Dihydrocodeine
Pronunciation:dye-high-droh-KOH-deen
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number:125-28-0
Formal Names:BRON, DHC Continus, Drocode, Fortuss, Paracodin, Synalgos
Type:Depressant (opiate class).Seepage 22
Federal Schedule Listing:Schedule II, III, or V, depending on product formulation
(DEA no. 9120)
USA Availability:Prescription and nonprescription
Uses.Cough suppression is a standard medical use for dihydrocodeine, and
it can also improve sleep in chronic coughers by reducing the number of times
that coughing wakes them. Although a dose may briefly impede breathing, in
a successful experiment the drug improved breathing in persons having
chronic airflow obstruction, allowing them to engage in more exercise such as
walking. The compound has also helped respiration of emphysema patients.
Dihydrocodeine has allowed persons with chronic heart failure to become
more physically active. The substance is a standard pain reliever but has been
found ineffective in helping some kinds of discomfort from surgical and dental
procedures, and excessive amounts of the drug can have the paradoxical effect
of increasing pain. Dihydrocodeine has at least the same pain relieving
strength ascodeine, perhaps more.Morphineis considered about seven times
stronger than dihydrocodeine.
Drawbacks.Typical unwanted effects include sleepiness, nausea, and con-
stipation. Euphoria, dizziness, and abnormal dreams are occasionally re-
ported. Excessive dihydrocodeine dosage can cause muscle damage that is
known to clear up if the drug is discontinued. Hallucinations may occur. An
unusual case report tells of a person developing Alice in Wonderland Syn-
drome and Lilliputian hallucinations after routinely drinking a dihydroco-
deine cough syrup for several years. In the Alice Syndrome people may see
real objects as far smaller than they actually are; the Lilliputian situation
(named for an episode inGulliver’s Travels) involves seeing tiny imaginary
objects. Such conditions have also been associated with migraine, fevers, and
mononucleosis. In the apparently drug-induced case just mentioned, Lillipu-
tian hallucinations persisted despite psychiatric treatment.
Abuse factors.Although dihydrocodeine addiction rarely arises from med-
ical use, tolerance and dependence can develop if a person uses the substance