The ergogenic effects of pseudoephedrine: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study

1. The effects of over-the-counter doses of pseudoephedrine (PDE) on several parameters of exercise performance, including time to exhaustion, rate of perceived exertion (RPE), blood pressure, and heart rate were examined. 2. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design was used. The subjects randomly ingested either 60 mg pseudoephedrine or placebo and were asked to cycle to exhaustion on a stationary bicycle. A one-week washout period between treatments was allowed. Statistically significant differences were determined using a two-tailed paired ttest for the time to exhaustion measure. The two-way ANOVA was used to determine significance for the RPE, blood pressure and heart rate measurements. 3. It was observed that the time to exhaustion increased significantly for the pseudoephedrine treatment relative to the placebo group, suggesting ergogenic effects. The remaining study parameters did not change with treatment.