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Avatar universal

Need help quiting cough syrup!

Hi. I am 23 years old and have been abusing a cough syrup on a regular basis since July. Around 4 days back when I last consumed it, I felt weird and dull the other day so I paniced and made up my mind that I'll stop it. Since that day I've been feeling dull and my body feels weak. Also, I've a hard time sleeping. I feel scared most of the time, specially when I try falling asleep and because of that I am not able to sleep properly. Even though I am not able to sleep properly, still I am feeling sleepy most of the time. I would like to know how the recovery process for this works and how long will it take and if whether I'd need to take any medications?

Also, if I stop now, will I be ok in the future?

Please help.
54 Responses
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Avatar universal
Hi Guys,

I was abusing this syrup for 2 years and everyday 2-3 bottles, when I started to quit this syrup drug for 5 days I had these issues,
- stomach cramps
- diarrhea  
- trouble sleeping

But believe me guys it's been now week and I am not facing anymore issue now. Trust me its not hard to quit, you just need to make up your mind.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi, i from singapore. But i jus read most of u guys cough syrup name is so much diff from us in singapore. We call DSL, PMD.
Helpful - 0
14477678 tn?1434730391
I am a Government Servant Holder with attestation power.Ihave  in my family  my mother my daughter my nephew, my wife  and my Vabi.I stayed in a mes before 10 years wherein I first took 90 ml bottle of Corex and right at this moment  in fact rom before taking todays dose of 2 bottles of 100ml Codeine Phosphate Cough Syrup,I was incessantly thinking of giving up this addiction,despite toleating my stomachdisorders. FROM ; BISWENDU SAHA, of KUMARGANJ DAKSHIN DINAJPUR WEST BENGAL,PIN 733141.MOBILE NO. +91-9932673356
Helpful - 0
11671512 tn?1420822277
hey m 22 years old. i have an elder brother who is 24 . he's addicted to cough syrup . i've seen him consuming it. Due to this our family is suffering a lot. he doesn't listen to anyone. I think this cough syrup addiction is effecting his brain. i really need your help. tell me what can i do to get him out of this addiction. i'll be really gr8ful to you .
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I work with a lady who is totally addicted to cough syrup the brand is unknown - I have seen her swiging it in her car at breaks she has brought it in with her in a pill bottle but it leaked so now she is mixing it in her tea has well in her soda the other day really got me she came in wrk w a sweatshirt on that had orange stuff all the way down it - I asked her what it was yup it was cough syrup - Im much younger then her I don't no what to really say to her- she is grouchy all the time - do I just let it go?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
iam 24 years old and i have been taking cough syrup containing codeine 10 mg for the last 6 month and from yesterday i quit consuming it i took 5 to 6 bottle regularly and i never felt anything like side effect but from yesterday when i suddenly quit taking it....i feel very insecure and very frightened for no reason and my skin started itching and mild fever till tonight .i cannot sleep eat and hangout like last night i was walking in my room and suddenly i started seeing things blur and fall down ..i never experience this kind of stuff. my father owns a small private firm and every weekend he told me to give some presentation on the loss and gain of the firm with a chart (iam a graduate in commerce ).when iam high i give this presetation(analysis) descentlY but when i started quitting i cannot calculate even 2 digit number and very nervous on everything ..frankly i feel like commiting suicide if my dad find out about this addiction am dead..
PLEASE anyone i need your help my doctor told me to quit i did i quit but am left with side horrible side effect he [doctor] prescribed me some pills like arpezolam and otc but it is not working.....anyone please i need your help.....
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
iam 24 years old and i have been taking cough syrup containing codeine 10 mg for the last 6 month and from yesterday i quit consuming it i took 5 to 6 bottle regularly and i never felt anything like side effect but from yesterday when i suddenly quit taking it....i feel very insecure and very frightened for no reason and my skin started itching and mild fever till tonight .i cannot sleep eat and hangout like last night i was walking in my room and suddenly i started seeing things blur and fall down ..i never experience this kind of stuff. my father owns a small private firm and every weekend he told me to give some presentation on the loss and gain of the firm with a chart (iam a graduate in commerce ).when iam high i give this presetation(analysis) descentlY but when i started quitting i cannot calculate even 2 digit number and very nervous on everything ..frankly i feel like commiting suicide if my dad find out about this addiction am dead..
PLEASE anyone i need your help my doctor told me to quit i did i quit but am left with side horrible side effect he [doctor] prescribed me some pills like arpezolam and otc but it is not working.....anyone please i need your help.....
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I hear you brother, but it's probably from lil wayne the rapper before and got people into it more and etc...but bro it all get's better.....hang in there i promise i know words dont mean nothing to u right now i was like that, like whatever..but after a week or 2....be good again i promise and no turning back gotta commit tho.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Our 22 year old son died on August 23, 2012.  He drowned in a swimming pool, under the influence of DEXTROMETHORPHAN.  Cough syrup.  His dad knew he was using this and didn't help him.  Everyone kept silent.  No one told us.  The Medical Examiner and Police told us!!!

