Ubiquitous
11-10-2005, 05:40 AM
UPPER FREEHOLD — It’s in many medicine cabinets. It can be purchased easily at any pharmacy or supermarket. And, according to one local mother, its abuse among local youth is widespread.
It is called Triple C (CCC), a nickname for the cough medicine Coricidin HBP Cold & Cough, the most popular brand of dextromethorphan (DXM) and chlorpheniramine maleate that is abused, according to the coricidin.org Web site. While abusers take huge doses of the medication for its psychedelic effects, the Web site states, side effects may include nausea, vomiting, irregular heartbeat, loss of consciousness and death.
Corinne Szydlowski has experienced problems with her oldest son, Nicholas, 18, because of Triple C. She said her son would come home from school around 2:30 p.m., go to his room and not come out again until 6 a.m., when he had to leave for school again.
“I was unable to wake him,” Szydlowski said. “In the beginning, I thought he is a teenager who is tired, who needs sleep and who’s simply growing.”
When her son’s routine did not change, Szydlowski said she started to question him.
She said she tried to tell her children not to fall into the dark world of drugs.
“Once it happens, it’s a hard road ahead of you,” Szydlowski said. “This is a fight that very often can’t be beat. I am trying, and it is on my mind 24 hours a day.”
While she asks herself what she might have done differently, she wants to warn other parents about the dangers of abusing over-the-counter (OTC) medication.
Szydlowski believes that there is a huge drug abuse problem in the community. While most parents are familiar with alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroin and OxyContin, she said, they may not be aware of the dangers of Triple C.
Kids have also nicknamed DXM Robo, Skittles, Rojo, Dex, Tussin and Vitamin D.
“DXM abuse is called ‘robotripping’ or ‘tussing,’ Szydlowski said. “Users might be called ‘syrup heads’ or ‘robotards,’ ” she said.
According to Szydlowski, Coricidin, which comes in tiny red pills, is the most popular brand for abusers.
“In my research, I have been told by several pharmacists that any over-the-counter medication [used] for the purpose of cough suppressant is the one to stay away from,” she said.
When DXM mixes with other drugs, such as NyQuil, Robitussin or alcohol, the side effects increase.
“This particular brand, Coricidin, is specific to patients with high blood pressure,” Szydlowski said. “Therefore, it makes blood pressure lower.”
When a person with normal or low blood pressure takes DXM, according to Szydlowski, his or her blood pressure can lower to the point where they become extremely fatigued.
She said if an abuser takes a lot of the pills at one time, the drug “could put you in a coma.”
“It could make your heart stop,” she said.
Users of Triple C have described the drug’s effects as “numbness in the feet and hands” and “numbness that slowly travels throughout the body, making the user feel as if he or she is floating,” according to Szydlowski.
“It has been called the poor man’s Ecstasy,” Szydlowski said. “[The feeling] lasts for about three hours and then [the user] falls asleep for many hours.”
Szydlowski added, “If I take one dose of NyQuil, I feel similar to this. I can only imagine how one feels when taking 10 times the normal dosage.”
A normal dose of DXM is 15 to 30 milligrams. Mind-altering effects can occur at doses as low as 100 milligrams, she said. Abusers she has spoken with have consumed as much as 6 ounces of cough syrup with eight to 10 pills, resulting in a dose of 240-360 milligrams, she said.
Because this type of medication does not show up on regular drug tests, Szydlowski said, kids who may be receiving outpatient care or other treatment can use Triple C and still pass drugs tests.
“They beat the system,” she said. “The end result could be death.”
According to the Web site coricidin.org, a large number of hospitalizations — and even deaths — have resulted from people taking Coricidin as a recreational source of DXM. It states that Coricidin appears to be more dangerous as a source of DXM than OTC medicines that contain only dextromethorphan, such as Robitussin Maximum Strength Cough Syrup, or DexAlone, which is the only gelcap containing DXM that is sold in the United States.
Coricidin is produced by Schering-Plough.
Schering-Plough spokeswoman Julie Lux said there are 125 OTC medications containing dextromethorphan.
