Coricidin
Coricidin, Coricidin 'D' (decongestant), or Coricidin HBP (for high blood pressure), is the name of a drug marketed by Schering-Plough that contains dextromethorphan (a cough suppressant) and chlorpheniramine maleate (an antihistamine). It is now owned by Bayer. Varieties of Coricidin may also contain acetaminophen (an analgesic/antipyretic) and guaifenesin (an expectorant).
Chemical structures of dextromethorphan (top) and chlorphenamine | |
Combination of | |
---|---|
Dextromethorphan | cough suppressant |
Chlorphenamine | antihistamine |
Clinical data | |
Trade names | Coricidin 'D' |
Pharmacokinetic data | |
Metabolism | CYP2D6 isozyme of Cytochrome P450 |
Medicinal use
Coricidin is used to alleviate coughs and includes chlorpheniramine for people with high blood pressure. Other versions of Coricidin are used to reduce fever or as an expectorant. Side effects can include diarrhea and hallucination.[1]
Recreational use
Coricidin is sometimes used in high doses as a recreational drug because it contains the dissociative dextromethorphan. In this context, Coricidin is referred to as C's, red devils (red D's), Skittles, trips,[2]
Use in popular music
In the late 1960s, blues-rock guitarist Duane Allman began using an empty glass Coricidin bottle as a guitar slide, finding it to be just the right size and shape for this purpose.[3] Allman started to play slide guitar when he received two birthday gifts from his brother, Gregg: a copy of Taj Mahal's debut album, with its version of "Statesboro Blues", and a bottle of Coricidin pills (as Duane had a cold that day).[4][5] Other prominent slide guitarists, such as Derek Trucks (a later member of the Allman Brothers Band), Ray Wylie Hubbard, Rory Gallagher, J. D. Simo, and Gary Rossington also adopted the Coricidin bottle as a slide.[6]
Notes
- "Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold", WebMD. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
- Silva AR, Dinis-Oliveira RJ (May 2020). "Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of dextromethorphan: clinical and forensic aspects". Drug Metabolism Reviews. 52 (2): 258–282. doi:10.1080/03602532.2020.1758712. PMID 32393072.
- "Duane Allman's Coricidin Bottle Slide Returns Back to Allman Family After 40 Years". Jambands. May 22, 2013.
- Furlong P (February 17, 2014). "Gregg and Duane Were Brothers". kuvo.org. KUVO.
It was his birthday (and he had a cold), so I went and bought him a bottle of Coricidin. . . Then I went by the record store and got that first Taj Mahal record, with all the butterflies on the cover and him sitting on a rocking chair. We’d played with Taj before, borrowed an amplifier from him. So I got Duane that record and the pills.” Gregg took the gifts over to Duane’s and left them on his front porch. Twenty-four hours later, Duane called, “Get over here quick, babybrah (for baby brother). Quick, man!” Duane had taken the pills out of the bottle and removed the label. “He put on that Taj Mahal record, with Jesse Ed Davis playing slide on ‘Statesboro Blues,’ and started playing along with it. When I left those pills by his door, he hadn’t known how to play slide. From the moment that Duane put that Coricidin bottle on his ring finger, he was a natural.
- "The Allman Brothers Band". Guitar Techniques. August 7, 2015 – via PressReader.
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- Derek Trucks—Guitar Player Staff (March 14, 2006). "Derek Trucks: Slide Sans Frontiers". Guitar Player.
- Ray Wylie Hubbard—Dansby A (March 1, 2012). "Q&A: Ray Wylie Hubbard". Lone Star Music Magazine.
- Rory Gallagher—Connaughton M (2012). Rory Gallagher: His Life and Times. The Collins Press. ISBN 9781848899803.
- J.D. Simo—Ross M (February 17, 2016). "J.D. Simo Brings the Blues Back Home on on(sic)'Let Love Show the Way'". Guitar Player.
- Gary Rossington—Scoppa B (November 20, 2015). "The Allman Brothers: "We were stretching the limits of what had been done in rock'n'roll"". Uncut.