Cocodomol addiction help

[justme26]

So please go easy on me as really struggling at the minute aware I'm posting in wrong group but other posts silent and know a lot of people are on this one and need help as can't talk to anyone else
I gave birth to my little girl nearly 8 month ago love her so much and I couldn't live without her
A few weeks after having her I started taking cocodomol to help with pain
Then that turned into it taking full strips at a time
On a night to help me sleep - I was exhausted just couldn't switch off
A lots happened over 8 month, my Nanna passed away due to COVID I had a missed misscariage back in November and things have just went downhill from there
I'm currently taking a full box of cocodmol to get me through the day
My full body aches without it them and I get the most awful migraines I really want to stop but I physically can't
Find myself walking round the town to different chemists every day to get more and it's not the way I want to live
I've finally plucked up the courage to ring doctors this morning and currently waiting for a phone call back
However I've been thinking will they take my baby off me if I tell them? I don't know wether to answer the call incase they say I'm unfit to look after her
I'm not she's well looked after I just need them to function now and get through the day
Thanks for reading xx

They won't take your baby. You however are at the risk of death which means your baby will lose you if that happens. That's a lot of paracetamol for 1 day OP. You could be in trouble.

Be honest with your GP.

Yeah I know I've got a problem I've tried to stop and lasted 2 days but the withdrawal symptoms are too much my body aches without it
Definitely think it's the codiene in the cocodmol I'm addicted too

Please do go to the doctor. The codiene is one thing, but the paracetamol is another entirely and in those doses you could be damaging your liver badly. I don’t know how but I am sure there will be some sort of support for you to get off the medication. I hope someone who knows more comes along soon.

As a GP I can reassure you that taking a mum's baby off of her is an absolute last resort when there is no other safe way of managing the situation. An otherwise good mum who is recognising an issue with medication addiction and is seeking help would not be someone whose baby I would be overly concerned about.

The biggest danger here is paracetamol overdose. Paracetamol is a drug which is extremely dangerous even in fairly modest overdose. You absolutely must stop taking more than 8 co-codamol tablets a day immediately or you are at risk of permanent liver damage or even death. I don't want to alarm you but I can't overemphasise how vital it is that you stop overdosing.

Go to your GP, please. They are there to help you. You recognise you have a problem and want to stop - that’s a good first step. Now let others help you

I know it's been a problem for months but it's getting worse and I'm now taking the full box of 32 tablets a day if not more, I need help but don't even know how anybody can help

I've been there and did the exact same things, going to different chemists etc. I also had aching body and crazy migraines when I didn't have them. I was like this for 7 years. The way that I was able to get off it for good was when it went to prescription only in Australia in 2018 (I'm in Aus).

I felt so desperate and awful when I had no access to any and couldn't get a script that I contemplated heroin. Thankfully I never got that. It was extremely hard, I took Panadol to help with the headaches and pains and found that when I would have usually taken it I was seeking to fill that routine eg I would always open a can of coke and have the codeine with my first mouthful of coke, when I stopped the codeine I was craving that routine of taking two pills with my first mouthful, so I switched to taking 2 vitamins with every first mouthful of coke.

It's hard. I thought it would be the death of me.

Please seek help and help yourself. I never let anyone know as I was so ashamed and worried of judgement.

32 tablets a day is extremely harmful, if you've been taking that amount every day for an extended period of time your liver urgently needs to be checked, I'd recommend calling your doctor today, they won't judge you and will be able to offer you help and advice.

Codeine is extremely addictive, I'm on 30mg prescription tablets with no paracetamol and even two of those makes me drowsy, I used to be on a higher dosage of 120mg but it made breathing difficult because codeine depresses your respiratory system. If you're taking 32 tablets of for example Solpadeine every day, which I believe is 12.8mg of codeine in each tablet with 500mg paracetamol, thats over 400mg of codeine a day if my calculations are correct, probably not as I'm dreadful at maths but either way that's a very very high dose.

Please call your doctor today and ask for help.

It will be ok OP, speak to your GP and be honest, that is the best thing for you and your baby. They can advise you on how to start weaning off of it and what support is available. This is not uncommon and not a sign of your own weakness or failing, the medication is highly addictive. With professional support and a measured guidance on how to wean off, you CAN achieve that and will be free of it.