Lux said her company is working with the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, among other groups, and with retail partners on a variety of educational programs to curb the problem at the retail level.
“We are actively aware of all reports [of abuse], and they are taken very seriously,” she said.
Liz Rudder works with adolescent substance abusers at CPC Behavioral Healthcare Inc. in Middletown. She said 80 percent of the children they see at CPC have used Triple C, and 20 percent use it regularly.
“It’s so readily available,” she said.
Rudder said parents are often unaware of the abuse of such products. She said parents who are very alert and question everything their child does may notice the use of OTC medications, but others don’t notice the excessive use of cough syrup or other drugs available OTC.
Besides the short-term effects, Rudder said long-term effects of DXM abuse include extreme irritability, increased defiance, lack of concentration and behavioral problems.
For more information, visit www.antidrug.com or www.drugfreeamerica.com/DXM.
http://examiner.gmnews.com/news/2005/1110/...t_Page/040.html (http://examiner.gmnews.com/news/2005/1110/Front_Page/040.html)
It is called Triple C (CCC), a nickname for the cough medicine Coricidin HBP Cold & Cough, the most popular brand of dextromethorphan (DXM) and chlorpheniramine maleate that is abused, according to the coricidin.org
They don't mention anything about the dangers of CPM and DXM howeaver, they continue to use 'DXM' and 'CCCs' interchangebly throughout the article.
When DXM mixes with other drugs, such as NyQuil, Robitussin or alcohol, the side effects increase.
Is it safe to mix 20ml of Robitussin with my 300mg of DXM?
Abusers she has spoken with have consumed as much as 6 ounces of cough syrup with eight to 10 pills, resulting in a dose of 240-360 milligrams, she said. 6oz of cough syrup WITH 8 to 10 pills? 8 cccs are 240 mg itself.
Oh, wait... According to the Web site coricidin.org, a large number of hospitalizations — and even deaths — have resulted from people taking Coricidin as a recreational source of DXM. It states that Coricidin appears to be more dangerous as a source of DXM than OTC medicines that contain only dextromethorphan, such as Robitussin Maximum Strength Cough Syrup, or DexAlone, which is the only gelcap containing DXM that is sold in the United States.
They do mention that.
It is called Triple C (CCC), a nickname for the cough medicine Coricidin HBP Cold & Cough, the most popular brand of dextromethorphan (DXM) and chlorpheniramine maleate that is abused, according to the coricidin.org Web site. While abusers take huge doses of the medication for its psychedelic effects, the Web site states, side effects may include nausea, vomiting, irregular heartbeat, loss of consciousness and death.
Corinne Szydlowski has experienced problems with her oldest son, Nicholas, 18, because of Triple C. She said her son would come home from school around 2:30 p.m., go to his room and not come out again until 6 a.m., when he had to leave for school again.
“I was unable to wake him,” Szydlowski said. “In the beginning, I thought he is a teenager who is tired, who needs sleep and who’s simply growing.”
When her son’s routine did not change, Szydlowski said she started to question him.
She said she tried to tell her children not to fall into the dark world of drugs.
“Once it happens, it’s a hard road ahead of you,” Szydlowski said. “This is a fight that very often can’t be beat. I am trying, and it is on my mind 24 hours a day.”
While she asks herself what she might have done differently, she wants to warn other parents about the dangers of abusing over-the-counter (OTC) medication.
Szydlowski believes that there is a huge drug abuse problem in the community. While most parents are familiar with alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroin and OxyContin, she said, they may not be aware of the dangers of Triple C.
Kids have also nicknamed DXM Robo, Skittles, Rojo, Dex, Tussin and Vitamin D.
“DXM abuse is called ‘robotripping’ or ‘tussing,’ Szydlowski said. “Users might be called ‘syrup heads’ or ‘robotards,’ ” she said.
According to Szydlowski, Coricidin, which comes in tiny red pills, is the most popular brand for abusers.
“In my research, I have been told by several pharmacists that any over-the-counter medication [used] for the purpose of cough suppressant is the one to stay away from,” she said.
When DXM mixes with other drugs, such as NyQuil, Robitussin or alcohol, the side effects increase.
