Misc How to remove the alcohol from dextromethorphan syrup (and pref other stuff)

[Deioflaje]

Note I am in UK and we don't have half the dxm containing products you guys have in the US. It seems to be syrup or nothing.

Ideally I would be able to get only the dxm out but the methods I read so far using ammonia and naphtha don't sound appealing really. Not an easy extraction like a codeine cwe for instance and ammonia doesn't seem like a nice thing to play with due to the smell and the price.

I am not too bothered about drinking the syrup except alcohol is cancerous so I don't wanna drink any if I don't have to. So how can I remove the alcohol from the cough syrup? The other ingredients aren't carcinogens so not as important.

For the benylin dry coughs:

Active Ingredients: Each 5ml of cough syrup contains: Dextromethorphan hydrobromide 7.5mg.

Also contains: Liquid glucose, sucrose, ethanol. (See leaflet).

This product contains 6 vol % ethanol.

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

You could distill out the alcohol. Just be careful and keep the room well ventilated.

 

[Jekyl Anhydride]

Why is the EtOH cancerous in the quantities contained within?

 

[Ketamania]

Amazon-DXM gel caps(?)

 

[Deioflaje]

Why is the EtOH cancerous in the quantities contained within?

Well sir david nutt has stated there is no non toxic dose of alcohol.

 

[Deioflaje]

You could distill out the alcohol. Just be careful and keep the room well ventilated.

Hmm I imagine this would be an even more involved process than an ammonia naphtha extraction? Won't bother if so. Also I thought that the alcohol is there to suspend the DXM in the syrup so would that make it seperate (good thing I guess if so) from the syrup?

It is seeming that waiting the extra days for international posting and finding either a cough sweet or powder option is going to be the most straight forward way. It is annoying I can't 'get at' the DXM in those OTC ones, or it is going to require quite a bit more earnest study to do so which I don't mind doing over time but I guess I might risk life and limb and consume the alcohol syrup a little more in the meantime til I learn to get it out proper.

 

[Jekyl Anhydride]

You could distill out the alcohol.

Hmm I imagine this would be an even more involved process than an ammonia naphtha extraction?

By distill he means heating until the EtOH evaporates. DXM in it's base isn't water soluble, but being DXM converted to it's hydrobromide salt, it is water-soluble up to 1.5 g/100 mL at 25 C.

Well sir david nutt has stated there is no non toxic dose of alcohol.... but I guess I might risk life and limb and consume the alcohol syrup

Honestly I believe David Nutter was referring to people who drink in a social manner and not the 0.75mL in your syrup. Other wise Bread, ripe fruit or anything that can ferment would fall into that rationale of thinking.

 

[Etterwonde]

but I guess I might risk life and limb and consume the alcohol syrup a little more in the meantime til I learn to get it out proper.

Is this meant as some kind of joke? This board is meant for serious discussion and harm reduction, not for pseudo-humor and/or overall nonsense. You've stated that your from the U.K.; I'm from Europe as well, but I guess I haven't seen enough 'Monty Python' movies to comprehend your message the right way.

But I digress... Consuming low amounts of alcohol does not, in any way, mean to "risk life and limb".

It appears that "sir David Nutt" is nuts due to the ingestion of too much Pagoclone. He hasn't stolen his last name, that's for sure! That being said, I am interested in trying some Pagoclone or Pazinaclone, just to see what the pseudo-hype is all about.

 

[Deioflaje]

Is this meant as some kind of joke? This board is meant for serious discussion and harm reduction, not for pseudo-humor and/or overall nonsense. You've stated that your from the U.K.; I'm from Europe as well, but I guess I haven't seen enough 'Monty Python' movies to comprehend your message the right way.

Get a grip dude. You can make a serious post (the OP) and also use dry humour in a later comment. It doesn't take anything away from the original inquiry. It is also known as hyperbole. Doesn't mean the whole post 'is a joke' as you implied.

I think you just don't 'get it' cos I know a guy from flanders too and he always takes what I say literally like data from star trek. Must be a cultural thing.

 

[Deioflaje]

By distill he means heating until the EtOH evaporates. DXM in it's base isn't water soluble, but being DXM converted to it's hydrobromide salt, it is water-soluble up to 1.5 g/100 mL at 25 C.



Honestly I believe David Nutter was referring to people who drink in a social manner and not the 0.75mL in your syrup. Other wise Bread, ripe fruit or anything that can ferment would fall into that rationale of thinking.

Just cos he was referring to one instance doesn't mean it isn't true for others? alcohol will be alcohol wherever it is found.

Anyway regarding distillation how do you know you have removed it all without complex chemistry equipment?

 

[Hodor]

Just cos he was referring to one instance doesn't mean it isn't true for others? alcohol will be alcohol wherever it is found.

It's kind of like saying "all UV light is cancerogenic".