You absolutely must tell them the exact amount you take, you urgently need blood tests to assess whether this may have affected your body. If you downplay it you may not get these and in order to parent you need to be well.

While you are accepting support and this does not affect your ability to care for your lovely baby then I would set aside your concerns, nobody is going to swoop in and 'take' anyone. Any support you receive to rectify the issue though is a positive thing, not a negative one.

It's very brave to confront this, you are doing brilliantly to have booked the appointment. If the issue worh chronic pain still exists you may find it improves as you wean off, cocodamol is not suitable for chronic conditions and you can be asked to be referred to community pain services who will assess you and can also assist in the change of meds.

Please get help- I literally had 2 codeine phosphate tablets for first time ever last night after a bad leg/knee sprain ( common tablets here ) and they made me feel totally terrible - like i was going to pass out and stomache ache too . I have thrown them away. Please Do get help immediately , what I hadn’t realised was that codeine is a morphine derivative— too
Much of it is almost guaranteed to hook you

@justme26

I know it's been a problem for months but it's getting worse and I'm now taking the full box of 32 tablets a day if not more, I need help but don't even know how anybody can help

I'm so sorry you're having such a tough time.

Please, please be honest with your GP. Write down the number of tablets you are taking each day and have it in front of you to read aloud so you aren't tempted on the spot to minimise how much you're taking.

This is because if you're having that dosage each day you will need to have some tests to check for long term damage.

They won't take your baby away. In fact, going to the doctor for help means you are less likely to be parted from your little one, because you're showing you want to change the situation, showing awareness of what is safe and trying to stop something that could lead to the child's harm.

Paracetemol overdoses can be gradual and are frankly awful. Truly terrible. So you really really must go to the GP either in person or over the phone ASAP and be totally honest with them.

I can't emphasise enough how risky that dose is to be taking daily so this really isn't something that can wait any longer. Be brave and get that first call out of the way, for your little one as well as for you.

I echo what the others are saying, you need to be honest with the doctor about how many you're taking as it's likely you're going to need blood tests etc very soon to assess your liver. The GP will want to support you, they won't be looking at taking your baby.

Please get the help you need to beat this. They won't take your daughter away. Today is the first step to beating this.

Well done on making an appointment OP. You’re not alone and this isn’t an uncommon problem at all. Your GP will help you to come down off them safely. Their first priority will probably be giving you codeine tablets so you can stop overdosing on paracetamol immediately. Your life is in danger. And then setting up a gradual reduction plan.

Nobody is going to take your baby away for this, it’s great you’re seeking advice and support. There may be a chance they will let social services know but if so they’re there to support you and your little one, a parent who is otherwise taking good care of their baby and seeking help for an addiction and sticking with the treatment plan isn’t going to be anywhere near concerning enough for them to even start thinking about removing your baby from your care (which is in itself a long process with lots of stages and they do everything they can to keep a child with their family if safe).

You can do this, many have! It won’t be easy but the relief will be amazing when you can wake up in the morning and not have to think about whether you’ll be able to get your medications and the lengths it will take to find and obtain them, people don’t realise the immense stress it is being addicted to a substance. You will get your life back.

You’re doing great and clearly have a lot of courage and strength to come and talk about it, you won’t be the first patient your GL has spoken to this week about this issue and they will help.

If possible please do try and take fewer tablets until then, the paracetamol is incredibly dangerous in an immediate way. Maybe hold off taking any as long as you can and then take a couple, just enough to take the edge off the withdrawal symptoms? Wishing you the best of luck and rooting for you!

Hi please speak to the Dr,your health is at serious risk, I don't normally share this as it's personal, my daughter took 30 paracetamols(attempted suicide) age 17, she didn't actually tell anyone for 48 hours, she spent 2 days in bed and I believed her when she told me she had a tummy bug,so when she admitted to taking them,ambulance took her to hospital,then she was flown to birmingham as the liver was damaged,thankfully after 8 days in intensive care she pulled through! I'm not saying your suicidal I'm just saying how dangerous paracetamol is,you are taking a box a day please get help x

@Itstimetoquit

Hi please speak to the Dr,your health is at serious risk, I don't normally share this as it's personal, my daughter took 30 paracetamols(attempted suicide) age 17, she didn't actually tell anyone for 48 hours, she spent 2 days in bed and I believed her when she told me she had a tummy bug,so when she admitted to taking them,ambulance took her to hospital,then she was flown to birmingham as the liver was damaged,thankfully after 8 days in intensive care she pulled through! I'm not saying your suicidal I'm just saying how dangerous paracetamol is,you are taking a box a day please get help x

I'm so so sorry you went through that and so relieved your daughter pulled through. Paracetamol overdoses are shockingly easy to have and are incredibly dangerous. Please OP, make sure you call your GP for help so they can check you over and you can be the most healthy mum possible for your little one.

