Brogan R (Rachel) —Im a 38 year old woman—im so glad I found your comment as I was looking for someone who takes around the same amount as me! I have been on cocodomal since 2011 after major surgery followed by autoimmune hell! I am unable to work due to chronic pain & fatigue—I also take many other strong drugs for pain. I have been addicted to codiene from the start really but it spiralled out of control a year ago when the chronic pain from prolapsed discs & an L5 nerve root compression was unbearable along with fibromyalgia pain. It was then I was prescribed cocodomal instead of codiene—I have been taking up to 18 cocodomal for a good year now along with neurofen plus—every day I worry about my liver and as a mother & pet owner I feel exceptionally guilty—I don’t want to leave my 11 year old son and my puppy—they need me! I have now managed to get my doctor to prescribe codiene & paracetamol separately again so I’m not taking over 8 paracetamol a day—but this leads me to take even more codiene! The GP does not know about my addiction as I’m scared they would make me go cold turkey and if I told them the amount I take & for how long they would send me for blood tests etc & tbh that scares the crap out of me as I’m worried about the damage :/ each day I wake up is a miracle to me! Addiction is awful and I do believe a disease—in the past before I had my son I took recreational drugs excessively for 10 years & was addicted to Amphetamines. I know a “normal” person would just take 8 codiene a day & be fine. The pain in my body scares me along with the withdrawals—I have “quit” 4/5 times in the past and gone through withdrawals cold turkey but never whilst taking the amount I take now—the withdrawals were bad back then, never mind if I were to start cutting down now—the restless legs, extreme leg pain, diarrhoea, shaking, cold sweats, headaches, anxiety & low mood—it’s no worse than being on heroin as codiene converts to morphine and I’m most likely taking more than a heroin addict! I don’t feel strong enough to face the withdrawals again :/ I really am glad I saw your comment as you are older than me—it gives me hope that now I can take much less paracetamol, although any damage is non reversible, I have hope it won’t get any worse & I might live! I googled and morphine does not damage the liver 🙂
Raven xx