DOSE:

300 mg

oral

Codeine

BODY WEIGHT:

79 kg

[Erowid Note: Because opiate use can lead to significant tolerance (requiring higher doses for the same effects), the dose used by a first time user is significantly smaller than that used by a regular user. It can be extremely dangerous to choose ones dose on the basis of the amount taken by someone else. Overdoses of opiates can be fatal.]
The Use of Codeine Linctus

I thought I should relay my experiences of using ‘codeine linctus’, a cough medicine containing codeine as the only active ingredient.

I was a codeine addict for about two years, mostly using over the counter painkillers containing ibuprofen or paracetamol and codeine. It was impossible to get ‘high’ off these pills, and they served as maintenance only. I was often able to obtain the aforementioned ‘Codeine Linctus’, which I could get a high off. This led to me becoming addicted to codeine (and later flirting with heroin and stronger opiate pills, which thankfully I managed to escape before things got too bad).

It is both addictive an underwhelming. The high is very dirty and often quite uncomfortable due to the huge histamine release. It is very easy to go overboard with this. The effects can be described as a mild opiate buzz accompanied by mild sedation and a slightly altered headspace. Bright lights leave trails in my vision, and blotches of colors float about on surfaces and walls that I look at.

I first purchased it as I wanted to try ‘lean’, and figured this was the closest I could get to the real thing. The first time I tried it, I put it in a Styrofoam cup with Sprit, thinking I looked really cool. I did this at a friend’s house, everyone else was drinking alcohol. About 30 minutes after drinking it I became extremely itchy, I felt like my skin was burning, and my face went red. It was extremely unpleasant and very embarrassing, as I guess I was trying to look ‘cool’ but ended up making a fool out of myself.

After this experience, I for some reason returned to Codeine Linctus many times, and as I built up a tolerance I was able to consume an entire bottle (600mg of codeine phosphate) in a day. I am now ‘clean’, and managed to kick my habit after I ended up in hospital after trying to extract codeine from some cocodamol. My friends were coming up to visit me, and this was also extremely embarrassing.

I fear this report is somewhat unfocused, but the general message I’m trying to convey is that a codeine addiction is a rubbish habit to have. It also should be mentioned that the high off this stuff really isn’t that good. In fact it’s pretty rubbish. The amount of sugar in this is insane and is pretty unpleasant to consume – the sugar free version is much better, but still very sickly.

I am writing this report having consumed half a bottle of the linctus and 450mg of Lyrica (pregabalin), which is a very nice combination, especially given that I haven’t consumed codeine in 3 months.

In summary: codeine linctus is a dirty but addictive high, I have seriously embarrassed myself on a number of occasions due to my addiction to this stuff, and despite all this it is still something – that is, it is slightly better than being sober.

Exp Year: 2018	ExpID: 111519
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 20
Published: Oct 9, 2020	Views: 1,051
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Codeine (14) : Unknown Context (20), Addiction & Habituation (10), Retrospective / Summary (11)