My husband didn't know Lemsip has paracetamol in it..

[bbcessex]

HUGE HUGE apologies to a reasonably recent OP who posted about paracetamol .

I did not think there was anyone out there who didn't know about the risks of taking too much / medicines that contained paracetamol but seems I should have looked closer to home.

This thread reminds me of a small argument I had at work recently. I had a painful shoulder so I took an Ibuprofen. Colleague noticed, and said to me "oh no, don't take Ibuprofen - what you need is a Nurofen."
I told her they are exactly the same drug, and she wouldn't believe me. She was absolutely adamant that Nurofen was "different and much better on the stomach."

She also buys different packs of Nurofen for whatever pain she has - one for toothache, another one for period pain, etc.

Still, if she wants to waste ££s falling for marketing ploys then it's her own foolishness. What does concern me, is that a grown woman of 42 doesn't bother to check what she is actually taking in the first place.

there's a lot of cases of people taking paracetamol long term and
damaging their livers too
Which is why it makes me so angry that even with chronic pain some GPs insist on only prescribing painkillers that are paracetamol and something else like codeine or dihydrocodeine.

For anyone taking Meds affected by grapefruit, if your dose is stable then it has been adjusted with that affect taken into account so DON'T JUST STOP THE GRAPEFRUIT. Talk to your pharmacist or gp for advice first or you could inadvertently do more harm than good

I have to say I'm angry that I wasn't given the option years ago. My liver bloods are fine now but not all damage shows so who knows.

Which is why it makes me so angry that even with chronic pain some GPs insist on only prescribing painkillers that are paracetamol and something else like codeine or dihydrocodeine.

What's the alternative though? NSAIDs come with a whole host of problems too.

It's not just grapefruit either. Cranberry juice can affect Warfarin (mind, pretty much everything does).

I'm allergic to lots of different meds (plus other things) which makes it even more difficult.

Alba I'm so sorry you were let down and hope you're well and happy now.

And yes everyone has different metabolism so process drugs differently. Weight gives an easily quantifiable way of assessing but isn't the whole story.

Kermitthefudd (username suggests we live in similar area) agree and not just with meds I'm constantly amazed by the people that believe advertising! My ex was like this as its how his parents are. They only have Branston pickle, Heinz beans etc 'because it's the best', same with meds, only ever bought anadin, panadol, nurofen etc and like your colleague the specific one for the specific pain. Madness!

I've been drinking lemsip for three days. Eek.

They only have Branston pickle, Heinz beans etc 'because it's the best', same with meds, only ever bought anadin, panadol, nurofen etc and like your colleague the specific one for the specific pain. Madness!

Branston Pickle is the best, though.

People think that because you can buy it over the counter it's completely safe with no risk at all however much you take
There needs to be much better education on it

Branston beans beat Heinz into a cocked tin.

Basically, Branston everything is better.

True cockacidal

But when money's tight sacrifices need to be made, what my ex didn't get was we didn't have the relatively high income and low outgoings of his parents.

Cockacid I meant codeine on its own instead of co-codamol

Branston is better than any other pickle.
HP is the best brown sauce, even if the salt and sugar police have nerfed it.
Colman's is the best English mustard.
Henderson's Relish is better than Worcestershire Sauce.
Heinz do the best ketchup and beans.
Hellman's is the best Mayo.

Sorry, Albadross. I got confused there.

I work on the science side of drug development (the light Side I guess..) - but the marketing side is equal parts awful and fascinating. Pharma companies have a limited patent life on drugs so they often extend it by reformulating the drug or combining it. By making an extended release format, or combining it with another drug (and other tricks) they can extend the patent life by five years.
I can understand why - getting a drug from lab to market takes decades and a shitload of money. I worked on the biggest drug trial ever and the budget was eye watering (billions just for the phase 3 trial.) but yeah, drug marketing is a black art really :(
I'll stick to the research and science part. I don't think Id be a good marketer...

I have to say I'm angry that I wasn't given the option years ago. My liver bloods are fine now but not all damage shows so who knows
I am not surprised but please make sure that you are regularly monitored.
Take care.

NSAIDs come with a whole host of problems too
I know that are awful especially on your stomach but my point was why can't GPs just prescribe simple codeine phosphate as opposed to co-codamol (30/500) for people that have to take painkillers every day for chronic pain?

Because the potential for abuse or resale for abuse is huge. Of course I'm not saying you would do this, but there's a huge black market in opiates. Plus they can be used in cooking meth.
The USA has a huge, huge problem with opiate addiction, partly because doctors hand them out much more readily than they do here.
Again, please don't think I'm in any way insinuating you personally would do this. It's tragic for patients like you who need long term pain control. There are some agents in the pipeline which have different methods of action for chronic pain (my team was involved in trials) but they're a few years off.

When I was a teenager I used to love lemsip and would take a cup to bed every night. I had no idea and my parents didn't tell me either.
I actually still like lemsip but obviously don't do that anymore.

By making an extended release format, or combining it with another drug (and other tricks) they can extend the patent life by five years.

If you're very clever with your Secondary Medical and other evergreening you can squeeze another twenty, plus an SPC for a few months on the end, plus PTA in the US if the examiner mucked you about.

Pharma patents can be worth six figures a day. You're darn tootin' the patent holders do whatever they can to make them last.

But still far less than the temperature of boiling water.

However it was reasonable for her to be expecting the coffee to be served at a more culturally usual, lower temperature, and if it had been, she wouldn't have needed skin grafts.

Because the potential for abuse or resale for abuse is huge

I know that they can make oxycodone pills that limit the ability to abuse them (got given them once for bad foot pain, wonder if the doctor thought I was a druggie!) can they do the same with codeine pills?

Limit is the right word. There are ways around even the abuse 'proof' pills - addicts are resourceful....

The problem is the widespread prescription of the drugs. When I broke my arm my American colleagues were shocked I'd had no 'proper' pain relief (indeed none at all...) They hand Oxycodone et al out like sweets over there. It's lead to a serious problem because opioids are seriously addictive. The cautious approach in the uk is probably not great for the patients who genuinely need long term pain relief, but it works from a public health standpoint. What we need are better agents for chronic pain with a much lower abuse potential. Neither paracetamol nor opioids are a good choice long term

Oh and codeine/paracetamol are quite easily separated using a cold water extraction technique. If you get it wrong and you leave enough residual paracetamol in then take a ton then you have problems. Never underestimate the human desire to get high

Yeah my ex tried that method even though I tried to warn him off it.