1979: Tedral Side Effects?

I got to thinking about the horrible side effects of Tedral described by other people my age who used it as a kid to control their allergies/ asthma. Many of them described having hallucinations. At first, I figured these descriptions of side effects were probably just exaggerations. However, there were a few events that occurred in my childhood that make me wonder if I had these side effects too, just blamed them on something else.

Actually, these descriptions were by people older than me. I was just a little kid when I took the medicine, and thankfully it was no longer used by the time I was ten. However, I was unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on how you look at it) enough to get to experience the tail end of its run as a top line allergy/ asthma treatment.

Here is one of the comments (unedited from medschat.com)

I took tedral in the 60's and another drug which was a smaller pill with a brown coating. I suffered mostly unpleasant hallucinations when I was small and they were not always when I was sick. I no longer have the life threating athsma as I did when I was a child. Over time my inquiries about the hallucinations were never answered. So it is interesting to read about others experiences here. I always thought it was a combination of the drugs and the reduced oxygen and air in my body. I think tedral probably saved my life also. The halluncinations very occasionally revisit me as I am falling asleep and if i am becoming ill.

Here's another:

I also took tedral on the late 50's for asthma and experienced similar side effects including hallucinations, but without the medication I'm not sure I would've lived. Our family doctor still made house calls and I can remember her coming to our house at all hours of the night to save my life. She was something else. I think the Tedral was the reinforcement if the adrenalin wasn't able to restore normal breathing.

And another:

Wow!!!!! I have always wondered why I would see the spiders on the ceiling's and what happened to them. I too remember taking the thick yellow asthma medicine (how I googled and ended up here) I used to surround myself with Teddy Bears to protect me. I never knew it was the medicine. I used it as a child 4 years old 1960''s to 1970's when primitine mist came on the market. I now know where my restlessness, inability to sleep and over abundance of energy /hallucinations came from and that I wasn't a bad child just effects of the medicine that I hated to take. Preferred the eperine shot in the arm even as a child.

And...

I thought i was mentally unbalanced. Seeing enlargements of real life in front of me. Increased hearing sensitivity. Shrinking rooms in front of me own eyes. For years thinking it was me. An unbalanced. Self. It all stopped as i got older until one day I was having an asthmatic condition and took the medicine the doctor had me take 3 times a day! Tedral!. The truck in front of my eyes, as i worked on the engine, seemed to shrink like what happened 5 ears previously. when I was taken tedral regularly. I wasn't crazy after all--- It was the medicine! Anyone else experience shrinking heads, feelings of speed' before the term existed? Why was it taken off the market? Everyone have these problems? It would be nice to hear from others about their Tedral experience. This occurred 1952 ...

That's how often I took it, sometimes.

 I don't want to dwell on this, but I do remember hallucinating at nighttime. I remember dreading going to bed sometimes. This was because, just after I was relaxed on the bed, shortly after I closed my eyes, I would still be wide awake but not be able to move. I would become completely paralyzed. These episodes would last several long moments. I would become very panicky, as you might imagine.

I swear I was not dreaming when these occurred. As I noted above, I would dread even attempting to sleep because I was afraid I would have one of these paralytic episodes. I was afraid that the next one might be the one that never went away.

I remember waking up and not wanting to even try going back asleep. I would be wired. I would read a book. I would write. I would even look at my homework and consider doing even that. That's how desperate I was not to go back to sleep.

So, I would finally get tired and would eventually fall asleep. Then I'd have these horrible dreams that I still remember to this day. I remember having this recurring dream about how this monkey would come through my window (even though it was closed) and would try to convince me to go with it. He would be wily and goofy, as monkeys can be. He would tell me how good it was. I would be scared to death of this monkey. I would try to get away. I would look at my door. But, as so often occurred in such dreams, the monkey had the power to paralyze me. I was unable to move for the door.

I would wake up horrified. My heart would be racing. I would go and open the door. I would turn on the light -- but the light would not come on. Sometimes the light came on and popped off, as though the monkey had used his power to make the light bulb burn out. I wanted so bad in these moments to wake mom up. But, they happened so often, that I had better not.

Then, the next morning, the light would work fine.

So, were these events hallucinations due to Tedral?

There were also moments I would be home with the flu. I always thought it was a treat to get to lie in mom's bed, and that's what I got to do when I was sick. However, I remember being so sick on these days that I didn't really get to enjoy it. Not only would I be extremely nauseated, I would also have a headache so horribly bad that I felt my head was going to explode. I would feel so miserable that I would cry. I know mom felt bad for me, but there was nothing she could do. These episodes would last about one day. The next day I would be fine, and I was probably back at school.

Now, it's surely possible these episodes were caused by the flu. However, I have had the flu many times since then, but have never had it that bad. So, this makes me wonder: was it the Tedral? Was it an accidental Tedral overdose?"

I mean, none of these events may have been the medicine. However, considering similar stories I have now read about Tedral, one can't help but wonder.

Anyone out there have any Tedral experiences, please feel free to share your stories in the comments below.