Why is Coricidin Cough and Cold potentially lethal?

[Ollie]

What is Coricidin Cough & Cold?
Coricidin Cough & Cold is a (huhu) cough & cold medication.

It looks like this:
http://www.coricidin.com/prodinfo_cc.html

Many people take Coricidin Cough & Cold (also known as CCCs, or triple-Cs) in order to have a Dextromethorphan (DXM) trip. This is because they're relatively easy to take, in comparison to drinking a bottle of Robotussin. However, CCCs are EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

Well, why are CCCs dangerous then?
Here's a list of the active ingredients in CCCs, as listed by their website:

Active Ingredients (per tablet): Chlorpheniramine Maleate 4 mg, Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide 30 mg.

That bright red part is the part that's going to get you. An excellent rule to follow, if you choose to dex, is to only select products that contain ONLY dextromethorphan hydrobromide.

Chlorpheniramine Maleate is particularly bad for you in high doses.

Chlorpheniramine Maleate? What the fuck is that?

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/d...r/a682543.html
Here's an excellent page on CPM. For those who think this is too long to read, in a nutshell, it's an ingredient to clear up that runny nose when you have a cold.

Here's what it does in large doses though:

Chlorpheniramine Maleate

* High doses of Chlorpheniramine Maleate (CPM) can cause severe and life-threatening symptoms including seizures; shortness of breath or troubled breathing; weakness; loss of consciousness; severe dryness of mouth, nose, or throat; bleeding from skin, mouth, eyes, rectum, and vagina; and possibly death.
* We have seen recommendations that no more than 24 mg of CPM be taken in a day.

That doesn't sound pleasant. Here's a list of trip reports that also didn't find the effects pleasant:
http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.cgi?S1=22&Str=CPM
And here's one of the best ones detailing a trip to the ER with the consumption of charcoal and all of that fun stuff:
http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=16895

And here's a list of news reports detailing deaths from CPM overdoses:
http://www.dextromethorphan.ws/dxmdeaths.htm

TL;DR? Coricidin Cough and Cold IS BAD FOR YOU and POTENTIALLY LETHAL. The DXM-hbr only stuff is located right next to it on the counter. The easy to swallow candy-coating is of little consequence if you're chugging charcoal. Or dying.

[T-Wrecks]

Very good thread. I'm a very experienced Dex user, and quite the Clandestine Chemist, when it comes to producing it.( I Love making freebase DXM, I feel by far its the best way to do it, but not everyone has access to it, or the knowledge and ability to make it)

I get frustrated when I see people taking CCC because that seems to be the most rampently abused version of DXM, and it gives DXM tons of bad press, even though I feel that DXM is one of the new age wonder chemicals.

Its a painkiller, its an anti-depressant, its a minor hallucinagen, it produces massive euphoria, and It actually interferes with other drug addictions. (If you do dxm regularly you will find that many drugs lose their appeal.) It got me out of a large prescription drug addiction, within the course of a couple days. DXM is an amazing, amazing chemical, but it gets such bad fucking press due to people overdosing on CCC. There have only ever been around 3 truly DXM only overdoses, and those were in experienced users that took extremely high doses, and DID not use a sitter.

[User Friendly]

doesn't taking triple C's cause you to trip more then regular robotussin though?

[UMphreak]

there is this

http://www.dextroverse.org/txt/cccextraction.txt

[T-Wrecks]

doesn't taking triple C's cause you to trip more then regular robotussin though?

Not really, I mean. . . I don't see how an antihistamine could make a dxm trip more prominent, but if you really want that extra effect, just buy a real antihistamine, take a small dose of that, and then take the real DXM, there is no reason to risk taking CCC to get a DXM high. I gave my friend 500mg of freebase powder I made, and he tripped 10x harder then he ever did when he was a dumb kid and abused CCC, so, I don't think it really matters.

[WhoaDude]

remove

[Ollie]

there is this

http://www.dextroverse.org/txt/cccextraction.txt

Seems like a lot of work compared to the citric acid extraction on the syrups, with the added effect that if you screw up badly enough, you're still taking CPM.

[Floydian]

What about coricidin II, which is apparently free of the deadly decongestant?

[Rusty Shackleford]

What about coricidin II, which is apparently free of the deadly decongestant?

coricidin II does only have DXM in it, so I must assume that it is safe to take.

[WGFCrafty]

What about coricidin II, which is apparently free of the deadly decongestant?

If the only active ingredient is Dxm HBr than it is safe to take. You gotta watch out for the Chlorpheniramine Maleate.

[Hydrogen Peroxide]

What about coricidin II, which is apparently free of the deadly decongestant?

If the decongestant you refer to is pseudoephedrine that isnt the thing to worry about in CCC's.

[Floydian]

Well I'd assume "decongestant free" would extend to both CPM and pseudoephedrine (Which isn't normally in Coricidin anyways)

[Ollie]

Thought it's worth noting that it's not listed as a product on its website, but that may just be lazy webmasters. Can you scan the ingredients label for us?

[Floydian]

I don't have one... I just saw a commercial for it.