It's technically true, but that doesn't stop us from leaving the house. Our body has DNA repair systems in place that can fix the damage caused by the UV light to some extent, as well as systems for actually destroying cells that have the potential to become cancerous.
Thus, the chances of suffering skin cancer from occasionally leaving the house during daylight hours (as opposed to actual sunbathing, where we expose ourselves to the sun at maximum intensity) are pretty much insignicant unless you live in a *very* sunny location.

Likewise, your body is well equipped to rapidly eliminate minor amounts of alcohol. To get a dose of 300 mg of DXM HBr from your syrup, you'd have to drink 200 ml of the stuff. There's less alcohol in that than in a single can of beer.

If you're planning on taking more 300-400 mg doses of DXM than the average person drinks in beer can equivalents, then chances are your risk of developing mental health issues is significantly greater than your risk of getting liver/esophageal cancer.

 

[Jekyl Anhydride]

Here's some​

I am not too bothered about drinking the syrup except alcohol is cancerous so I don't wanna drink any if I don't have to. So how can I remove the alcohol from the cough syrup? The other ingredients aren't carcinogens so not as important.

You could distill out the alcohol.

Hmm I imagine this would be an even more involved process than an ammonia naphtha extraction?

Why is the EtOH cancerous in the quantities contained within?

Well sir david nutt has stated there is no non toxic dose of alcohol.... but I guess I might risk life and limb and consume the alcohol syrup

#By distill he means heating until the EtOH evaporates. DXM in it's base isn't water soluble, but being DXM converted to it's hydrobromide salt, it is water-soluble up to 1.5 g/100 mL at 25 C.

*Honestly I believe David Nutter was referring to people who drink in a social manner and not the 0.75mL in your bottle of syrup. Other wise Bread, ripe fruit or anything that can ferment would fall into that rationale of thinking.

*Just cos he was referring to one instance doesn't mean it isn't true for others? alcohol will be alcohol wherever it is found.

Maybe so but I truly think you're missing the point of what Dr Nutt is trying to get across, EtOH is bad to consume in mass amounts on a regular basis. Akin to Dr. A. Weil and Trans-Fats. They're horrible but a couple flavored creamers in my coffee or a donut once in a blue moon is acceptable. Dr Nutt, who is very respectable don't get me wrong, was demonizing acetaldehyde CH3CHO, from drinking on a regular basis as in how is done all over the world by the masses. He would have been recepted better just before prohibition in the USA circa 1918.

Or maybe acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, carbon tetrachloride & benzene in the air which is an actual problem to show concern over. I happen to live in the worst area in the US (the coast south of Los Angeles) for these, as shown in here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26444872

Luckily in humans with conservative oral ethanol consumption: In the liver, the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase oxidizes ethanol into acetaldehyde, which is then further oxidized into harmless acetic acid by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. So it's truly about moderation or breads and ripe fruit would be carcinogens, does that make any sense? Dr Nutt is not worried about small amounts of EtOH, but rather consumption on a grand scale by the masses. t's best to not take these things TOO literal sometimes. Or maybe research them better.

The fact you would rather expose yourself to Naptha & ammonia to avoid a little EtOH shows a real lack of understanding. If you have any other questions about DXM ask them, because continuing down this anti-EtOH path is fruitless and the thread will be closed. Feel free to confer with another Mod, SMod or Admin if you think I'm being unfair.

#Anyway regarding distillation how do you know you have removed it all without complex chemistry equipment?

The lack of odor & taste should suffice.

 

[Deioflaje]

Why am I not allowed to quote your reply? Anyway, what you say about relative doses, if it is indeed true there are the same carcinogens in the air in equal or greater amounts as the small amounts in the syrup, makes more sense why it would be futile to be concerned about it. So it is akin to the radio waves thing? where people are concerned about the waves of wifi or something in the home where there are tons bouncing around day to day in the air from mobiles and also their own personal mobile?

Regarding distillation I doubt either taste or smell would be accurate since the syrup covers up both.

 

[Jekyl Anhydride]

Why am I not allowed to quote your reply?

or click this --> QUOTE

Anyway, what you say about relative doses, if it is indeed true there are the same carcinogens in the air in equal or greater amounts as the small amounts in the syrup, makes more sense why it would be futile to be concerned about it.

Yeah but lungs don't metabolize airborne carcinogens like one's liver metabolizes EtOH with a Dehydrogenase into acetic acid, the same stuff in vinegar.

So it is akin to the radio waves thing? where people are concerned about the waves of wifi or something in the home where there are tons bouncing around day to day in the air from mobiles and also their own personal mobile?

Yes, being concerned about small amounts of EtOH IS akin to being concerned about an RF signal of a mobile device at 3 watts.

Regarding distillation I doubt either taste or smell would be accurate since the syrup covers up both.

Well it's still far less than the amount that 2 billion people around the world consume from the age of 18 to 80. So I guess it's real Russian Roulette.