*Incoming, wall of text inbound, but you should read it, I think it will help*
Well let’s set a few implications to your question.1.) You’re in the US
2.) By OTC you mean just the stuff you find in the Pharmacy section at Walmart or some other store, and nothing you can get over the internet.
3.) You aren’t stupid and will actually take any of this stuff.Alright, so with that out of the way, in the US, there are a few things you can get “high” off of just in the Pharmacy department in a grocery store.
1.) Dextromethorphan (AKA DXM or DM).
Disclaimer: The sources of DXM mentioned below can sometimes have extra ingredients like Guaifenesin which can be dangerous at higher doses around the third plateau, and can make the trip feel “dirty”, Acetaminophen (Tylenol) which is extremely dangerous and you DO NOT WANT THIS IN ANYTHING YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE IN HIGH DOSES, and Chlorpheniramine Maleate (an antihistamine) in Triple Cs, WHICH IS ALSO POTENTIALLY LETHAL IN HIGH DOSES and can make the high feel dirty too. The indicates that these brands’ main version only contains DXM.
Found in: Robitussin, Robitussin Cough Gels*, Delsym*, Purple Box Coricidin Cough and Cold (or Triple Cs), Mucinex DM and much more, it’s also used in prescription formulations in for serious treatment of Pertussis or the like. Delsym contains a different, longer acting version of DXM called Dextromethorphan Polistirex, which means that it takes longer to take effect but also lasts longer.
This is perhaps the most common drug that people tend to abuse. It’s used as a “cough suppressant” (even though some studies show that it’s no more effective than placebo).
It’s actually a pretty complex high. In high doses, it’s a dissociative like Ketamine or PCP. Actually, it’s stronger and I personally like it more than Ketamine.
There are 4 Plateaus to a DXM trip, which I will label below in stages with doses (Ranging depending on body weight)
1st: 120mg- 200mg
The first plateau is kinda like being drunk but without as much of the euphoria, uplifted mood, anxiety decreases, socialization is possible, but effects of this dose go from person to person. Not much to the first one.2nd: 200mg- 550mg
The second plateau is like being even more drunk with a hint of having smoked some good weed, sometimes with a bit more euphoria, lack of balance, colors appear more vivid, music sounds better, you wanna laugh more, you have more fun doing things, you’re still usually lucid enough to socialize. Neat colors and images appear when you close your eyes, and towards the upper part of the plateau you can start to experience a small reduction in pain, and perhaps a little bit of what I can only describe as (usually) pleasant paresthesia.3rd: 550mg- 1200mg
Past the second plateau is when DXM takes the turn from “buzz” to ”high”. The experience and the high completely changes natures to that of ketamine. Walking, talking normally, and doings a lot of simple tasks become much more difficult. This is when the psychedelic effects start to become apparent. Every time you close your eyes images appear, and they get really vivid. You lose track of time and everything is colorful and bright, sparkling even. Internal thoughts become very interesting, and sometimes you start having existential questions about everything. You basically become retarded too, and by that I just mean that your brain becomes very foggy. Full mind and body separation/dissociation start. It’s quite fun tbh. Euphoria that comes from music disappears though. This and the 4th Plateau included me “carpet swimming” around my house like a baby that couldn’t crawl yet and on the 4th I was trying to telepathically communicate with my dog. I also tried to replace batteries to a really old plasma ball toy I found and I think it took me about an hour to do and I felt REALLY proud of myself. You feel like a robot, if you look in the mirror and move around, you look like one too, hence “Robotripping”.4th: 1200mg- 1600mg
I’ve only hit this one a few times, and oh boy this was something else. I felt so close to God and I felt so close to death, even more existential thoughts filled my brain. This is what you could consider hitting the K-hole but so much more. These experiences completely changed the way I looked at my own life. This is one of those things that are hard to describe, but I felt like I met God once. The body and mind high are intense. The mind and body are almost completely dissociated at this point and there is usually almost no possibility of acting normally around people. This stage is more intense than Ketamine and a moderate dose of PCP in my experience. There is also almost no walking in this stage. Your balance is so screwed up, this is why I carpet swam, that and the carpet felt so good. From the 3rd plat and up, I couldn’t feel pain, which could be potentially dangerous. No joke, I could have been shot and I wouldn’t have felt it. I did try cutting myself to see if I could feel it, and I didn’t feel a thing, I just bled everywhere. Which kinda reminds me of those stories of people on PCP getting shot and the kept going. That was where I was at.
I do not condone the use of any of these drugs, but I have to say that the 4th plateau is something that one has to do once in their life before they die.
I could keep going but I’ll just stop for now, you can do the research yourself if you’re curious.Diphenhydramine/Dimenhydrinate (DPH/DMH) as well as Doxylamine Succinate
These two are not the exact same drug but are very similar in effects, but I’m just gonna talk about Diphenhydramine because to do otherwise is redundant.
