Paracetamol and codeine?

[Mollychristmas]

I am having excruciating pain in my lower and upper jaw. The pain is indescribable and it’s completely foggying my brain!
I’ve seen the DR and dentist and they are pretty sure it’s sinus. I’ve been given antibiotics and taken the first this morning. The DR asked what painkiller I was using and I said paracetamol which was working fine at the time but it really isn’t touching the pain at all now!
I have some codeine my DH was prescribed so would I be really stupid to use some? Also can it be taken with paracetamol? if not should I wait the 6 hours? (I know it’s 4 hours but that’s 4 times in 24 hours so I’ve been having paracetamol every 6 hours to make sure it’s in the 24 hour max doseage)
I hope this makes sense as the pain is so bad I can’t think clearly right now.

Co-codamol is paracetamol and codeine so the two together is fine but I would advise against taking medication that isn't prescribed for you.

You can take ibuprofen safely with paracetamol.
What sort of codeine is it?

What is the strength of the codeine your DH has? Also, is it codeine only, or is is codeine & paracetamol combined (eg, solpadol)? I’m not normally one to condone taking other people’s prescriptions but if you are desperate it wouldn’t be too bad as a one off.

Yes you can take them both. Cocodamol is the mix of paracetamol and codeine. You can also add an anti inflammatory like ibuprofen at the same time too (I have RA so quite knowledgeable with painkiller mix). What’s the strength of the codeine?

Dental/sinus pain is horrific, you have my sympathies.

As long as it's just codeine not cocodamol it'll be fine to take it with paracetamol. Cocodamol contains paracetamol. As long as you're not allergic to codeine I'd go for it. Hope you feel better soon, that sounds horrendous.

Also, if you’ve never had it before, it will make you high as a kite so make sure you don’t have to drive/be responsible for any kids or pets when you take it.

If it is just codeine then yes, you can take that with paracetamol
You can take 60mg 4 times a day

Be very careful that it's not co-codomol as that contains paracetamol and would put you over the safe paracetamol limit

You can also take ibuprofen with both of those drugs

The prescribed codeine may well also contain paracetamol and it is very important that you do not exceed the safe daily paracetamol limit.

Get someone who can think straight to read the labels carefully and add up your total.

It might be better to take an NSAID between paracetamol doses, and aspirin.

And as it's sinus, get Sterimar saline spray (from pharmacist) when they open tomorrow. Also try steam inhalations, with olbas oil or eucalyptus if you have any. And rub Vicks near your nose

It's a miserable thing to have - hope you can get some sleep (propped up?) and can get to a pharmacy early tomorrow

Codeine is available over the counter in lower dosages, and as Digital says is often mixed with paracetamol.

However, for sinus the only thing that works for me is the decongestant in Sinutabs. Paracetamol etc doesnt touch it.

You might get some relief from hanging your head backwards over the edge of the bed or an armchair - i find that helps too.

Paracetamol and codeine is good. Syndol is that as is Solpadeine Max.

I completely underestimated the pain of sinusitis until I had a bad bout last year. It’s horrendous. Hope it shifts soon, Op. I completely don’t blame you for taking the codeine. As others have said, it’s fine to take with paracetamol, just look up the dosage to ensure you don’t go over. Don’t take it for more than three days, as some people can start to become dependent after that time. Things should have started to shift by then, anyway.

It might be better to take an NSAID between paracetamol doses, and aspirin.

Aspirin is an NSAID. You shouldn’t take it with ibuprofen unless a doctor has told you to.

So I can’t actually get the codeine until early morning as DH has it with him right now, I’m not sure on the strength but I don’t think it’s a massively high dose.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever taken it before so I don’t think it’s sensible to take it until morning anyway just in case.

I just want to cry tbh and I am so exhausted because I can’t sleep or keep waking up with the pain!

I would look at the dosage and take the equivalent of the co-codamol you can get from a pharmacy. Although even that amount of codine makes me dazed and sick and then sleepy. Have you taken it before?

Sudafed is very good for sinus pain. And I highly recommend codeine, paracetamol & ibuprofen together.Trying to think of another painkiller I was prescribed - think it was naproxen. So sorry you are suffering 😥

If your DH is out anyway can he not get you some co-codomol from a pharmacy rather than taking his prescription meds?

Codeine is normally prescribed in tablets made up of 500mg of paracetamol and either 8mg (over the counter dose), 30mg or 50mg (prescription doses). So you should wait atleast 4 hours after your last dose of paracetamol though 6 hours would be better, you can take ibuprofen with both paracetamol and codeine so I would advise you use that about 3 hours after the paracetamol/codeine

Thank you all for the advice I will go fully armed to the chemist tomorrow and will be buying anything and everything that might help!!
I’ve not even experienced toothache this bad before!

I saw the pain management team at the hospital today for jaw/tooth pain, coincidentally, and they reviewed my meds. They told me that opiates (codeine, morphine etc) are often quite ineffective for this kind of pain. They mentioned Pregabalin and Gabapentin as alternatives.

Do go to your GP urgently and ask them to help you manage it properly.

It’s shit where I live as the nearest 24 hour pharmacy is about 1.5-2 hours away so I’m pretty fucked until morning anyway and I hoped the codeine might be a slightly earlier alternative than waiting for the pharmacy to open at 9:00am (I could have the codeine by 6:00am)

.I completely don’t blame you for taking the codeine. As others have said, it’s fine to take with paracetamol, just look up the dosage to ensure you don’t go over

Well it depends. If it's just codeine, yes, but people are often given co-codamol rather than just codeine and if that's the case, then no, the OP can't take paracetamol as well.

Well it depends. If it's just codeine, yes, but people are often given co-codamol rather than just codeine and if that's the case, then no, the OP can't take paracetamol as well.

Well, yes, but she just needs to read the label and check....? In case she’s one of a small minority who might not realise about possible paracetamol, she had already been warned of that.

I went to the Dentist then GP yesterday and foolishly said the paracetamol was working fine (which it was until 3:00 this morning!)

I’m hoping the antibiotics will work pretty quickly and am happy to try everything suggested!

Would the codeine make me feel strange? Would I not be ok alone tomorrow if I took it? I don’t really want to feel high and get panicky.

I would of course check now that it was just straight condone.