Can I alternate co-dydramol with nurofen back pain tablets?

[bigchris]

Does anyone know?
Thanks

What's in them?
Isn't it codeine based with codeine that you'd be alternating?

What about codydramol with paracetamol?

(disclaimer: I don't know either. Read the packs if you have them)

The codydramol just says it contains paracetmol so alrernsting paracetmol and ibrofen? Don't know if nurofen has paracetmol in too

they also expired in September so don't know if I should

You can... but to get the most effective pain relief you should take paracetamol based analgesics (like co-dydramol) 4 times daily and Ibuprofen (ie Nurofen) 3 times daily. If you don't need/want to take both regularly you would be better off taking one of them regularly than both less often. IFYSWIM!

If the nurofen back pain tablets contain ibuprofen only, yes you can alternate them with co dydramol

Do not alternate codydramol with paracetamol as you would be overdosing on paracetamol.

Are you on any other tablets?

No not on any other tablets
thanks for replying
don't know what I've done, got up off the floor awkwardly and have shooting pains all down left side of body
and have school run to do

To clarify:

Co-dydramol contains paracetamol + a codeine-type ingredient.

Standard Nurofen contains only ibuprofen.

They are safe in combination.

Does it matter there expiry date is September 2010 do you think?

When I hurt my back a couple of months ago, my gp prescribed paracetamol (1000mg x 4 daily), codeine (10mg x 4 daily) and ibruprofen 400mg x 3 daily),

so a codeine/paracetamol based product and ibruprofen would be fine as long as you stay within the maximum doses for each - they work on different receptors so do slightly different things - i think paracetamol/codeine is a pain reliever while ibruprofen is an inflammation reducer.

I don't think expiry of Sept '10 would make a difference tbh, most that would happen is the effect would reduce? someone else would tell you more about that i am sure.

Thanks Pavlov I think I'll take them

Yeah - ignore the expiry date - most meds last for years before they deteriorate. (I am a GP BTW)

hope your back feels better soon and it is nothing serious.

Oh really? Thanks chewy! I survived the school run but it's no better. Just want to go to bed tbh but don't know whether lying down for twelve hours will make it worse?

Co-dydramol and nurofen can be taken together or alternately, but if you look at the pack of nurofen, you'll probably find that the active ingredient is ibuprofen and the dose is usually 200mg (exception is nurofen migraine which has 342mg ibuprofen lyseine). Instead of paying £1.40+ for nurofen, you could just buy a pack of say, Tesco/Asda own brand ibuprofen for about 30p. As long as the active ingredient is the same at the same dosage, you just end up paying a good bit more for a brand name.

Are you feeling any better BigChris?

Sometimes these things feels worse the next day (after lying down for a time). Try and keep moving and keep taking the painkillers.

And, ChilledChick is right - buy generic ibuprofen, it's the same stuff.

bigchris - Am very glad someone else came along to advise!

So glad I told you I did not know either! (My pain was over a year ago) Now I do thanks to ChewyToffee.

Hope you're feeling better and been able to keep moving.