Friday, March 11, 2005

Terrible DXM Tragedy

DXM, dextramethorphan, Triple-C, dex. It's sold over-the-counter in cough and cold medications, and it's a killer. Just check out this story from the Ft. Myers FL News Press:
Two Cape Coral teenagers are dead and another is in critical condition after police say they overdosed Sunday on "Triple C."

Alex Kulwicki, 19, and two friends, both also 19, returned to his 102 S.E. 46th Terrace home sometime overnight.

When his family awoke around 9:40 a.m., relatives found Kulwicki passed out on a living room couch. The other men, whose names were not released Sunday, were found on a bed in the back room not breathing, Cape Coral police said. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Kulwicki was transported to Cape Coral Hospital, where he remained in critical condition Sunday night. A man who answered the phone at Kulwicki's home Sunday evening said the family declined comment.

Triple C, the slang term for the over-the-counter medication Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold, contains dextromethorphan, commonly called DXM. Other slang terms for the drug include dex, candy, skittles and red devils.

While it is legitimately used to treat colds or allergy symptoms, when taken in high doses the drug can cause hallucinations and a sense of dissociation. Effects can last as long as six hours.

In high doses, the drug can cause increased body temperatures, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, loss of consciousness, seizure, brain damage and death. Nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, headache and numbness of fingers and toes are other effects.
You can help me get the word out on Dex, so together we can prevent these sorts of heartbreaking tragedies. Revenues from sales of True Stories of Ecstasy and Ketamine will be used to make True Stories of GHB, DXM and Alcohol.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

actually, the real culprit in the "triple c" is the acetaminophen, which causes increased heart rate and a drop in blood pressure. According to the Coricidin Wikipedia page, "Use of Coricidin for this purpose is dangerous because chlorphenamine has anticholinergic activity, which in high doses can cause serious reactions. Fatalities have resulted from overdoses of chlorphenamine."

Unknown said...

I find this hard to believe, since there's no Tylenol in Coricidin Cold/Cough anyways

it's the CPM