Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold may be an over-the-counter medicine, but it's received a lot of media attention lately because of teenagers using it to get a cheap high. This has led to many testing companies offering a test for the DXM in triple c's, and there are also reports that DXM can cause false positives for opiates and PCP.
Triple C's and drug testing
There's very little data about how DXM affects drug tests, but there's a general suspicion that using DXM in high doses, which recreational users usually do, will possibly cause a false positive for PCP and/or opiates.
This can leave you in a tricky situation, because you then need to convince your employer or parole officer that you've been using a legal substance at high doses rather than taking PCP or heroin. Even then, they may be highly unimpressed by your admission. Of course, a subsequent GC-MS confirmation test should also clear this up, but employers don't always do this for pre-employment drug tests.
So, how long do triple c's stay in your system?
Due to a shortage of data about DXM and drug tests, it's hard to say for sure how long triple c's will stay in your system. The best guess at the moment is that a high dose of DXM can affect a urine drug test for up to five days later.
Getting clean for a drug test
Given the potential problems that triple c's can cause, you probably want to be clean before going to any drug tests. Even with the uncertainty surrounding DXM, a weeklong detox program should be sufficient to prepare your body for a drug test.
Passing a drug test with DXM still in your system
Even if you don't have the time to get triple c's out of your system, you can still pass a urine drug test with a good quality detox drink. This will flush your urinary system clean in just an hour.
Detox drinks are usually used to avoid testing positive for drugs like weed and coke, but the process works just as well for other substances, including DXM. Depending on the detox drink you choose, you drink the contents with a specified amount of water, although some detox drinks don't even need the extra water.
You'll then need to pee a few times before going to a drug test, because this will flush the toxins from your bladder. Your subsequent urine will then have much lower levels of toxins (including DXM) in it, at least for the next few hours.
Over time, toxins will start to accumulate in your urine again and return to their original levels, so it's important to give your urine sample before this happens. It's generally considered best to use your detox drink about two hours before your expected test time. Not only is this when the effect is at its strongest-it also gives you some flexibility if your test comes up slightly earlier or later.
