co-codamol addiction

Treatment and medication
1

my mother is in her fifties and has been using co-codamol under prescription for over twenty years now for her osteo artheritis. when she doesn't have any she will suffer extremely bad withdrawal symptoms including dizziness, seeing stars and one hell of a bad temper.

I speak with her everyday and she is working hard to beat this addiction but she is unable to find further support from her Doctor, other than him giving her a months supply, or from her Chemist who strangely enough claimed she couldn't be addicted to co-codamol. And as she lives out in the sticks there is no local service offering help and advice close to her home.[/list][/list][/code]

2

Perhaps your mum can reduce her dose further by slowly swapping some of the daily co-codamol for some over the counter strength codeine and paracetamol, its the same but its only half as strong

3

hi i was addicted to co.codamol 30mg. my doctor gave me 6 zomig tablets and i cut down from 106mg to 64mg with hardly any pain. i then went into the priory for 7 days and they gave me brigaflex, i think this is right, and i was off the 64mg in 7 days, i felt rough for a couple of weeks but it was certainly a lot easier than trying to cut down a bit at a time, hope this helps

4

Hi, im sorry to read about your mother.

I think she should really get the foot down with her doctor here as perhaps their not willing to admit to her addiction because in a way they caused it!

The pharmacist MUST know that cocodamol CAN cause addiction!!

The doctor should reduce her slowly since shes been on them for such a long time and ofcourse offer an alternative for the pain in which she was taking the cocodamol for.

You here a lot about people being given drugs willy nilly that can lead to addiction in these chronic illnesses....

I wish you and your mother good luck and health

5

Hi

sorry to hear about your mums addiction,i know exactly what she is going through,i have been taking co codomol now for about 3 yrs and the doctor never once told me that they where addictive,even though he knows i have had a problem with addiction in the past.

I started taking these tablets and immediatly they helped with the back pain,the anxiety,panic attacks and insomnia. But then what happened is whereas i was taking 2 tablets to begin with,it slowly creeped up to a lot more(over my reccommended daily dose)

I knew i was addicted, and it has been the most painful week of my life coming off these pills.I am a week into pill free,had very little sleep,experiencing restlless leg syndrome,headaches,severe moodyness,back ache is back with a vengence,dizzy,bad dreams(when i do sleep)aching joints,tender skin,and flu like symptoms(runny nose,sneezing) i have cried bucket loads but have been determined to dig my heels in and wait for this to pass.

I pray it passes soon.I hate the night times,going to sleep is sooooo hard,i very rarely can go to bed b4 5a.m and it is showing on me,i feel drained.

Please know that you are not alone,there are many people that suffer from this addiction and withdrawal, and sharing our feelings with each other,can only but help.Stay strong,my thoughts are with you all

p.s i foumd a useful site on google, cocodomol addiction,a forum site that people share there daily withdrawal programmes with each other,hope it helps,i will keep you posted on my recovery,good luck with yours

god bless

cheryl

6

Hi Cheryl, Keep tryin' ....... Ive a displaced spine and other annoying things, ,......... I know what u feel, as Ive not only been there, but still am

Lots of luv

C

7

hi, Cheryl,

just like to know how yiu are at this moment in time.

mike

8

Hi there would like to know if there is a survivor to cocodamol addiction and what the effects were coming off and how you get on with the pain which they were originally prescribed for.

Amanda

9

Codeine addiction is real but healthcare professionals don't know what to do about it or are sweeping it under the carpet.

I've been addicted to codeine for 5 years. The first and hardest step was admitting that to myself and then my doctor. When I should have been referred to some sort of help, instead I was allowed to have access to these pills in a format that I could take even more of.

Every time I would start to run low on them I would formulate a plan to finally kick the habit, but then the withdrawal symptoms would win and I'd collect more of them. Moments later I'd be back on my 12 a day.

However 6 weeks ago I started to run low again and limited myself to 3 in the morning and 2 around lunchtime. I had virtually no withdrawal symptoms so carried on for a few days like this and dropped down to 2 in the morning for a few days. Proud of my progress, the next day I took none. The evening of that day was horrible but I stuck with it and refused to take a tablet. I'd like to say that was that. But over the next few weeks if I found any I'd take them. I'm now 10 days without, yes the withdrawal isn't pleasant but the symptoms come and go. I can handle them.

What has really spurred me on is the gift I've given to myself.... My life back.

For 5 years I've been an anti-social, boring robot out of touch with my own body and confused in my emotions. Codeine turned me into that and now the discovery of real emotion and feeling is liberating and addictive in itself.

I'm actually seeking social contact, my marriage is better, my head is clearing and I feel the world around me. I feel like I can do anything now AND I actually want to.

So if you're reading this and you fear a life without codeine then I'm telling you that there is nothing to fear. Withdrawal symptoms can be overcome and fade before you know it. Codeine addiction CAN be overcome.

10

Hi

I am also in my fifties and have been using cocodamol for over 20 years (originally prescribed by the GP).  I have been trying to reduce and it is very tough.  A new GP sent me to my local drug clinic (!) and they could not understand why he had referred me as it was considered too low level for them.  I did get some very good advice and one suggestion was that if I was taking them at night to aid sleep (as I did) then to try Phenergan (another over the counter med used for allergies and also to aid sleep)  This has really worked for me and I have been able to cut down the night time cocodamol and not feel so lousy in the mornings also.  I was also advised to look for a local SMART recovery group which is a peer group - there are a lot of them up and down the country but not advertised locally so there is some anonimity for people attending.  I have not been brave enough to go yet but have had discussions with my children to tell them what I am doing and they are all relieved as they did not want to broach the subject with me.  If there is nothing locally there are always online groups such as this one.  Good luck.