Dextromethorphan abuse

A Hapangama,Kala Kuruppuarachchi

doi:10.4038/cmj.v53i3.256

Abstract

Ceylon Medical Journal (CMJ) is a peer-reviewed, open access journal published quarterly by the Sri Lanka Medical Association in the last week of March, June, September and December each year. The mission of the CMJ is to promote the science and art of medicine and betterment of public health. The Journal publishes original papers and commentaries which have relevance to medicine and allied sciences. The CMJ is committed to maintaining and conforming to the editorial and ethical standards recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

Highlights

A wide range of drugs is being abused by teenagers across the world, and over the years, they seem to have made the discovery that they could get "high" by taking over-the-counter medicines containing dextromethorphan (DXM)
A 19-year old male, who had been abusing Corex-D for the last four years presented with elevated mood, visual hallucinations and a recent risk taking life-style
A male in his thirties presented with paranoid delusions and auditory hallucinations of one month's duration

Summary

Introduction

A wide range of drugs is being abused by teenagers across the world, and over the years, they seem to have made the discovery that they could get "high" by taking over-the-counter medicines containing dextromethorphan (DXM). A 19-year old male, who had been abusing Corex-D for the last four years presented with elevated mood, visual hallucinations and a recent risk taking life-style. He had experienced dissociative states and depersonalisation. A 17-year old schoolboy with an unremarkable past history, presented with undue irritability, social withdrawal and declining school performance over the last 4-5 months. A previously stable 16-year old schoolboy, presented with social withdrawal, irritability, paranoid and grandiose delusions for the last 2 months.

Results

Conclusion