What to Watch For

Signs you should watch for that could indicate abuse of DXM or other cough medicine:

Empty cough medicine boxes or bottles in the trash or child’s belongings
Purchases of cough medication without notifying you (although some youth shoplift the drug)
Cough medicine missing from medicine cabinets
Hearing the slang terms for cough medicine abuse
Internet history on personal computer, laptop or smartphone showing visits to sites talking about cough medicine abuse or purchasing
Unexplained delivery of packages (but note that some youth will have illicit materials delivered to a different address)

There are also signs of drug abuse that apply to any substance, medical or illicit:

Old friends are swapped for new ones that drink or use drugs
These new friends may not be goal- or family-oriented and you may worry about these new contacts
There may now be fights about doing chores that were part of life for many years
The young person may insist on total privacy and spend many hours alone in his (or her) room
He may be secretive about what he has in his backpack or pockets
He may refuse to report where he is going or who he is with
If he does say who is he going to be with, a call to that person may show that he is not actually there
Grades fall, favorite activities are abandoned
He may want or need more money or too much money may be missing
He no longer wants to pursue goals that were important to him, like music, college, sports and career choices
He may stay out late or be gone overnight
He may cover his body up more than warranted by the weather (covering marks from injecting drugs)
He may lose weight, look unhealthy
His behavior may be erratic, swinging from too energetic to too lethargic
Sleeping patterns may also be erratic
His emotions may be all over the map
There may be an increasing number of discipline problems at home, at school or in church
If he runs out of DXM or whatever drug he was abusing, he may experience withdrawal symptoms