When it was discovered that cough syrups were an effective drug in reducing the suffering caused by a chronic cough and colds, it seemed like one of those medical breakthroughs that would bring man one step closer to overcoming disease once and for all.
In the years following the 50s and 60s cough syrup was one of those must have drugs that a family could not do without having somewhere in the house in case a family member was in need of it. This was especially the case because it was inexpensive and when one contracted a cold or cough, it was the first thing to try before rushing of to see a doctor.
While there were many popular kinds of cough syrup by far the most effective was codeine cough syrup, whose formula included two major elements namely; codeine and promethazine that acted together when taken to provide relief from a cough. Codeine's main purpose is to bring relief from pain while promethazine acts as an antihistamine.
Almost all medicines are known to have side effects of some sort that pass with time and it is the same thing with cough syrup, it is known to cause some dizziness, feeling light headed and an altering mood swing. With cough syrup however, people discovered that taking more that the usual dose would bring about a high like effect similar to what you have when drunk.
The practice of abusing cough syrup became very rampant among teenagers who found it a cheap, easily available and legal way to get high as the syrup could be bought at your local drug store. The most common type of syrup abused was codeine cough syrup.
In time the authorities and medical specialists found out about this dangerous habit especially since many teenagers were being rushed to the hospital after taking too much of it or suffering overdose effects like vomiting, breathing problems and migraines. The market price of codeine cough syrup went up after this increase in demand.
The government also made a recommendation that codeine cough syrup could only bought with a prescription and pharmaceutical companies altered the concentration of codeine in cough syrups as well as making other cough syrups that did not contain codeine or promethazine to reduce the cases of abuse.
Parents need to keep a close eye on their teens to ensure they are not messing about with prescription medication like cough syrup as it could be pretty dangerous. They should also lovingly teach them the dangers of misusing such drugs.
In the years following the 50s and 60s cough syrup was one of those must have drugs that a family could not do without having somewhere in the house in case a family member was in need of it. This was especially the case because it was inexpensive and when one contracted a cold or cough, it was the first thing to try before rushing of to see a doctor.
While there were many popular kinds of cough syrup by far the most effective was codeine cough syrup, whose formula included two major elements namely; codeine and promethazine that acted together when taken to provide relief from a cough. Codeine's main purpose is to bring relief from pain while promethazine acts as an antihistamine.
Almost all medicines are known to have side effects of some sort that pass with time and it is the same thing with cough syrup, it is known to cause some dizziness, feeling light headed and an altering mood swing. With cough syrup however, people discovered that taking more that the usual dose would bring about a high like effect similar to what you have when drunk.
The practice of abusing cough syrup became very rampant among teenagers who found it a cheap, easily available and legal way to get high as the syrup could be bought at your local drug store. The most common type of syrup abused was codeine cough syrup.
In time the authorities and medical specialists found out about this dangerous habit especially since many teenagers were being rushed to the hospital after taking too much of it or suffering overdose effects like vomiting, breathing problems and migraines. The market price of codeine cough syrup went up after this increase in demand.
The government also made a recommendation that codeine cough syrup could only bought with a prescription and pharmaceutical companies altered the concentration of codeine in cough syrups as well as making other cough syrups that did not contain codeine or promethazine to reduce the cases of abuse.
Parents need to keep a close eye on their teens to ensure they are not messing about with prescription medication like cough syrup as it could be pretty dangerous. They should also lovingly teach them the dangers of misusing such drugs.
About the Author:
About the author: Jay Moses has worked as a pharmacist for years and also writes a blog on Codeine visit his site for more cough medicine abuse
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