had really strong odors - ammonia, finger nail polish remover, bleach, etc. I couldn't smell ANYTHING! I started tasting everything that had really strong tastes such as HOT salsa, raw red onions, Doritos, coffee. I couldn't taste ANYTHING!
* *
I told my mother about this and she said, "Oh, I've heard Zicam can affect your Olfactory nerve." I went online, typed in "Zicam side effects" and bam - up popped all sorts of web sites with people reporting the same thing I experienced. It seems that this past June, Zicam pulled the swabs for adults and children off the shelf but not the nasal gel.
* *
I went to my ENT and he said the Zicam had basically "FRIED" my Olfactory nerve and the results are most likely permanent. He put me on a strong dose of a steroid called Prednisone in hopes of recovering ANY bit of the nerve damage but he told me to "take this and pray." He said he had read about the side effects of Zicam and couldn't believe it is still on the shelf. It isn't FDA approved. I am taking the Prednisone and praying but nothing is happening. I LITERALLY CANNOT SMELL OR TASTE ANYTHING! I can tell if foods are hot or cold, I can tell the consistency and I can faintly detect if it is salty but that is it.
* *
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pass this on to everyone you care about. I don't want this to happen to ANYONE else!!!!!!!!!! And if you have Zicam in your medicine cabinet--THROW IT AWAY!
* *
Please share with everyone you can.
Check it out on the link below.
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm167065.htm

 

[JAE]

I use it, and I'm fine. I swear by it.

 

[esavvymom]

Glad it's worked for you, but Not worth the risk for me.
I used it a few times months/years back- never noticed a difference really. So never used it again.

 

[Nanisu]

Sorry, but we run run run for the zicam when the cold bug stops by our house. We've never had a problem with it, and it is absolutely amazing how much faster we recover when we take it.

 

[pampered1224]

I have been on nasal sprays for 11 years so I can sleep. In all those years, I have never had problems with the sprays. Others have. It is simple chemistry. My body can handle it, theirs can not. Like having allergies to nuts. Some are some are not. So those that can do eat them and those that can't don't. Same with Zicam. I also can not do vitamin C. They have not pulled oranges from the shelf because of it. I think the issue with Zicam is the same. Or acetaminophen which I can not take either or zinc which a friend of mine has issues with or my neighbor who can not use iodized salt. No drug that works for the majority will ever be pulled unless it starts really being a problem. So if some can, then all the power to them, if some can't I feel bad that you had to find out the hard way. I can not imagine not being able to smell or taste things! I am so sorry you had to find out the hard way that it was not for you. The rest of you, just be fore warned about this so you make your own choice about trying it.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Whenever someone sends me a dire warning, my Skept-O-Meter gets pegged, especially when the message is laced with LOTS OF UPPERCASE LETTERS and lots of !!!!!!!!!!! exclamation points.

That doesn't mean there isn't a grain of truth buried in it somewhere. In the dire warnings about the Zicam recall, it was the nasal swabs that were recalled. I bought all I could before they disappeared from the shelves, because they work for me. That doesn't mean they worked for everyone, as John said, but when my supply is gone, they're gone.

The dire warning emails tend to take on a life of their own, too. I have a cousin, God bless her, who thinks of me often and she is the biggest culprit for forwarding all this stuff to me, most of them are chestnuts that have been around for a long, long time.

You might want to revisit this thread: BAN DIHYDROGEN DIOXIDE! where we all had some fun with this phenomenon.

 

[esavvymom]

I don't normally post "dire warning" emails- I at least try to make sure they are legitimate...otherwise you won't normally see it from me. I'll go crawl back under my rock.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

No, no, no...don't go away! That wasn't my intent at all! The Zicam warning is one of those that does have merit. I was just making a generalization about the dire warning messages that make the rounds. You started some great discussion and some very valid points were made about the topic.Maybe we should bump the Dihydrogen Monoxide thread once and awhile for some fun.

 

[esavvymom]

I'm not offended or bothered...you have to work MUCH harder than that to upset me.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Just making sure - I seem to specialize in that the last few days.

 

[pampchefrhondab]

Actually I think the Zicam nasal spray has been taken off of the market. I can't find it here in Indiana and had heard about some people losing their sense of smell from it.

I personally used it all the time and loved it. It worked sooo well! I hate the other Zicam products, they taste terrible!

 

[JAE]

I bought some Zicam nasal spray not that long ago. I was surprised to find it because I had heard rumors that it was banned. Should I start a bidding war? I haven't opened the box yet.......

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I don't need a bidding number but if you happen to have some nasal swabs...

 

[mandy412]

I don't normally post "dire warning" emails- I at least try to make sure they are legitimate...otherwise you won't normally see it from me. I'll go crawl back under my rock.

It's legit....I had a chef friend that used the spray and lost her sense of taste and can no longer work as a chef. Very sad situation.