Delsym and Diarrhea: What Users Say (Page 2)

• JJa...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 15, 2019

For Cough "Horrendous. Delsym did not stop my cough. I woke up at 4 AM (I had taken it the afternoon before at 4:30 pm) with serious diarrhea and vomiting. The cramps that followed are unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, absolutely horrific. This medicine needs to be taken off the market. It’s been over three hours, and the cramping has worsened - I didn’t think it was possible - and I’m basically writhing on my floor. DO NOT RISK THIS!!!"

• Rac...
• March 3, 2017

For Cough "Took 5 hours ago. Still coughing. Now I am pooping as well. Came to read reviews because I don't think I could have eaten anything else to cause diarrhea. I'm hoping I don't have 8 hours of stomach issues, but it's not looking good. Maybe it doesn't happen to everyone, but user beware!"

• Ann...
• April 16, 2017

For Cough "This cough syrup should be advertised as a colon cleanse. Fast acting! Holy moly. Within 10 minutes, the diarrhea hit me like a freight train. I didn't know I had all that in me. The diarrhea was a great distraction from my sore throat. I didn't think the diarrhea was from the Delsym at first. I put two and two together when every 12 hours I took a dose, it was followed by the violent emptying of my being. I did feel immediately better after the trips to the bathroom."

• Ya...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 19, 2019

For Cough "Learned the hard way that this stuff causes explosive diarrhea. I wouldn't take this if you have any plans for the rest of the day. Honestly, not sure if it really even helped with my cough or if I was just getting better with time. Wish I looked into it more earlier on instead of waiting. It feels like they have added the active ingredient for Miralax in a drug designed for already sick people?"

• Peg...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 23, 2017

For Cough "Boy, do I wish I had read the reviews on this medicine BEFORE I took it! I have been sick for a week with a nasty virus and finally broke down late last night and took a dose of Delsym. I admit it stopped my cough in its tracks, but I woke up six hours later with such bad diarrhea, it was like my keister had sprouted a fountain. My husband took it and within a short time developed terrible chills. I think, from this point forward, I will just deal with the cough."

• Fra...
• March 16, 2017

For Cough "A lot of negative reviews here. I find Delsym to be very effective treating my cough. No symptoms of diarrhea at all. Of course, I don't take it on an empty stomach. Anyway, pretty good stuff in my opinion."

• XKa...
• October 6, 2016

For Cough "I honestly wasn't sure if it was the medication that did this to me until I just almost took it again and decided to read reviews. A couple of hours after I took it, I woke up three different times due to extreme stomach pain. The third time I decided to try to go to the bathroom. My stomach hurt so bad that I felt like the muscles in my stomach were just stuck tight. I felt like I couldn't even go to the bathroom because it hurt so bad. After having extreme pain and diarrhea, I started getting chills, lightheaded, and swearing profusely. I seriously thought I was going to die and started dialing 911 before laying on my bathroom floor for a couple of minutes, and it stopped. I wasn't even sure if it was the medication before reading all these."

• Lau...
• January 14, 2017

For Cough "Went to urgent care, and the doctor recommended Delsym. He warned me it can cause diarrhea, so to take Imodium with it to counteract it. It definitely helped suppress the cough and tasted much better than NyQuil. (That contains Benadryl and Tylenol.)"

• Cit...
• March 31, 2017

For Cough "This did stop my cough all night after suffering from a terrible cough for 5 days, but I have severe watery diarrhea a short time after taking it. My husband had the same cough, and it stopped his cough, too, luckily, he did not get diarrhea. The grape flavor tasted pretty good. Imodium stopped my diarrhea with 2 doses. I will save the rest of the bottle for him, but not for me."

• Man...
• April 22, 2017

For Cough "I found this page, and everything clicked just two days too late. While my cough went away, the first night I woke up with severe cramping and the worst diarrhea of my life and was unable to hold food down for 12 hours. Then I took the medicine the next night and woke up to constant severe cramping to the point of skipping all my meals and popping Pepto until the 12-hour mark when I was able to hold down a bagel. Thank God I searched this tonight because I was about to take it again! It is not expired, but rather a painful fast track to a cleanse. Never touching it again."

