Strongest OTC painkiller?

[Sugarnspicenallthingsnaice]

I'm heading back to the UK for a holiday shortly, and due to an injury will need some pain relief, particularly for the very long flight home.

It's been years and years since I've needed to buy anything from a UK chemist and I'm wondering what's available without prescription? Is there anything with paracetamol + codeine?

You may not be allowed to bring it into Australia if it’s a prescription only medication.

I'm glad you found something that works for you and your situation.

Popping a couple of strong painkillers works just fine for my needs.

I got the information I started the thread for - which was if I could buy them OTC in the UK. We seemed to have moved onto an array of unsolicited life advice which as a grown and quite capable woman I do not want or need, so I'll leave it there.

Thanks though.

Not really. They will ask.

You can get generic cocodamol for about £2 same as your expensive branded version.

I think max mg is 8mg of codeine.

People who are abusing it are often in that situation because they have been prescribed it for too long without any other treatment.

I know 3 people who had to get treatment for addiction.
The first person was prescribed it for 18 months and the prescription was suddenly stopped after a review, they went through such severe withdrawal symptoms that they ended up buying it online from an online pharmacy (that’s been stopped now) and they also weren’t given anything else to help the pain. They carried on but with codeine you keep needing more and more as time goes on, in the end the GP had to refer them to addiction services as they were taking 25 a day.

The second has a painful condition, she was on numerous waiting lists but again just kept being given the codeine, she eventually went private for surgery which relieved most of her pain but had to have help being weaned off the codeine.

The third is my friend who isn’t originally from the uk, her husband was buying her the solpadeine max for a painful issue and they were unaware that they were so addictive, her husband was told but believed it would take a long period of heavy use and assumed that in the same way coffee and cigarettes are addictive you can give up with willpower. They had no idea that the withdrawal is so severe and again needed to be given a substitute and weaned off.

Three separate people, all taking them for genuine severe pain with two of them prescribed it. They had all tried to get a more affective treatment but were just offered medication or put on waiting lists.

I’m sure there are people who abuse it just for fun, I bet a large majority become addicted in similar circumstances though. If they do stop just dishing it out in the UK it might prompt doctors to offer better treatments though.

It would be very hard to abuse 8mg codeine mixed with 500mg of paracetamol. You're like to die of liver failure from paracetamol overdose before you get addicted to 8mg.

I get prescribed 120mg a day as and when I ask for it.
Luckily I hate the way it makes me feel but sometimes I need it.

Actually it's 60mg x 4. So 240. I only ever take one or 2 occasionally at night. I couldn't function if I took as prescribed.

Well, that put me in my place!

As well as, or instead of, co-codamol, you can also buy a non-steroidal inflammatory such as naproxen (instead of ibuprofen) available as Feminax ultra. Take this with omeprazole 20mg once a day as stomach protection

I actually do not agree that you end up needing more and more codeine. i have taken a dose of Solpa Max every morning for years, I have arthritis and fibro and need it to enable me to be able to get up and about. I have only ever taken the one dose, it works very well as a painkiller, bit of a relaxed feeling but I have never thought of taking more.