It’s an extremely common antihistamine under the brand names: Benadryl, Sominex, Unisom, ZZZquil, and since it has so many applications, there are much, much more. It has hypnotic/sedative properties so it’s used for sleep probably more than it is as an antihistamine, even though it’s an extremely effective one.
Ugh, yes, you can get high off of this, but I would suggest not to.If you take over 300mg to however high you want really, but the suggested max is around a gram. If you don’t take enough to get yourself high, but take more than 75–100mg, you will have the worst RLS and Malaise of your life. It was god awful.
DPH is a very strong deliriant. The things that change as you go higher in dosage is the increase in the trip itself and the increase of the duration. As well as the possibilities for other side effects.
This drug is awful to get high on. The trip is basically like being turned into a zombie schizophrenic. The only high I can compare it to is either intense doses of nutmeg, or coming down on meth after not sleeping for 5+ days straight. What I call “shadow people” appear, things move in the corner of your eyes, you get paranoid, sometimes you can hear voices, usually of like relatives calling your name or some shit like that.
Actually, I call tripping on DPH a “shortcut to extremely sleep deprivation” because many of the effects are very similar.
The only pleasant thing oddly enough is that there is a very decent amount of euphoria most of the time when I did it, which was quite nice, aside from everything else. If you EVER do it for some stupid reason, make sure you have a some sort of anti psychotic with you at all times like a Benzodiazipine (Xanax, Klonipin, Librium, Valium) or a Thienodiazepine (Just Etizolam really), or even something like Olanzapine. Just any Anti psychotic, because that will help you come down.So those are basically the ones that you can get really noticeably high on.
There are two other OTC drugs that people tend to abuse.
Pseudoephedrine (I’m gonna abbreviate it as “phedrine” because I hate typing that word out.
This can be found in: Sudafed*, Mucinex D, Alegra D, and a lot of other cold and flu remedies.
Sudafed is the only brand that I know of that contains ONLY phedrine.
Yes, the stuff that is used to make Methamphetamine.
Phedrine is actually a stimulant itself; in higher doses, it can be used as a wakefulness promoting agent and as a stimulant.
It’s technically classified as a combo phenethylamine and amphetamine. I never personally have had any experience using it aside from as an Adderall replacement in high school. It provides a lot of the same effects as other amphetamines in higher doses, like decent euphoria, a hyperactive feeling, lots of energy, you know, the works. Nice thing about it is that it actually has a pretty low risk of developing tolerance and there aren’t really any withdrawals from moderate long- term use. BenedrexBenedrex, also known as propylhexedrine, is a stimulant that is packed into a little nasal inhaler. You just put it up your nose and it opens your sinuses up for like a minute. Propylhexedrine is only a bit different from an amphetamine. It is only different from methamphetamine in that it has a cyclohexane ring where meth has a phenyl ring. Kinda neat. I remember tryna get high on this, I cut open the plastic inhaler, and took out the cotton. Upon doing this I ripped the cotton up and ate half of it at small quantities at a time. It resulted in a nice, stimulating buzz. Only downside was that my burps tasted like lavender for a solid 3–4 days.
Loperimide
Loperimide, also known as Immodium is an OTC medication that treats diarrhea. Loperimide is a piperidine derivative, like fentanyl, and it works by binding to the μ opioid receptors in the large intestine. I dunno if anybody has any experience with opioids, but this is why you’d potentially have trouble defecating if you took them for any significant length of time. The primary reason it’s not controlled at the moment in the US would probably be because it doesn’t cross the blood brain barrier readily in low doses on its own. It has a lower potential for abuse than its somewhat distant relative, fentanyl. Taking this drug with a glycoprotein inhibitor like quinidine increases its concentration, as does taking it in higher doses, naturally. I have gotten high from loperimide, but this isn’t recommended, as this comes with a myriad of side effects, including potentially lethal once. I used to use it to curb my opiate withdrawals. It’s cardiotoxic in high doses and people have died from it. I’m just providing you with the information that you asked for, you can get high from it.
(Bonus) Nutmeg
In the other part of the grocery store, Yes, you can get high on nutmeg, though it’s really not a whole lot different from any other anticholinergic like the DPH or Doxylamine. Myristicin acts like on muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, blocking choline. It results in something like just being schizophrenic or psychotic for some period of time. Seeing things, hearing things, thinking things, etc. All in the same envelope as dry mouth, urinary retention, etc.
Though some of the underlying principals behind nutmeg’s psychoactive properties are poorly understood, so it could do other things too, I was just not having fun the first (and last) time I did it, and wasn’t focusing on the intricacies or minute details it may have had. I’m no trip connoisseur.
*Noteusing any of the drugs mentioned in this list can potentially cause serious side effects, contraindications with other medications, and death, please be careful going forward if you’re going to try any of these things, though I don’t recommend it, nor do I condone it.