I accidentally became addicted to cocodamol after an evil bout of tonsillitis. When the GPs were all anti antibiotics, my GP swore it was viral and gave me a monster pack of cocodamol to help with the pain... It was bacterial and didn't clear up so ended up going through the monster box and then getting more. Eventually the tonsillitis cleared on its own.
Everytime I didn't take pain killers I had the most horrendous aches. I couldn't walk my son a mile to school without needed to stop. I wanted to pull my muscles out of my body. But I felt so weak. My head was pounding. I felt like I had the worst flu symptoms of my life.
It took me a little while to work out what it was. When I did I took the week off work, got my son's dad to come and help out and essentially spent a week on the sofa allowing myself to feel like shit until it was out of my system.

I feel for you, OP. It was fucking horrible.
You need some support to stop this. It happens to people. Social services might keep an eye on you, but they allow injecting heroin addicts to keep their kids.
Better to get help than to struggle alone and potentially get worse!

Op I have a codiene addiction . I have down for years . I want to give up so many times but I ache and just feel crap so take more . When you say a box ? How much do you mean a day ?

Thank you so much for the replies makes me feel the tiniest bit better knowing there are/was other people in my position
I've been Googling liver damage and it's really scared me I know it doesn't seem good but only took 2 Strips today instead of my usual 4 at this point however I'm feeling the aches starting now
I really want to stop but don't want partner finding out and he will if social services get involved I'm so embarrassed

@MizMoonshine

I accidentally became addicted to cocodamol after an evil bout of tonsillitis. When the GPs were all anti antibiotics, my GP swore it was viral and gave me a monster pack of cocodamol to help with the pain... It was bacterial and didn't clear up so ended up going through the monster box and then getting more. Eventually the tonsillitis cleared on its own. Everytime I didn't take pain killers I had the most horrendous aches. I couldn't walk my son a mile to school without needed to stop. I wanted to pull my muscles out of my body. But I felt so weak. My head was pounding. I felt like I had the worst flu symptoms of my life. It took me a little while to work out what it was. When I did I took the week off work, got my son's dad to come and help out and essentially spent a week on the sofa allowing myself to feel like shit until it was out of my system.

I feel for you, OP. It was fucking horrible.
You need some support to stop this. It happens to people. Social services might keep an eye on you, but they allow injecting heroin addicts to keep their kids.
Better to get help than to struggle alone and potentially get worse!

Thanks for the reply, how long did the withdrawal symptoms last? I'm on my own with baby 7-7 everyday

@saltychocolateballs

Op I have a codiene addiction . I have down for years . I want to give up so many times but I ache and just feel crap so take more . When you say a box ? How much do you mean a day ?

Well a full box is 32 but most days I'm pushing 40 tablets

Your gp could give u mst and reduce that way

Your partner will find out sooner rather than later if you do not get proper medical help as a matter of urgency.

Did you answer the call from your gp today @justme26? You’re doing the right thing seeking help- I’m sure they have ways to help you withdraw safely. 💐💐💐

OP you should not try to deal with this without medical supervision. You really must speak to your GP so they can help you know how to taper and in the meantime they will likely want to do some tests to check for any damage.

Please don't put this off for fear of services being flagged, your health and the safety and wellbeing of your child are priority. If you overdose (which I'm sorry to say is a possibility with the dosage you're taking) then your little one won't have you there at all. No fear of feeling ashamed or embarrassed is worth that, is it?

Paracetamol overdoses can happen gradually and are incredibly painful and dangerous. I'm sorry to Labour the point but your body is in danger and that means you need to get help ASAP because you are with your baby 12 hours a day alone. You can get help to turn this around, they won't take your baby away, they will help you get well again.

Please speak to your Gp and make sure you're 100% honest about the amount you're taking, do not minimise as it's vital they have full details.