Get the Erowid "Words" T-shirt
Contribute $50 and show support for accurate drug information!
Experience the Catheter
DXM & Dimehydrinate
Citation:   Question Reality. "Experience the Catheter: An Experience with DXM & Dimehydrinate (exp31586)". Erowid.org. Mar 6, 2004. erowid.org/exp/31586

 
DOSE:
900 mg oral Dimenhydrinate (pill / tablet)
  1400 mg oral DXM (liquid)
BODY WEIGHT: 245 lb
[Erowid Note: The doses reported here are extremely high.]


5:36 pm. Yesterday, I took 18 Dramamine pills and drank two 8-oz bottles of cough syrup. As usual, the cough syrup was pretty disgusting going down, and I was nauseated for about two hours afterward. I have a lot of experience with DXM. It's usually not that bad for me, and it's usually worth the discomfort anyway.

I had toyed with the DXM/Dramamine combination before. The first time I took 1400 mg DXM with 200 mg Dramamine (four 50 mg pills). That experience had been a real teaser. There was definitely something there that wasn't from the DXM, and I felt on the verge of having some great, weird experience.

So of course I wanted to try the Dramamine again at a higher dose. So I took ten pills (500 mg) with no DXM. That experience had been a little disappointing. I never really got high, and I fell asleep after only a few hours. I had noticed some unpleasant side effects of the Dramamine. It seemed to inhibit my ability to burp and urinate. Doesn't sound life-threatening at first glance, but believe me, it can be pretty uncomfortable if you suddenly lose the ability to do these things you take for granted. Anyway, the symptoms went away soon enough that night.

So I settled in yesterday afternoon determined to realize the full potential that seemed to be there for me in the DXM/Dramamine combination. Dramatically upping the Dramamine dose and adding the DXM back into the picture should do it, I figured.

I like to write trip journals on the computer while I'm having my experience, but it was difficult last night. My vision deteriorated quite a bit. I think both drugs played a role in that. It was also difficult to keep reporting on my experience because I was encountering some of the forgetfulness that has been mentioned in other reports. I often forgot what I was doing, or got sidetracked on various pointless missions. Eventually I had to give up on the trip log because I was not competent to operate the computer anymore.

I drank lots of coffee that evening to try to stay awake. The Dramamine did make me sleepy, but the DXM and the caffeine managed to keep me awake.

I kept feeling on the verge of losing control, but I never really got a full blown trip. It was mostly confusion and forgetfulness. I tried to boost my experience with some nitrous, but that didn't work very well and I eventually fell asleep in my bed with the nitrous canisters next to me.

From the moment I woke up this morning, I knew I was in trouble. I had the normal DXM hangover dizziness, but it was moderate, and I've gotten pretty good at functioning in that state. My ability to burp had returned overnight, but my ability to urinate had not. Try as I might, no matter how long I stood or sat there, nothing would come out. This was very frustrating and uncomfortable, since I could feel that my bladder was quite full. I hoped it would straighten itself out in a couple of hours. I had breakfast, and brewed a pot of coffee. I wasn't sure if the coffee would help or hurt the bladder situation, but I decided to give it a try. It didn't help.

After a couple of hours, I started to accept the idea that I was going to have to take myself to the emergency room. I hadn't peed for about 15 hours. Besides being extremely uncomfortable, I figured it was pretty dangerous too.

Luckily, I was able to drive myself and I wasn't too embarrassed to go in and confess what I'd done and ask for help. They were really nice in the emergency room. They inserted a catheter into my urethra, which allowed my bladder to drain and relieve my discomfort. I was upset to learn that the doctor was going to recommend I keep the catheter in all weekend and have it removed by my regular doctor on Monday. Apparently, the muscles in my bladder have been stretched past the point of insult, and they will need a couple of days to recover.

Now for those of you who have never had the pleasure of being catheterized, let me describe the experience for you. (Females, please adapt this description to your own anatomy).

First, the nurse 'introduces' a rubber tube into your penis and through your urethra until the tube reaches your bladder. The nurse knows the tube is in there when urine starts coming out the other end. A large bag is attached to the other end of the tube. I laid down on the examining table for 20-30 minutes while over a liter of urine drained into the bag. Then she switched me over to a smaller bag which was strapped to my thigh, so I could move about and spend my entire weekend with the catheter inserted. I get to switch myself back to the larger bag for sleeping.

Now of course there's the continuous stinging and pulling sensations in my urethra. But perhaps worse than that is the simultaneous feeling that I'm constantly peeing, yet at the same time it feels as if my bladder is full and I can't empty it. I suppose the full feeling could be the little saline balloon they filled up at the bladder end of the catheter to keep it from slipping out. I know it's working because the bag keeps filling up, so I have to empty it into the toilet frequently. Oh, and it cost me $50 to go to the emergency room, and it was that little only because I have good health insurance.

So if you got this far in the report, I hope you've decided to avoid the catheter experience for yourself. The ER doctor said that in older guys with prostate trouble, one or two Dramamine pills is enough to block their ability to urinate. I wonder how many pills it will take for you?

Exp Year: 2004ExpID: 31586
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Mar 6, 2004Views: 68,006
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
DXM (22), Dimenhydrinate (17) : Health Problems (27), Post Trip Problems (8), Alone (16)

COPYRIGHTS: All reports copyright Erowid.
No AI Training use allowed without written permission.
TERMS OF USE: By accessing this page, you agree not to download, analyze, distill, reuse, digest, or feed into any AI-type system the report data without first contacting Erowid Center and receiving written permission.

Experience Reports are the writings and opinions of the authors who submit them. Some of the activities described are dangerous and/or illegal and none are recommended by Erowid Center.


Experience Vaults Index Full List of Substances Search Submit Report User Settings About Main Psychoactive Vaults