Please, PLEASE everyone - this will KILL you!!!!  If no one seems to care what you are doing - get away from those people - even so-called family! Get away from the people/family who enable you!

THIS IS SERIOUS!!

It is too late for our son - but YOU can get help!!  
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi i m drinking cough syrup (Tossex) from  from last 7 year, and i lost lot of money, always i have financial problem, till now i married, i feel so bed for using this, now i want to stop this bed habit. please help me.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
cut down the volume really help? i am trying to do this
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i try before but failed.its really easy to say den to do so.I'm just sharing my experience with everyone here , thinking back really regret drinking it. All my saving just gone to dhysedal and now i feel like working cos of dhysedal cannot see my future ahead.
Helpful - 0
1831920 tn?1320857757
Are you trying to quit?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
hi to all the guys here,hope i can help some of u guys here,i have been taking this dhyseda for more den 4years.i wanted to quit badly but i just can't stop drinking it.The side effect for this mixture is u will drowsiness,dry mouth,stomach upset,loss of appetite,diarrhoea,restlessness,tremors,irregular heart beat,muscular twitching,difficulty in passing urine and in the end u will find it very hard to stand for ur didi(****).If u guys wan to quit u can't stop drinking at onces this does not works out well.The actual way to stop it is u got to cut down the volume u drink days after days.cos our body cannot tell how much volume u actually need.You must really have the mind that u wanted to quit thus self desciple is needed.Nowadays dhysedal mixture is getting more and more expensive unlike last time u could actually get 1 bottle 90ml @ the price of $6 but now 1 90ml bottle cost u $35 its crazy !!! but when u r addicted to it u will not have much choice.everyday work till like dog and all our hard earn money goes to those stupid cough mixture, now more and more ppl are getting dhysedal to get high as this is not a control drug yet in the market,safer from those class A,B,C drug.u will not get caught for taking dhysedal but u will be caught for taking ABC .Some of the nice DR really earn big time by prescribe dhysedal to their patient 2x 90ml bottle $40+ , this is wat i had been thru and i know how it feel when u r taking it or  when u r not taking it cos u wan to stop.i can say its not easy,
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I hope benjasix that you have quit.

The best thing is that most of the commentators here are those who have been addicted to cough syrups but now hate it. Hating the habit is very important otherwise quitting would be tough.

Once you are clear it is bad habit and you decide to quit please remember 1-2 weeks are going to be tough. People who have never been addicted to anything will not understand your behavior for sure and maybe question you about the sate of your health and behavior but do not despair. Just get through 2 weeks and you will be fine. The worst WD symptoms is the depression that you get which knocks you out and you have to withstand that to come out clean.

In the end give it 2 weeks and you will succeed.

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
hi, I have lot of dry cough problem. Bcause of it, i feel headache, & some times get fever. So I started using some cough syrup. But even I feel getting addicted to it. I want to get rid of dry cough and these cough syrup permanently. would some 1 pl help me.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have been abusing coughn for the last 2 years. I am currently 23.

It all started just for fun, it was really exciting, to feel out of this world. Being in peace with yourself, to view the world and things from a different point of view. Coughn has chnaged it chemical and it is now called Coughn Rx. I have to tell you what happened last year to myself, that is when i was only 22. I used to abuse one whole bottle of coughn on a daily basis. One saturday night, i consumed a bottle of coughn and some weeds. Really high and i did not sleep since i wanted to enjoy this despicable pleasure. The next day, i was feeling restless, and took another half bottle at 13:00 and you know how you feel the urge to keep smoking when you take coughn!!!

I GOT A CARDIAC ATTACK AT 17:30!!!

