alt Hacker NewsGuess what people take for allergies - drugs that actually prevent reactions. Allergic reactions that effect the nose are almost always going to result in discharge, aka. a runny nose. It's the body's natural way of removing the allergen. Pseudoephedrine doesn't help with this at all.
The side affects of prolonged pseudoephedrine use (usually defined as more than 7 days, btw) are far more serious than a stuffy nose.
You cannot even purchase enough pseudoephedrine to use every day over a full month. The government restricts maximum grammage per month - and no doctor is going to prescribe long-term use of pseudoephedrine to "help with allergies".
That is to say I don't believe your story at all. But I get it - googling these things before you posted would have "cost" you approximately $24 or something something something...
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Guess what happens when people take antihistamines... Lovely, lovely side effects. Side effects which are generally equally as annoying as the original problem.
If one can treat the symptoms just as easily as the cause and pseudoephedrine doesn't make them feel like a drugged-out zombie, just guess which drug people are going to take...
...and yes, doctors actually will write prescriptions for pseudoephidrine because they're generally pretty sure their patients aren't using it to make meth. I know three people who've gotten such prescriptions, and I've been tempted to do the same thing myself.
Sudafed (the working version) was one of the go-tos for seasonal allergies, alongside Claritin. Not everyone reacts to allergens the same way. You'd take Claritin daily for the month or so, then Sudafed for a day or two when it got bad.