I'm well aware of how to be safe. I knew about DXM long before this thread (or this incarnation of s.net, for that matter).
Also, another bit of info is that you should technically only use Robitussin DX, ideally. It's only active ingredient is DXM, and it also contains no coloring or sweetening that could make you sick in large quantities, like many other cough syrups do.
Also, found another one of those ridiculous anti-drug sites:
http://www.dxmstories.com/robitussin_abuse.htmlGo click See the Effects, lol.
I'll explain those a bit better:
1. Vomiting: This is a fairly common risk factor, really. However, the "vomiting blood" part they mention is ridiculous. They don't explain the "why" of this, they simply tell you you might get sick. If you've ever tried to down a whole bunch of cough syrup at once, you'll know that it's a hard thing to down. Of course, you'll feel sick, it's not a big deal. If you're puking blood, you probably have a serious problem outside of DXM abuse. I've never heard of puking blood associated with DXM use, though I guess some of the other ingredients in some of the cough syrups might do it.
2. Cardiac Arrest: Yeah, ok, that's basically a whole bunch of BS. You're probably more at rick of Cardiac Arrest when you ingest caffeine. More people have died of caffeine overdoses than DXM. Seriously, this one is just BS. Yeah, you might have raised heartate. And yeah, it could potentially be rather dangerous,
if combined with a pre-existing condition.
3. Muscle Spasms: I've see little to no real evidence for this one in my searching. Actually, I've come across information that DXM may actually calm muscle spasms in the larynx
1 and thanks to another forum discussing muscles spasms encountered on DXM, I found an article on pub med discussing how low doses of DXM can actually improve seizure control in some epileptics
2. This is one of the stupider ones, since people experience muscle spasms doing nearly every drug out there. Quite honestly, this one is pretty harmless. Not only that, it doesn't seem to be all that common.
4. Delirium: Well, I'd certainly hope that you realize that you're going to experience delirium when using DXM. In fact, if you use DXM and don't know that, you are likely the stupidest person alive, and may likely deserve to die, if only to cleanse the global gene pool of your extreme stupidity. DXM is a drug that is best used in calm surroundings away from dangerous situations, and places you don't know. It's also a good idea to have a sitter. This is not a "side effect" or anything, this is the desired effect. It's got it's own risks, but you can minimize them greatly by actually using your brain before hand.
The best place for in depth info for DXM is probably this FAQ:
http://www.dextroverse.org/faq/dxm_faq.html1 http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00055549?recr=open&cond=%22Voice+Disorders%22&rank=52 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10702964?dopt=Abstract