• dgg...
• September 24, 2020

"I’m getting over the last symptoms of COVID, and I had a persistent cough, so my parents recommended I take Delsym. Well, it did its job, I didn’t have a cough, but I had way more side effects than I would’ve liked. I felt extremely off balance and like I was floating. I had bad diarrhea, a rapid heart rate, and even after working 5 hours, I had anxiety and couldn’t sleep that night, and that was hours after taking it! Crazy experience, felt like I was on actual drugs. Probably won’t be taking it again."

• ver...
• October 6, 2016

For Cough "Took this for cough last night and made my stomach hurt almost instantly, then woke up to horrible loose stools and stomach cramps. It has been 24 hours, and I am still in pain. It may have helped the cough slightly, but this is way worse!"

• Sic...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 10, 2019

For Cough "I took this medicine for a cough so I could sleep well before a final exam. I'm now up at 3 a.m. with diarrhea, intense stomach cramps, and I'm so dizzy I can't walk. It's also impossible to sleep because of how panicked it's making me feel. I made myself worse by taking this. Beware."

• Chi...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 29, 2019

For Cough "I took Delsym once and didn't help cough, decided to try a second dose more than 12 hours later, still no help, but now have explosive diarrhea. (Not ideal when you have a bad cough!) Would not recommend."

• Ama...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• June 21, 2019

"My son had chronic ear infections when he was little and continues to have them every time he gets a cold. He is now 30 years old and continues to use Delsym 12 Hour Cough Syrup to avoid an ear infection. He takes a dose at night and a dose in the morning at onset of a cold. As the cold begins to subside, he stops the dose in the morning and just takes it at night until the cold is completely gone. I've told a lot of people about it, and only one person has told me that it didn't work. I have taken Delsym myself, and neither of us have experienced feeling drugged or have had the explosive diarrhea that others on these reviews have spoken of. Everyone is different as to what they can tolerate. It thins the mucus so it can drain properly and not cause the infection. I'm no doctor but just figured it out on my own years ago when I was told that it thins the mucus. I had him try it, and he has been avoiding ear infections ever since. Beats antibiotics and surgeries."

• FMG...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 10, 2016

For Cough "I had a very bad cold to the point of settling in my chest. I took Delsym 12 hour to help. I couldn't believe it really worked to keep my cough at bay, but I started to have severe side effects from it. I had dizziness like I was going to blackout, heart palpitations, SOB (shortness of breath), diarrhea, and vomiting at the same time (sitting on the toilet and holding a bucket at the same time wanting to pass out from the dehydration). Never again, I'll stick with Creomulsion."

• Cou...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 24, 2016

For Cough "Developed a cold that just wouldn't go away and that turned into a cough. Took Vicks, Mucinex, NyQuil, but nothing controlled the cough well. Decided to try Delsym, and while it did control the cough much better than the others, I woke up in the early hours of the morning with extreme diarrhea, awful, awful cramping, and sweating to death. I literally sat on the toilet for an hour dry heaving because the pain was so bad. It was terrible. For the next 24 hours, my stomach just hurt trying to recover. I only thought I had gotten minor food poisoning, but this morning when I had just liquid bowel movements again, I decided to search reviews since that's the only thing that has changed. I am definitely going to stop taking."

• Cha...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 22, 2021

For Cough "Last year, my daughter's pediatrician recommended this because she was diagnosed with the flu. Fast forward to this year and week, I bought it for my extreme cough and because I couldn't sleep from coughing so much. Well, I took the recommended dosage twice and noticed the medicine was making me worse! I have never coughed so much in my life. My body is sore from all the coughing. I obtained a stuffy then runny nose that I didn't have prior to the medicine. My taste and smell left, and I have severe diarrhea. I didn't take any more, and my cough is calming down, and I can smell and taste again. Not sure what's in this, but I highly recommend you steer clear of this cough syrup. I've never had this type of reaction to a cough syrup. Never again will I take this nor give it to my daughter. I would literally cough and sneeze so much at a time I'd get lightheaded and discombobulated. Buy and try at your own risk!"

