Lower blood pressure and abnormal breathing, which can lead to respiratory arrest — which is when you stop breathing altogether. Fatal side effects from another drug if the codeine is part of a combined medicine, such as co-codamol. These include: kidney failure, liver failure, indigestion or bleeding from the stomach. Fatal side effects if you mix the codeine with other drugs that suppress breathing — such as alcohol , benzodiazepines like diazepam Valium , or other opioid drugs.
As with other opiates, taking very high doses of codeine during pregnancy may lead to withdrawal symptoms in newborn babies. People sometimes take codeine to help them manage with stress and depression. Using any drug to escape bad feelings can increase the risk of becoming dependent on the drug.
However, long-term abuse of any mood-altering chemical — like codeine — can also contribute to symptoms such as anxiety and depression, so you could be making your mental health worse by taking it.
This may not be true for codeine bought from a dealer or over the internet, however. Codeine bought from dealers or online may not have had safety testing, and could be cut with other drugs. Even if the codeine tablet looks like a pharmaceutical product, there are plenty of counterfeits fakes that look like the real thing.
Codeine is especially dangerous to mix with alcohol, benzodiazepines like diazepam Valium and other opioid drugs. Some people get addicted to codeine after being prescribed it to treat physical pain. They can experience withdrawal symptoms if they stop taking the tablets and this can be a reason that people continue taking it or seek codeine illegally. Tolerance can also build up, so that users have to take more just to get the same effects or to avoid unpleasant withdrawals. Supplying someone else, even your friends, can get you up to 14 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both.
Like drink-driving, driving when high is dangerous and illegal. If the police catch people supplying illegal drugs in a home, club, bar or hostel, they can potentially prosecute the landlord, club owner or any other person concerned in the management of the premises. A codeine overdose can be fatal and is considered dangerous. When codeine metabolizes to morphine, it can result in severe respiratory distress. Depressed breathing can deprive the brain of oxygen. Long-term decreased oxygen deprivation or complete oxygen deprivation for more than five minutes can cause permanent brain damage.
It is important to seek emergency medical attention if a person taking codeine seems to be struggling to breathe or shows any of the following symptoms:. Seeking medical services is important because, without intervention, a codeine overdose can result in heart attack, stroke, seizures, coma, and even death.
Since codeine abuse can lead to physical dependence, a person dependent on codeine will experience withdrawal symptoms when not taking the drug.
Codeine withdrawal can be quite uncomfortable, and in some cases, incredibly painful. Opioid withdrawal usually is not fatal on its own, however, it can cause significant distress and many individuals return to opioids early on in sobriety to avoid withdrawal. Codeine withdrawal symptoms, like other opioid withdrawal symptoms, are very similar to severe flu-like symptoms.
In addition to muscle and body aches, vomiting, and diarrhea, a person experiencing codeine withdrawals may also have some of the following symptoms:. The physical and flu-like side effects typically continue for about seven days, while the behavioral and emotional withdrawal symptoms can last for months after the last dose of codeine.
Because withdrawal associated with codeine and other opioids is so intense, it is strongly encouraged that the person finds a detox program that specializes in opioid addiction. Programs equipped to help individuals with codeine addiction can offer support, medication, and supplements for clients. Substance abuse treatment programs that specialize in opioid addiction are called opioid treatment programs OTPs. These rehab programs use evidence-based intervention methods and comprehensive services for those struggling with an opioid use disorder.
Facilities that offer OTPs are monitored at the state and federal levels. These locations provide:. Locating a facility for codeine addiction treatment in Massachusetts can seem overwhelming. Our professional staff at Vertava Health Massachusetts, formerly Swift River, can discuss our opioid treatment program with you. To learn more about the codeine treatment program at Vertava Health Massachusetts, contact a treatment specialist today.
This page does not provide medical advice. In Australia, codeine is available over the counter by itself or in combination with a range of other drugs in low-dose formulations 8mg, 15mg such as with the anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen. Stronger tablets 30mg are only available by prescription. Its main use is to relieve pain and to treat minor aches, including headaches, but only for a short term.
Doctors can prescribe a higher-dose form forte formulations containing 30mg codeine for more significant aches and pains. Low-dose forms are also used to treat coughs antitussive , often available as syrup or linctus. Codeine can also help reduce the effects of nausea and diarrhoea without causing significant side effects.
Codeine is the most widely and commonly used prescription opiate in the world. Higher costs are associated with combination tablets and larger pack sizes. It is taken orally with doses ranging from mg but may range up to mg daily. Once consumed this drug will act for approximately three to six hours. Codeine is available in combination preparations such as Nurofen Plus, which also contains the anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen; and in cold and flu preparations with paracetamol and decongestants.
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