Been prescribed codeine

[MissKittyBeaudelais]

I’ve seen my GP this morning who’s given me codeine on prescription. I’ve picked them up from the chemist and taken them. The lessening of the pain is such a relief but I’ve now sat down and read the info leaflet. Christ! It sounds awful. Can I really become an addict? Suddenly very scared to take this medication.

Anyone taking this able to advise? Thanks

Opiates can be addictive but guess you've only got a short term prescription. Have you tried any other painkillers.

Take them if you've been prescribed them. You are unlikely to become addicted to them unless you take them for too long or overdose.

I have taken codeine for pain all my adult life. Never been addicted and it's the best thing to take when you need a painkiller in my opinion.

Codeine is a good drug if used at the lowest effective level for the shortest practical time. The addiction problems come when people take for long periods of time and when they increase the dose with every pain flare but don't step down between them
I have taken it myself for sciatica with no problems. I took it at full dose for a few weeks then reduced as the pain subsided
It sounds like you are sensible and aware not to get sucked into higher and higher doses so I would say go for it and use your pain relief to do self care things like exercises, etc (depending on your condition of course) to help in the longer term

what dosage of codeine have you been given? I think the point is that it IS highly addictive. The trick is only to use it when it's absolutely necessary, and to revert to regular painkillers the rest of the time. Eg, even with the relatively low level dosage of codeine given to me post-c Section, I very quickly swapped to only taking the codeine at night to help me sleep without pain and taking regular paracetamol during the day.

Make sure you eat plenty of fibre!

I had to take codeine short-term (week or so) whilst awaiting antibiotics to work for gum infection.

No addiction issues but did suffer from a side-effect - constipation. Fully put me off getting addicted, I can tell you

I've took it a few times and been fine stopping it. Not everyone gets addicted to it.

Extra fiber and fluids needed.

I've been taking it for the last couple of weeks for sciatica, up to 90mg a day. As far as I'm aware I'm not addicted. I made sure to only use it when the ibuprofen and paracetamol weren't doing an adequate job.

Thank you for the swift replies. I’ve been referred to the hospital and GP said if I’ve not had an appointment within two weeks, get back to her so, with that in mind, maybe she’s thinking say a 2-3 week usage. I only took half the dose 15mg she gave me (prescription is 1 or 2 every 4-6 hours). I’ll take the full 30mg at night as I’m in agony then. In the day I’ll take 15mg (1 tab) if I absolutely must, but shall try to stick to Paracetamol.

That's not a crazy dosage at all. For problems with a hernia I was given 30mg tablets with instructions to take two at a time (but usually only one dosage, weeks or months apart). For c-section I had 10mg tablets, also to take 2 at a time.

If you're only taking one of the tablets, you should be able to support it with an additional paracetamol pill as must codeine pills have (I believe) the same dosage as a single paracetamol tablet. So one codeine pill and one paracetamol tablet gives you the full paracetamol dosage but a lower codeine amount.

Codeine and paracetamol are different drugs. Taking one codeine will not give you a dose of paracetamol.

Every codeine tablet I've ever been given has included paracetamol. I'm not 100% sure that's always true, hence my comment, that codeine tablets also include paracetamol "I believe". Although I do see I have a typo there and said "must" rather than "most" which could confuse things.

Possibly getting co-codamol (codeine +paracetamol)and codeine mixed up Bling.

Please make sure you increase fluids and both kinds of fibre more than you think you need to!

It's the last thing you want to be worrying about, and it's a real problem with codeine!

Are you thinking of co codamol 8/500 or co dyramol 10/500, Tylex 30/500 which are a mixture or codeine and paracetamol. Codeine does also come as a separate drug.

They're highly addictive but you just have to be sensible with them. I was on them for 8 weeks for an injury and I did find that I had started taking them because I liked the feeling rather than the pain... So knocked them on the head.

I'm on co-codamol long term and I've never felt that I couldn't stop it (It's the same dose, the only reason they've given me that is because I struggle to take tablets so taking paracetamol and ibuprofen as well as separate codeine would be a pain). I doubt you'll have any problems, if you do feel like you are you can always go back, but it sounds like it's very short term.

@wigglypiggly - thanks. I didn't know they gave codeine alone. I've had co codamol in both the 500/10mg and 500/30mg dosages.

Yes. They are tiny tablets, they come in 15mg and 30mg.

I took it regularly for 7 or 8 months. No addiction issues. I was worried though and had a chat with the pharmacist about it and he put my mind at rest.

I’m on codeine at the moment for a pain issue, I can’t take anti-inflammatories. It works well for me. At one point in the past I was on 60mg 4 times a day! IME there’s two different issues with codeine ‘addiction’. There’s the possibility of getting addicted if you feel floaty from the drug, then some people start taking it just for that feeling - if you start to feel like that you need to talk to your GP. There’s also the possibility of becoming physically dependent on it - I’ve had this. I tried to stop too quickly and I got really bad withdrawal symptoms - upset stomach, sweating, running hot and cold - I felt terrible! I had to slowly drop my dose to stop this from happening. However I’ve weaned off it 3 times successfully now so I know I can do it again.

I’ve been on opiates for years (almost 15 years) - currently morphine but have been on all the opioids.

I’m not addicted at all - I would get physical withdrawal if I stopped cold turkey but physical dependence and addiction are very different. This covers the difference quite well www.rivermendhealth.com/resources/distinguishing-pain-related-dependence-addiction/

After a couple of my surgeries I was able to come off painkillers completely for 4-6 months - I had to taper down to avoid withdrawal symptoms but could do so quite quickly and had no cravings and no desire to take them. I’ve recently quit smoking which I was very addicted to - completely different experience!

My pain specialist told me not to be concerned about addiction as I was - the key really is to only take enough to make the pain manageable and only take as needed, if you stick to that it will take much longer to build up tolerance, and you won’t be getting the euphoria that recreational users get. Of course it’s important be be vigilant for signs that you want to take it even when you don’t need it physically, but used correctly and conservatively the risks are low.

I’d really recommend taking a stool softener (like Dulcoease) every time you take any codeine, and drinking lots of water.

Fibre is not a good idea - opioids slow down your gut motility and fibre bulks up your stool. You want a softener and potentially a stimulant laxative if that’s not effective