Cough medicine abuse is taking extremely large doses of over-the-counter or prescription cough medicine to try to get high – doses that exceed safe and effective levels. With over-the-counter medicines, the “high” comes from ingesting an excessive amount of medicine containing dextromethorphan (often abbreviated as DXM). The “high” in prescription medicines comes from the ingredient codeine. Both are common active ingredients. Abusing either of these can be dangerous.