• Cou...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 20, 2019

For Cough "I usually use Delsym, as the other products hurt my stomach. Purchased the grape flavor and took the first dose at work. I was also told by the pharmacist that I can combine it with Mucinex-D tablets. Unfortunately, this combo got me high as anything at work - must have been the pseudoephedrine in the Mucinex-D. Essentially, my head was spinning, and I was slightly confused and excited. Another side effect included lots of watery diarrhea and loud stomach gas. I have ongoing bubble guts some 12 hours later. My coughing fits were greatly reduced, though. I definitely won’t be combining those two medications again."

• Del...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 27, 2022

For Cough "I was having a pretty bad cough at work, and the doctor had previously told me to try Delsym. This is my first and last time. My cough definitely calmed down. But... the horrible diarrhea that comes with it is not worth it. I've been back and forth on the toilet for almost an hour. Cough is a little better for sure."

• No...
• November 23, 2022

For Cough "Well, I wish I had read the reviews before I took Delsym before work this morning. I started a new job recently, and I had a slight cough but no other symptoms, so I thought Delsym would decrease the annoying tickle in my throat. Well, I was not prepared to be sitting here at my desk, clenched like my life depends on it. Diarrhea is not fun in an office environment with a shared restroom. I'd rather have dealt with the slight cough. Take heed and learn from my misdeeds."

• Sin...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 9, 2017

For Cough "Have a sinus infection which causes a pretty bad cough... got tired of it and reached for Delsym (I bought it a month earlier for my son's bad cough, and it worked for him)... took it at 3 pm today, and by 5 pm I had the runs!!! Cough was gone, but it made me go! I don't have IBS or any digestive issues, so it seems to be affiliated with this medicine... up to you if it's worth it... for me it was, that's how bad my cough was."

• ash...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 7, 2017

For Cough "Have a little bit of a lingering cough from a cold. Not giving me much trouble except keeps me up at night. I heard this was good, so I took it so I could get some sleep. Helped tremendously with the cough, but then I was having bad stomach cramps and diarrhea. I hadn't eaten anything that should have upset my stomach, and it didn't really feel like a 'bug,' so I looked up side effects for Delsym. Now I wish I had done that first because I probably wouldn't have taken it. So, while it worked for my cough, I still didn't get any sleep due to the stomach issues."

• Bar...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 8, 2017

For Cough "Had taken Delsym brand since Saturday for an aggravating cough, adding to it Mucinex as my former doctor always insisted. No problems except smelled the Mucinex in my stools, but no real cough control either. At 10 p.m. last night, took the first dose from a bottle of Equate brand like Delsym and a Mucinex. At 1:30 a.m., I had the first of hours of sudden, explosive, watery diarrhea. Thought I’d been exposed to a stomach virus, but no nausea or vomiting. Still in agony this morning and still coughing, so took another dose of the Delsym knockoff and decided to research side effects since it didn’t match the stomach viruses I’d had in the past. Why did I do that? I just ran for my Immodium, since having IBS-D, it is my best friend. No more Delsym!"

• Bar...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 8, 2017

For Cough "Had taken Delsym brand since Saturday for an aggravating cough, adding to it Mucinex as my former doctor always insisted. No problems except smelled the Mucinex in my stools, but no real cough control either. At 10 p.m. last night, took the first dose from a bottle of Equate brand like Delsym and a Mucinex. At 1:30 a.m., I had the first of hours of sudden, explosive, watery diarrhea. Thought I’d been exposed to a stomach virus, but no nausea or vomiting. Still in agony this morning and still coughing, so took another dose of the Delsym knockoff and decided to research side effects since it didn’t match the stomach viruses I’d had in the past. Why did I do that? I just ran for my Immodium, since having IBS-D, it is my best friend. No more Delsym!"