But after searching the best I can see is that it has Tylenol in it as well, but only half the CPM (2mg)... But that may just be the original coricidin products.

http://www.coricidin.ca/english/prod...d%20and%20flu/


I swear the commercial explicitly said "coricidin, without the decongestant"

[WGFCrafty]

I don't have one... I just saw a commercial for it.


But after searching the best I can see is that it has Tylenol in it as well, but only half the CPM (2mg)... But that may just be the original coricidin products.

http://www.coricidin.ca/english/prod...d%20and%20flu/


I swear the commercial explicitly said "coricidin, without the decongestant"

Hah, that shit doesn't even have DXM HBr in it. Both ingredients are extremely damaging.

[wng-]

I don't have one... I just saw a commercial for it.


But after searching the best I can see is that it has Tylenol in it as well, but only half the CPM (2mg)... But that may just be the original coricidin products.

http://www.coricidin.ca/english/prod...d%20and%20flu/


I swear the commercial explicitly said "coricidin, without the decongestant"

The decongestant is DXM, so CCC2 can't make you trip.

[kwee]

The decongestant is DXM, so CCC2 can't make you trip.

Yea I think so too.

[Zephir62]

To be honest, people have a tolerance for Chlorpheniramine Maleate up to 200-300mgs before actual severe problems kick in(seizures, bleeding, etc.) in exception to the occasional user who is hypersensitive(where they should not take more than 30mgs). The average dose that people use to trip on C's is 8 C's - around here anyway. Sometime there is the dumbass though that goes around and takes 50 of them(or so they say) because that's the 'only way he can get high off them' AKA to be badass. Ironically I've never seen any of them ever end up in the hospital or with bad trips. That's because people generally have a higher tolerance than the required dose to trip! The only time a friend has been to a hospital from taking C's was when they took 29 of them(116mg) and she went into a coma. She also woke up within an hour, although I'm sure not everyone would be so lucky.

In short, C's are not as dangerous as everyone says - but they ARE dangerous to people who are hypersensitive. If you are unsure and C's are the only things you can get, either because you can't down cough syrup or 50 some robogels or can't even get them in the first place, I recommend you to start at a low dose for your first time taking C's, AKA 6 pills. This way, if you are hypersensitive to Chlorpheniramine Maleate you will find out without any harsh consequences, or if you are hypersensitive to DXM you will also find that you have a reaction. Either way, if you can only take C's and you have a reaction from taking 6, DXM is not for you. Although if you were able to get it in powder form you should take a low dose of 100 mgs to find if you are hypersensitive to DXM for sure.

People don't die from C's because of Chlorpheniramine Maleate, it's because they're stupid or have stupid friends to convince them there's nothing wrong with C's. And I've heard some shitty rumors about C's. My one friend thinks currently that there is heroin in the pills of all things. Anyway, just remember to play it safe and to be careful with how you tread and you will have a fun time.

[Lysergic]

Bump and request to sticky.

[deadatom]

hehe.. from what i have learned cpm actually does change the effect of the "intoxication" of dxm since it blocks the same liver enzymes as grape fruit juice but to a greater degree making it so that less of the dxm is turned into the nasty liver metabolite known as dxo( which is why pure dxm hbr was very harsh.. to much dxo) the problem lies that cpm doesnt leave the body for a bit so if someone takes triple c's or whatever the hell people call em these days for like an extended amount of time it accumilates and becomes really toxic.. the people i bet that died from this are kiddies who couldnt get other drugs or uneducated people trying to get to the "fifth platue" or whatever its called through sustained dxm brain saturation for a week or two.. bleh

[Shwiggy]

I've seen one of my friends take around 35 and he was fine, but I realize how bad it is. I've never done it.

[Dosed]

I've heard of CCC's being used as "enhancers" for regular DXM trips. Like you down a bottle of robogels, puke an hour later, then pop two CCC's to keep you going. I'm definitely the "better safe than sorry" type though, so I don't touch any kind of DXM product that contains other active ingredients.

[Pseudonaut06]

2 words...
FUCK CORICIDIN.

[Mack_J]

Yeah, when I was younger I thought it would be cool to take 64 CCC's, definitely a fucked up experience. Had to go to the hospital. Never doing that again. But I'm down with DXM for sure, the stuff was awesome until I overdid it.

[Lestat]

DXM is good...but you look like an idiot using it as well as while you are on it.
Shrooms man. Now that's a trip.

[Smuck]

Keep in mind guys, CPM alone can kill you, the mix makes it even more dangerous.

Fuck CCC's, yeah I've done them, and I'm alive today, but its all in the game of russian roulette.

CCC's = Brain damage will accumulate quicker since anticholinergics are definetely NOT good for your brain
CCC's = Death
CCC's = Less lucid trip, off of only 12 CCC's I tripped really really hard, but was not in as much control as if DXM alone, my thoughts and emotions were everywhere
CCC's = DONT DO THEM!!! I ended up on the hospital once on 16 of these, not because I was dying but because I was extremely fucked up in front of parents and they freaked out and took me there.

DXM alone is a better, cleaner, and healthier for your brain trip anyway, CPM is some nasty shit, sure does a good job of clearing allergies without inducing drowsiness though.

[Lestat]

Agreed