To be worried about Codeine

Go and see a chiropractor. Its far more effective.

I must be the exception. I've used these for years on and off for severe back pain and can just stop them without any withdrawal symptoms for weeks at a time if necessary. As soon as the pain subsided I just stop using them.

@Dontwakeme I’d guess you had/ have neurological pain.
Amytriptylene does help with that. ( had it too)
It’s a really Oldskool antidepressant as well.

Opioids alone aren’t that great at nerve pain ( so pain specialist said at hospital.

Referred pain is a strange thing
I felt like I had a broken ankle from sciatica!

@oakleaffy that’s interesting I definitely would have taken the Euphoria feeling for sure but felt like it just barely touched the pain levels, what helped me was a very high dose of amitriptyline , double what I was on but was a miracle worker even though I felt zonked and fell asleep so often until I got used to it! I really feel for those who are addicted to any medication as during my 6-9 mths of pain and codeine usage I felt panicked that I would run out , wouldn’t get another prescription etc.but that was due to the pain relief nothing else. interesting the times I’ve been prescribed diazepam for back spasms Again did very little but possible dosages too low.
gas and air was a good distraction for me though and I could have happily stayed on that and floated on clouds!

I'm no medic, but have noticed that when one is in a lot of pain, one's threshold for morphine goes up, it all seems to go into the pain.
Other drugs they may be on may cause them to need less/more as well..it's an art getting it titrated right so the patient is comfortable but not over sedated.

My elderly neighbour was found grey and in pain after breaking her leg- medics gave her a Morphine injection and to see the colour flow back into her face within minutes and her eyes to sparkle was surprising.
She looked less pinched with pain, bless her.

Tolerance also develops quickly, which is why there are so many 'strengths' of Morphine and other opiates/oids out there.

Some people like my friend are ''poor responders'' to morphine, and get hallucinations from it.

What astounds me is how we have receptors in our brains and bodies that fit the molecules from a plant. {Papaver somniferum}

I had this! Took them once for tooth pain and as I floated up on a cloud of bliss thought 'hmm, better not take this again!' But my friend who takes it for back pain can stop and start no issues. That's interesting that we metabolise it differently.

I was prescribed codeine at the end of last year and took it on and off for a couple of weeks - not everyday, I had good days and bad days pain wise.
No addiction issues.

8mg is a tiny dose, you are highly unlikely to come to any harm beyond mild constipation. I've been taking the 30mg tablets for more than 15 years to keep my arthrititis down to a dull roar. I am allowed maximum of 8 tablets a day, I have 2 at bedtime pretty much every day, some days I have to take them through the day, some days I have none. Other than constipation, I have no side effects at all. The side effects of paracetamol and brufen are pretty grim too

I take them regularly. Not all the time though. I have a hip condition which flares up and I need codeine to deal with it. I can go months without it and then need a couple of weeks on them .

One thing I've noticed though is that paracetamol on its own isn't very effective any more.

I asked one of my specialists about addiction to codeine and he said that when you take it for severe pain it's not too addictive.

I took loads of codiene after a nasty break. Also when I was ill and had migraines. I did question it as I have an addictive personality but it was fine. Pain stopped and so I stopped with the painkillers.

I don’t think they made me feel good though possibly a bit down and a bit emotional.

I feel duty bound to tell you not to go crazy with exercises or seeing osteopaths, chiropractors and the like, either until the pain subsides or you have had an MRI. I waited well over a year for an MRI (2013) and when I saw the results I was horrified. Horrified that I had let an osteopath literally yank me all over the place, prior to and in the 12 months leading up to my MRI scan. I should have waited, please be very careful.

I was on the 30/500 dose for a period of 9 months or so and was definitely worried about addiction but I was dependent on them for pain relief and only once ( at start of taking them) do I ever remember a cosy/ all is well with the world feeling so maybe I don’t metabolise them in same way as others. I reduced them as my need for pain relief decreased and was fine. It does fascinate me how vastly different we are all with medication - once during the spinal injury I had I was in so much pain I wanted my leg cut off, nerve pain was so bad I would had cut it off myself if I could have- was in the hospital nearly delirious with pain and they gave me the “ strongest” dose possible of morphine and genuinely I felt nothing no relief, The doctor told me he gave the woman beside me half the dose I was one and she was felt off her face and flat out sound asleep .
Think I must have high threshold for opioids .
To answer your question, just be mindful of your doses, avoid long term used and taper off slowly if required!

I would try gentle back exercise and check your posture. I don't like or use meds if I can help it

No you aren’t over thinking it. There is an huge issue with over the counter codeine addiction in the UK.

Yes op you should be concerned on the addiction board here, you will see that most of the posts are codeine addiction. Not to scare you but I think come off of them quickly I would combine paracetamol and ibuprofen very effective pain relief.

12.8/500 is the maximum strength Co-Codamol that can be bought from a pharmacy, never heard of any products containing 16mg codeine. Co-Codamol 15/500 are prescription only strength

Naproxen is an non-steroidal anti inflammatory, same as ibuprofen only slightly stronger, not a muscle relaxant.

If you need it for pain relief you shouldn't really get addicted/withdraw as the affect will be therapeutic rather than pleasurable/stoned. It is possible though, but not too difficult to stop if you do it over a few days. Once your pain has subsided, reduce your dose so if you took 4, go down to 3, then 2, 1 each day. Then zero. That way it's extremely unlikely you will suffer withdrawal. If you take lots more than it says on the packet then the withdrawl could be worse. It is the weakest opiate so nowhere near as strong as diamorphine (heroin), Oxycodone, etc. You are very aware of the addiction side so it sounds like you are trying to be sensible which is good.

Years ago I took paracetamol plus codeine not having heard of codeine before. I remember saying to my friend that I liked it and it made me feel really nice. Now I know about it I'd rather avoid it.

Most definitely @Ratfan24
I have never enjoyed the effects of alcohol at all - But prescribed DF118 {Dihydrocodeine} as a younger person, I loved the rather energised giddy feeling.

I had morphine injection {patient controlled } and really liked the peaceful feelings it gave. I remember gazing at a melting icicle outside the hospital window..It was rainbow coloured from refraction in places and sparkling in the lowering sun, and I thought it was one of the most beautiful things I'd seen.

When the morphine was taken away....I just felt grey and bleurgh.

A dentist had the same morphine pump for an op and she said ''I used to judge addicts- but after this {Morphine IV} I understand how they feel''

Some other patients who had it were just nauseated and sick.

It does definitely seem to be a biochemical response.

Stop taking them - they're like sticking a plaster onto a broken leg. Find a good osteopath, take ibuprofen regularly and take some gentle daily exercise - and whatever you do, don't sit about.

I don't think it's your personality as much as your reaction to codeine. I remember taking a big pack of solpadeine on holiday which I took for bad period pains. This was when it was less regulated in the 90s, some of my friends kept borrowing it off me and I realised then they got a buzz off it. I've never had that at all.
Later I took 30mg 4x a day for my back pain for weeks, then I had an op that helped with the pain and came off it straight away no issues.

Naproxen is an anti-inflammatory, like ibuprofen. It's not a relaxant.

Some people get addicted and some don't.

Have a look on the addiction section on mumsnet, under health and you'll see every other thread is people desperately trying to come off codeine.

I have this in prescription for my back pain, only take it occasionally though, it's more if a muscle relaxant I think