Yep. Usually twice a day. When I was 19 I was in the Air Force and everyone had to get their wisdom teeth removed. After the procedure, they gave me a big bottle of Vicodin. Prior to that, I had never been high or taken so much as a sip of alcohol. I was as straight edge as can be. So this was the first time I had ever been NOT sober, in my life! They didn’t give me a refill, so … I did a bit of internet research to find any kind of substitute.

It started with these pure DXM cold gels I got at the on-post commissary. Pretty soon, I felt like it was getting excessive, and the employees would get suspicious of me purchasing these bottles on a near daily basis. So I began going off-post to find alternatives, which is when I discovered cough syrup. That was SO DIFFICULT to get down on account of the taste. 🤢 I did that for a month, tops, until I tried Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold. I stuck to that for at least 8 years solid. It is a box of 16 pills. While my tolerance did increase in the very beginning, eventually it only took a box and a half (24 pills) to get right where I wanted to be. And that is where I stayed for the duration of the habit.

It’s a strange habit. I wouldn’t say I was addicted, I think it was more of a ritual. It stops being hallucinogenic VERY quickly. I would guess within the first two months. After that, it only detached me from reality, made me unemotional, and additionally suppressed my appetite. I’m a chick who enjoys being very skinny. I honestly do miss that aspect of it, but being socially shunned for, like I said, an entire decade of consuming DXM - in hindsight, was not worth it. Being thin WAS nice. But I was so out-of-it that everyone would run far, far away once they spent even a little bit of time with me.

I’m 120lbs now and I still wish I was smaller … and to be clear, I am NOT sober, I only switched to drinking. Yet I have my family back in my life and even though I am struggling with my appearance, this is the happiest I’ve been in my life. So, I’ll take it!