Delsym is an American brand of

cough medicine Cold medicines are a group of medications taken individually or in combination as a treatment for the symptoms of the common cold and similar conditions of the upper respiratory tract. The term encompasses a broad array of drugs, including ...

owned by

Reckitt Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, trading as Reckitt, is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, England. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition products. The company was formed in March 1999 by the mer ...

, and manufactured at Unither Manufacturing in

Rochester, NY Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in Wes ...

. It is different from most brands of cough medicine in that the active ingredient is " time released". The time release feature allows the drug to suppress the cough reflex for a longer period of time. The active ingredient per teaspoon (5 mL) is

dextromethorphan Dextromethorphan (DXM) is a medication most often used as a cough suppressant in over-the-counter cold and cough medicines. It is sold in syrup, tablet, spray, and lozenge forms. In 2022, the FDA approved a formulation of it combined with bu ...

polistirex, equivalent to dextromethorphan HBr 30 mg.

Method of action

The active ingredient,

(metabolized to

dextrorphan Dextrorphan (DXO) is a psychoactive drug of the morphinan class which acts as an antitussive or cough suppressant and dissociative hallucinogen. It is the dextrorotatory enantiomer of racemorphan; the levorotatory enantiomer is levorphanol. D ...

), is surrounded by an edible plastic called polistirex. When the Delsym arrives in the stomach, an initial amount of dextromethorphan is immediately released into the bloodstream while the rest is surrounded by a plastic that is slowly dissolved by

stomach acid Gastric acid, gastric juice, or stomach acid is a digestive fluid formed within the stomach lining. With a pH between 1 and 3, gastric acid plays a key role in digestion of proteins by activating digestive enzymes, which together break down the ...

. After the polistirex is dissolved sufficiently, more dextromethorphan is released.

Recreational use

Intentionally consuming more than the recommended dosage of Delsym may result in euphoria, lack of coordination, hallucinations, apathy, feelings of dissociation, and disorientation. This is due to dextromethorphan as well as its pharmacologically-active metabolite

, both

dissociative drugs Dissociatives, colloquially dissos, are a subclass of hallucinogens which distort perception of sight and sound and produce feelings of detachment – dissociation – from the environment and/or self. Although many kinds of drugs are capable of ...

that work as

NMDA receptor antagonist NMDA receptor antagonists are a class of drugs that work to antagonize, or inhibit the action of, the ''N''-Methyl-D-aspartate receptor ( NMDAR). They are commonly used as anesthetics for animals and humans; the state of anesthesia they induce ...

s the same way

nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has ...

(N₂O),

ketamine Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic used medically for induction and maintenance of anesthesia. It is also used as a recreational drug. It is one of the safest anesthetics, as, in contrast with opiates, ether, and propofol, it suppresses ...

, and

phencyclidine Phencyclidine or phenylcyclohexyl piperidine (PCP), also known as angel dust among other names, is a dissociative anesthetic mainly used recreationally for its significant mind-altering effects. PCP may cause hallucinations, distorted percept ...

(PCP) do. Because of the abuse potential, many pharmacies and large retail chains have begun taking precautions such as restricting sales to those under age 18 and limiting the number of sales of dextromethorphan-containing products per customer.

References

External links

* {{Reckitt Benckiser Antitussives Products introduced in 1986 Reckitt brands