So i quit but unfortunately with the company of my friends i restarted coughn on a daily basis till 7 days back. I really though that enough is enough. In fact with this Coughn RX, we get a sort of diarrhea, and also we have the urge to keep smoking. I have had difficulty to urinate and i used to masterbate whenever i had coughn, it took me longer to ejaculate and had a burning sensation whenever i ejaculated under the effect of coughn.

But life is not like this, and i started feeling dull and depressed on anything and everything. You became a sort of philosophe. But after learning that we can be victim of erectile dysfunction, i told myself , SEX and love making is much better. I want to make my wife enjoy good sex and become a father someday.

So it is 7 days that i have quit. Before, i do not know but there was something compelling me to go to a drugstore everyday and have my daily dose. Became just like a drug addict.

During the first 3 days, it was really terrible, you feel weak, feel like sleeping but you are not able to sleep. But i do was to masterbate, so as to get this sleep. Also you feel your head turning,  and its another sensation when you smoke a cigarette. I feel like i have a breathing problem and i cannot do repetitive action. Also whenever i slept, i keep dreaming, making terrible dreams and had difficulty to wake up to go to work and you feel that your body is heavy.

On the 5th day, one of my friend called me to share a coughn, but fortunately i got the courage to tell him that i do not have many even though i did have money.

But since the last two days, that is o the 6th and 7th day, i feel itchy. I feel terrible, my hands feel weird as well is my feet. I feel that i am having mosquitoes bites, but there is no mosquitoers at my place. I would like to know for how many days will this itching sensation remain.. And i have not slept today at all. And here i am writing this to you. i READ the commends and i really want to commend those who have been able to quit.

If i am able to quit this bad habit of mine for 1 month, i will try to stop smoking completely and just smoke weed each night before sleeping.

I just want to know, if there is going to be any adverse effect on me. Do i need to go to a doctor to check on my bones and internal organ. I really fear having erectile dysfunction. Because you need to know that if you please your wife sexually, never ever will she be an infidel to you , no matter how beautiful is that other man!!!

Take care, let us stop thios habit and live our life!!! Life is beautiful, is it not. I have been impressed with the guy who said that he want to make his father proud who is currently sick. We pray that your father will be better soon.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Friends, I've been abusing a cough syrup called Tossex
(each bottle contains 300mgcodeine+CPM20mg,& contains ***@****%).
this was since  2yrs. But i was irregular like weekly once, two days once,
than started with each bottle a daily, since 3 months i am on 2-3 bottles
everyday. Even recently in between few weeks before i tried it to quit for
2days forcefully & underwent severe with drawl like sweating and tiredness,  irritation, insomnia etc., as everyone here know about this common WD ****.

I was assuming that WD will stay with me for ever and a codeine
addict should not quit instantly it may cause severe damage than the real addiction. How wrong i was :(.

So I had plan A by
quitting this addiction by reducing the dosage day by day. This didn't work out for me because i am back
on 2-3 bottles again!  
But one thing for sure, I am confident that one can easily fight with this
addiction because finding a med without prescription from a store or multiple stores
is mostly annoying and med store guys can easily suspect the abuse and refuse to give, this has happened to me many times.
Fighting WD is not a big deal. It's easier than abusing and be ashamed!

I am much thankful to all you guys in this thread :)  
Because I am happy to know that a codeine addict can quit this **** instantly.  
special thanks to "shadowknight" for sharing his success with all of us. Very inspiring.

P.S "Codeine addicts can quit the habit instantly and WD will last for only a week or two but HIGHLY PAINFUL".
This is should be  the banner updated all over the internet forums so people like me will be advised.

Good luck :)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Wow, I have read a lot of these comments and they are inspiring and relatable.

I am 17, I have been taking cough and cold pills for about the past two years. I almost overdosed more than once and have witnessed my friend taken  to the ER during an overdose while mixed with alchohol. I have some in my system right now, actually. I need to stop. I was too young to realize what I was doing when I began taking these pills. I have dug myself into a hole that has changed me forever. Although dextromethoraphan has made me feel beautiful in so many ways i can not express, I can not go on with this drug addiction. Symptoms are slowly but surly increasing. Stomache problems, dizzyness, fatigue, ADD, slowness on reacting, weight loss, weakness.

Slowly but surly my body is shutting down on me and I think if i stop now I can preserve and repair the physical damage done due to the large ammount of pills consumed.

A scarry calculation :
2 boxes / week (each box containing 16 pills)
for 2 years = 3,072 pills consumed.

