Until September 14, 2017, 61 people in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi have beensent to hospital after consuming PCC, with most of them were elementary and junior high school students. Some of them lost consciousness and some even died after consuming the drug. Some survivors were reported to show disturbed mental conditions that they need to be tied to avoid them from rampaging.
What is PCC? And, what does this drug contain? Pay attention to the explanation below as cited from Hello Sehat:
What does PCC contain?
PCC stands for Paracetamol, Cafein, and Carisoprodol. Below is the explanation of their contents and side effects:
Paracetamol
Paracetamol or known as acetaminophen belongs to the group of painkillers which is sold freely. It is usually used to relieve light pain to headache, flu, menstrual pain, toothache and joint pain. Usually, 500mg Paracetamol is consumed every six hours to reach pain relieve effect.
There are some side effects such as nausea, upper abdominal pain, itchy, loss of appetite, dark urine, pale feces, and skin as well as eyes becoming yellow. However, such symptoms are not common as long as they consume it according to the rule or doctors prescription.
Caffeine
Caffeine is the compound found in coffee, tea, or cola to increase consciousness, focus and alertness. That is why after drinking coffee, you might not feel sleepy anymore. Athletes even use caffeine as a stimulant as it is still allowed to be used by National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
In the medical world, caffeine is usually used as a combination with painkiller. In this case, caffeine can be taken along with paracetamol. Caffeine can also be used for asthma, bladder infection to low blood pressure.
Caffeine works by stimulating central nerve system, heart and muscles. The effects of caffeine increaseblood pressure as well as expedite the flow of urine. However, these effects will not happen to those who take caffeine routinely.
There is also a rule for taking caffeine. The concentration of caffeine in your urine is not supposed to reach 16 mcg/mL. It takes 8 glasses of coffee to reach the number. So generally, caffeine is relatively safe to consume.
If you take it too much, caffeine may cause some side effects such as anxiety, panic attack, the rise of stomach acid, increased blood pressure and insomnia. If you have health issues such as indigestion and hypertension, these effects might occur easily.
Carisoprodol
When paracetamol and caffeine are general substances to use and relatively safe that they are sold freely, carisoprodol is limited and can only be used underdoctors order. Carisoprodol belongs to the group of muscle relaxer or drugs to relax your muscle which will cut off the pain flowing from your nerves to brain. It is used for physical therapy such as muscles and bones, for example in injury healing.
This drug may cause addiction, which is why it is not sold freely and can only be used with doctors prescription. The side effect is it will affect nerves and bodys reaction. If you consume it along with alcohol, it will make you have severe sleepiness up to headache.
There are some side effects might occur after consuming carisoprodol. If you feel one or more of symptoms below, please stop using it.
What will happen if these three drugs are consumed together?
If someone mixes and consumes these drugs at the same time, the side effects will occur together. At the end, this PCC will damage the central nervous system in the brain. The damage will be varied, but specifically, PCC brings up hallucination to some victims.
Significant mood changes also often occur as well as behavioral and emotional disorders. Other than that, this drug abuse can cause overdose that will leadto death.
The article was previously published inHellosehat.com and all medical data has been reviewed by a licensed medical doctor.
(brl/red)
