Is anyone else allergic to Dextromethorphan?

I had the exact same symptoms. Actually it was a form of hives that developed inside my mouth and on my lips. It happened twice. The first time they did not know what I was reacting to. It is hard to find preparations for a cough without dextromethorphan in it.

I am quite allergic to Dextromethorphan, gives me dizzy spells in which most times I pass out. I haven't found many cough supporessants that do not have DM in them, and the ones that do tend to have codeine in them instead which causes a nice tired feeling. Buckley's has some cough syrups available without DM if you can stand the taste.

I'm not sure if this is an allergic reaction but every time I take it, it seems to get worse. I usually just get really really drunk from it. I take less than the recommended dosage. I dont usually like taking it because rven when I take it early in the evening before bed when sick im still "drunk" the next morning. im 26 years old and can handle alcohol just fine. this is a different kind of drunk. last night I took it because I have a bad cold, and woke up with the biggest dilated pupils ever. they stayed huge all day long into the late afternoon. im sure people I work with thought I was in drugs!!!

damn dm, worst night of my life last night, thought it was a psychosis or whatnot, personnality just all dissassociated. verrrrry scary indeed, and just from two teaspoons in the whole day. now i know why i stopped drugs years ago. if you ever had bad trips, don't take dm.

You sound like you could be a poor metabolizer. You may experience this with other medications which are metabolized by CYP2D6. You should have yourself tested, if possible. About 5% of the Caucasian population has this particular genetic mutation. You could be placing yourself at risk for overdose taking dextromethorphan along with any concomitant medication that is also metabolized by your body by this particular pathway even if it is just at the recommended dosage. Your body can take up to 20x the average length of time to get these types of medications through your system (which is what places you at a much greater risk of overdose).

I've been using DXM recreationally for YEARS. I would go on binges that would last months at a time, tripping every day. In this time, I built an immunity to it so I started to increase the dose - 16, 24, 32, 40, and the highest amount I've ever taken was 50 (I'm sure that's a lethal dose and I'm very lucky to have come out alive). Anyway, the other night I had taken ONE Mucinex DM Maximum Strength (60mg of DXM) and I had been drinking on top of it (not very much --- a few wine coolers). The next thing I remember I'm waking up the next morning with bruises and dry blood all over my face. It turns out, though I haven't the slightest recollection of it, I had an allergic reaction to the DXM which I had done so many times before and I FREAKED OUT and to keep the story short, I had to be restrained because I didn't know what the f*ck was going on and was just absolutely going crazy. Could someone shed some light on the cause of this sudden allergy (which was confirmed by my doctor).

Don't know if this counts, but I sneeze everytime I take medicine with DXM in it

I have been over sensitive to the DM stuff for years, when I tell a doctor they look at me like I am nuts, also cannot take the new decongestant PE c**p, makes me feel awful.     I took Robitussin with the DM in it last night because I was coughing so much while trying to sleep, it stopped the cough, I slept, but waking up was a nightmare, I staggered around all day unable to focus, feeling confused, and weak, my pupils were dilated different sizes ,  it's always done that to me, but never has it made me feel as awful s it did today, I will NEVER take it again, and Nor will I take the new otc version of sudafed .  I guess it's gonna have to be good old fashioned tea with a shot of whiskey and some lemon and honey.  wishing y'all well !  Carol in East Tn 

My son had a very serious reaction to it when he was about 11 years old. He was running around the house screaming, eyes rolled back in head. Then he snapped out of it and was crying, telling me he's sorry, then he started screaming again. No control. We were at the hospital for 8 hours trying to figure out what was wrong with him. Poison control finally got called in and the cough syrup we'd been giving him transferred into PCP in his system. He can never have anything with Dextro in it again. He also suffered from Night Terrors - 3 times a week for over 2 months. Doctor said they were "after shocks" from the whole ordeal.

Same problem here. I can't take anything with dextromethorphan in it. It's an out of body experience. Worst experience of my life. I would rather cough my head off than ever go through it again. I, like all you others would have to agree that's it's by far horrible. I took mucinex dm a couple years ago and that's when it happened the first time. I thought because I took it too close to taking mucinex expectorant that it was the reason it happened. So a year ago I tried the mucinex dm again and the same horrible experience. About a month ago I took a half a dose of nyquil and had the same, yet slighter experience. I'm guessing because I took half a dose. Then two days ago my Dr prescribed me Promethazine DM.. I took 1/4 dose and now it's the worst experience to date. It's still lingering in my system 2 days later. 2 nights ago I was up all night. It started with vomiting. Then it went to the euphoric out of body experience. Never ever ever again will I take anything containing dextromethorphan.

I too am allergic to cough medication, the doctors never found out which one it was though. All they told me was I could no longer take any form of cough suppressant. I was hospitalized repeatedly when I was 3 through 5, every time I got a cold. The medicine was a trigger for my asthma, the last time I took it my lungs collapsed and I was on ventilators for over a week. I'm 21 now and work with little kids so I am constantly sick, and nothing helps.

I have the same reaction with DM and with antidepressants - my pupils dilate, heart races, pin pricks in my hands, can't sleep, basically feel like you're going to die. I started having panic attacks after mistakenly taking cough syrup (or antidepressants) a couple times and having this reaction. I think it's serotonin syndrome, but all the literature says that serotonin syndrome is usually caused by mixing two different drums. Neither time I had this reaction, I was not taking more than two drugs. Maybe you're right, that it should be called a hypersensitivity.

My husband is. Only his reaction was totally different. Both his legs swelled up and became red and hot to the touch. Painful too. It lasted for two days then the swelling-redness and heat went away. However (and this is gross) the skin on his legs became dried and fell off. It was really nasty.

Sounds like you have an enzymatic deficiency, most likely of the Cytochrome P450 2D6 enzyme. Around 10% of Caucasian people are deficient in it.

I do not have an allergice reaction, but it makes me feel very lloopy....for days.  Need less and less to feel more loopy.  It is really hard to find a cough medication without DM or a multi-symtom cold med without DM.