I love life so much, I wish I didnt hurt my body to the extent. But what is done is done and now is the time that I really need to snap out of it. Wake up! If I want to continue living, go to college, fall in love, have baby,
I must get off the dextromethorphan addiction.

Good luck to everyone who has a problem.
It is a crazy universe. Life is precious and fragile
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i hope now u are clean. i had been addicted to cough syrup for 4year and my wife son left me, i had been so depressed, i know the pain of quitting cough syrup, i dont have much friend and i use cough syrup to make me feel better for my depressed for the past 4year. because of those addicted drug med it mess my life up and i regret taking it but i know it's too late for me to save my marry and painful past. right now i try to quitting it and take a new life may god bless me
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
This corex addiction is probably the worst of all addictions ! It surely messes up your life.While the initial high you get at the beginning is alluring, the prolonged use leads to acute depression and an attitude that "Hell, I care "  . I am a prolonged user almost six years and I can tell you that there's nothing worse than Corex. I have even given it up for a period of six months but then I again fell into it at the slightest temptation such as feeling low on a day, feeling victimised and so on. The point is you will always remain vulnerable even when you give up !  So even as you try to be clean, remember that everyday you don't take the syrup is a big accomplishment you should be proud of. I tell you guys, tell it to yourself everyday "Enough is enough with this ****..and I got to do so many things in life". I have given up this **** now but ever so, I always tell myself " Bloody, you are a guy for heaven sake....act like one. " Damn,it's the law of nature to fight for your survival and giving up this **** is only the first step. GUYS, YOU ALL CAN DO IT - God damn, there's more beauty in life than this ****
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i have been helping my boyfriend fight the addiction to cough meds. the symptoms u describe is what he goes through when coming off the cough meds. he has no access to any money now. he has been clean for a month. he says its very hard to fight the need but its worth it. go to ur doctor and see u can be prescribed ambian for help on sleeping. he said thats best sleep aide and no side effects in the morning. best of luck.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hey All: I am 26 years olf and I have been addicted to sleeping pills and cough syrup going on 3 years now. It started with sleeping pills and then it wasn't working anymore and then I had to up them till I was taking like 13-16 pills just to go to sleep. Then it made me start feeling really weird like I wanted to go to sleep but couldn't. My throat would close up and I would just lay in bed for hours NOT SLEEPING. I then found cough syrup and that worked I switched between them but they get the job done. I tried really hard to quit and was good for about a month and then my itch came back and now it seems impossible to stop because I know what comes next. Crankyness and no sleep and feeling like crap. I know what it can do to my body and somehow that should make me care but it doesn't. I really want to stop and fall asleep like a regular person but I have been reading these posts and sorry to say but there are no real suggestions that would help me.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi
I'm 28 years old and I've been hooked on to this habit for more than 10 years. It started when Once I bought Corex for an severe cough. I got a high and was addicted to it since then. What really disgusts me is that I'm also responsible for spoiling one more life along with me i.e, of my girlfriend. It gives me bouts of depression. She is also on cough syrups with me for all this time. My life really is in shambles. I've quited my job (I was working with American Express and had a good future) and have been sitting unemployed for past 4 years. If it wouldn't have been for my girlfriend who is working it would have been impossible for me to survive. We spend daily more than 350Rs on smokes and cough syrups. Right now I've been taking Rexcof which is a cough syrup of an different brand.

I just keep on playing computer games 24x7 with my room closed and am very attached to my dog. Who has incidentally suffered because of my habit. Couple of times earlier I did tried to kick this habit but could not cause one of us backed out.

But now as I'm growing older and getting depressed about wasting so much time of my life I've once and for all decided to quit this habit after discussing this with my girlfriend. I really donot want to go to an rehab.

It's been 3 days today and I will keep all of you guys updated what happens next.

Also I'd like to mention that my elder brother was also addicted to Spasmo Proxyvon and even after marriage he wasn't able to kick the habit. He is facing the consequences now and has gone to a very good private hospital in New Delhi which has admitted him for fifteen days to help him to kick the habit and live a normal life. This is what has really spooked me and led me to take this decision.

My girlfriend and me are also facing withdrawal effects of Cough syrups such as body ache especially in legs and arms while going to sleep. Any help will be appreciated to kill the pain.
UnKnown User
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
Yes, it's been almost a decade and I haven't touched this ****. If I can do this so everyone can. Just believe in yourself folks.
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