“This particular brand, Coricidin, is specific to patients with high blood pressure,” Szydlowski said. “Therefore, it makes blood pressure lower.”
When a person with normal or low blood pressure takes DXM, according to Szydlowski, his or her blood pressure can lower to the point where they become extremely fatigued.
She said if an abuser takes a lot of the pills at one time, the drug “could put you in a coma.”
“It could make your heart stop,” she said.
Users of Triple C have described the drug’s effects as “numbness in the feet and hands” and “numbness that slowly travels throughout the body, making the user feel as if he or she is floating,” according to Szydlowski.
“It has been called the poor man’s Ecstasy,” Szydlowski said. “[The feeling] lasts for about three hours and then [the user] falls asleep for many hours.”
Szydlowski added, “If I take one dose of NyQuil, I feel similar to this. I can only imagine how one feels when taking 10 times the normal dosage.”
A normal dose of DXM is 15 to 30 milligrams. Mind-altering effects can occur at doses as low as 100 milligrams, she said. Abusers she has spoken with have consumed as much as 6 ounces of cough syrup with eight to 10 pills, resulting in a dose of 240-360 milligrams, she said.
Because this type of medication does not show up on regular drug tests, Szydlowski said, kids who may be receiving outpatient care or other treatment can use Triple C and still pass drugs tests.
“They beat the system,” she said. “The end result could be death.”
According to the Web site coricidin.org, a large number of hospitalizations — and even deaths — have resulted from people taking Coricidin as a recreational source of DXM. It states that Coricidin appears to be more dangerous as a source of DXM than OTC medicines that contain only dextromethorphan, such as Robitussin Maximum Strength Cough Syrup, or DexAlone, which is the only gelcap containing DXM that is sold in the United States.
Coricidin is produced by Schering-Plough.
Schering-Plough spokeswoman Julie Lux said there are 125 OTC medications containing dextromethorphan.
Lux said her company is working with the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, among other groups, and with retail partners on a variety of educational programs to curb the problem at the retail level.
“We are actively aware of all reports [of abuse], and they are taken very seriously,” she said.
Liz Rudder works with adolescent substance abusers at CPC Behavioral Healthcare Inc. in Middletown. She said 80 percent of the children they see at CPC have used Triple C, and 20 percent use it regularly.
“It’s so readily available,” she said.
Rudder said parents are often unaware of the abuse of such products. She said parents who are very alert and question everything their child does may notice the use of OTC medications, but others don’t notice the excessive use of cough syrup or other drugs available OTC.
Besides the short-term effects, Rudder said long-term effects of DXM abuse include extreme irritability, increased defiance, lack of concentration and behavioral problems.
For more information, visit www.antidrug.com or www.drugfreeamerica.com/DXM.
http://examiner.gmnews.com/news/2005/1110/...t_Page/040.html (http://examiner.gmnews.com/news/2005/1110/Front_Page/040.html)
It is called Triple C (CCC), a nickname for the cough medicine Coricidin HBP Cold & Cough, the most popular brand of dextromethorphan (DXM) and chlorpheniramine maleate that is abused, according to the coricidin.org
They don't mention anything about the dangers of CPM and DXM howeaver, they continue to use 'DXM' and 'CCCs' interchangebly throughout the article.
When DXM mixes with other drugs, such as NyQuil, Robitussin or alcohol, the side effects increase.
Is it safe to mix 20ml of Robitussin with my 300mg of DXM?
Abusers she has spoken with have consumed as much as 6 ounces of cough syrup with eight to 10 pills, resulting in a dose of 240-360 milligrams, she said. 6oz of cough syrup WITH 8 to 10 pills? 8 cccs are 240 mg itself.
Oh, wait... According to the Web site coricidin.org, a large number of hospitalizations — and even deaths — have resulted from people taking Coricidin as a recreational source of DXM. It states that Coricidin appears to be more dangerous as a source of DXM than OTC medicines that contain only dextromethorphan, such as Robitussin Maximum Strength Cough Syrup, or DexAlone, which is the only gelcap containing DXM that is sold in the United States.
They do mention that.