DMX Addiction: It’s Not Just For Kids
There’s not a lot of information available for adults who may be abusing dextromethorphan, otherwise known as DMX. Most people think of DMX as a drug that’s most commonly abused by teenagers. However, many young adults well into their twenties take it regularly. People approaching middle age continue to use it if it has been their drug of choice. If you can’t stop using DMX, you may need help from a drug rehab center to fight your addiction.
It’s bad enough for the teens using it, because it requires ingesting such a large quantity of cold pills or cough medicine that the addict truly puts his life at risk. What makes it even more dangerous for adults, however, are the supposedly harmless medications and supplements that we all take as part of our daily regimen. For example, if you’re an adult on blood pressure medication, you might as well contact the National Organ Donor Center right now and tell them you’re in the market for a new liver and possibly a new brain.
DMX use invokes some pretty serious side effects, starting with nausea, possibly vomiting, and also dizziness. Just like little kids who enjoy spinning around until they get dizzy, teenagers may enjoy the sensation of free falling that drinking DMX evokes. Adults don’t do very well with it, however, as you’ve undoubtedly experienced.
The biggest dangers for adult DMX abusers come from mixing other medications with it. Consider these surefire recipes for disaster:
- Many DMX concoctions, both cough medicines and cold pills, already contain acetaminophen, the generic form of Tylenol. If you take acetaminophen throughout the course of your daily routine—for sinus problems or headaches, for example—then DMX use can really ramp up destruction of your liver tissues.
- Many men reaching adulthood experiment with yohimbine supplements or yohimbe bark. It’s popular with them for two reasons: First, it’s popular among those who get into weight-lifting or body building, because many believe unproven (unproven, unproven) claims that it can reduce fat cells found beneath the top layers of skin. Second, yohimbine has been touted as a natural aphrodisiac. It was actually used as early as the 1930’s as a treatment for sexual dysfunction. However, it’s also known as an MAOI—monoamine oxidase inhibitor—and it’s very dangerous when combined with DMX use or abuse.
- MAOIs are best known for treatment of depression. They’re seldom prescribed today because newer drugs such as SSRIs work better with fewer side effects. Nardil (phenelzine) and Aurorix (moclobemide) are probably the two most popular MAOI antidepressants still prescribed. An MAOI taken together with DMX results in extreme excitement or depression and can be fatal.
- DMX taken with pseudoephedrine or ephedrine will cause your blood pressure to shoot through the roof—you can easily stroke out.
- Serotonin syndrome or toxicity is common among those who take DMX if they are already taking medications such as Celexa, Zoloft, Prozac, Lexapro, or other medications that help with depression or anxiety. Medications like Trazodone and Ultram also make dangerous combos.
Many people insist that DMX is not addictive, but the literature reports otherwise. Middle-aged people withdrawing from DMX have suffered from symptoms including diaeresis, nausea, hypertension, rapid heartbeat, and muscle jerks or tremors, and it can take weeks to resolve these symptoms. Don’t play around with cough medications or cold pills. If you or someone you know is abusing them, call your doctor for referral to a drug rehab center.
