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  • EADD Moderators: axe battler | Pissed_and_messed

Codeine extraction - difference in taste of Ibuprofen vs Paracetamol

N

noobcakes

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Feb 5, 2015
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Good afternoon.

Question summary: Why does the water after finishing a cocodamol (paracetamol/codeine) extraction taste bitter, but when you drink the water after finishing a ibuprofen/codeine extraction it doesn't taste bitter?

Background: I've been doing Cold Water Extractions of Codeine from Paracetamol/Codeine tablets for a while and recently started using Ibuprofen/Codeine tablets as sometimes I just don't have access to a fridge and filters, etc are a bit messy.

Abstract: In the UK I think it's most common to do a CWE of Codeine from Paracetamol/Codeine cocodamol tabs (using filters and cold water) but you only get 8mg of codeine per tablet and the whole process is a bit of a faff, in my opinion. So now I've started Ibuprofen/Codeine tablets (12.8mg of codeine per tab) and the process is in my circumstaces quite easy. (basic method: calculate how much codeine you want, grab desired amount of ibuprofen/codeine tablets and stick in a 92ml jam jar, fill up jar with warm water, put on the lid to the jam jar, let it dissolve for a few minutes, shake shake shake shake shake, wait half an hour, shake shake shake shake shake, pour contents of jar (water & sludge) into a glass cup (so you can see through it), fill up 92ml jam jar with water and add to the glass cup, go away and do something constructive for an hour or so, come back and your glass cup is now visibly separated, use (needleless) syringe to suck out the liquid (5ml at the time) and put into another glass. Throw away the sediment/ibuprofen and neck the 'harvested' liquid.

Anyway, as per the question at the top, when doing a CWE on paracetamol/codeine (fridge/cold water/coffee filters and/or kitchen towel) the final solution is very bitter tasting but when doing the ibuprofen/codeine extraction the liquid isn't bitter. Am I doing something wrong or is the difference to be expected?
 
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I have had codeine tablets WITHOUT Apap or ibuprofen and the tablets were bitter . This maybe a property of the drug itself.
 
All opiates are extremely bitter in taste. If your ibuprofen/codeine extractions don't taste bitter, I would question your technique.
 
When you've done an extraction of codeine from ibuprofen is that bitter? Using google to try and find someone who has done it and has described the taste of the end result is proving troublesome.

But there are squillions of descriptions of codeine/paracetamol tasting bitter.
 
Ooh bugger, you've called me out. Tbh mate, I've never done an extraction from ibuprofen - all I know is that codeine tastes bitter as fuck (I personally love the taste). If it doesn't, then there's either fuck all codeine in there, or there is some other compound in the extraction which is masking the bitterness. Anyone else have a clue?
 
I've done CWE with Ibuprofen but not codeine, hydrocodone. Which is bitter but has a very specific taste. OTC Advil are certainly bitter and I bet the filler in any pill isn't too tasty. TBH, I don't think there's anyway to tell, absent testing of a particular batch.

FWIW, I think the APAP extraction works better.
 
BigG said:
I think you've done the extraction wrong as the bitter taste indicates the presence of codeine (if you put a codine phosphate tablet on your toungue it's very bitter). Never take shortcuts with extractions just because you can't wait for it to filter properly.
Click to expand...

Extracting codeine from ibuprofen/codeine is not 'cutting corners' it's just a different process than extracting codeine from paracetamol/codeine (cocodamol) and I hoped that we could work out whether the final solution should taste bitter or not. To highlight this lack of information if I go on Google (UK) and simply search for 'ibuprofen codeine extraction' this very thread we're posting on now is the fourth link down.

My posting intention was pretty much to help clarify the process. PsychonautWiki ( https://psychonautwiki.org/wiki/Extraction_of_opioids_from_painkiller_products#Removal_of_ibuprofen ) is the only other link I can find about it and it lists the above process but, again, there is no comment on the taste.

Ibuprofen is pretty much entirely insoluble in water at room temperature (unlike Paracetamol). If you stick it in a filter it just sits there and clogs, which is why the dropper/syringe method is used.

But most threads relating to codeine/ibuprofen extraction turn into some muddy slinging match about codeine/paracetamol extraction anyway. Much like this one is. Perhaps the answer to what the final codeine/ibuprofen extracted solution should actually taste like will always be a mystery to the world.
 
I think the general consensus of opinion is that codeine tastes bitter - regardless of what it's being extracted from.
 
i think it really depends on how often you are consuming these CWEs. If its every now and then I wouldnt worry about your technique. however if you are a regular user you should think about brushing up on basic laboratory skills.

ibuprofen in certainly better than paracetemol, what may make it through the process and into your body isn't likely to kill you at that kind of dose.

you should be leaving the layers to settle, siphoning off with a syringe or whatever, and running the liquid through a filter before you drink it. you can even mix the sludge with 1/4 the amount of water again, swirl, and this time pour the whole thing through the filter (with maybe another filter placed on top of the other one this time to catch more sediment). you might be waiting for it to drip through for a while but surely you can rig up a little clamp/holder to keep the funnel and filter out of the filtrate so you can go off and come back to it.

personally i would be doing an acid-base extraction, on a load of cheap cocodamol at once using Caustic Soda NaOH or possibly baking or washing soda, a non-polar solvent, and an acid like 5% HCL or H2SO4 and leaving the salt water to evaporate, giving me a powder i could weigh out and most importantly not have to drink a decent amount of foul tasting, possibly poorly filtered water per dose.
 
That's why I posted here as I was curious about the taste of the ibu/cod process taste.

I chucked another 15 tabs in and did an ibu/codeine extraction using the other method (sock filter) and the result was more bitter (but nowhere bitter as a cocodamol extraction is).
 
I've got loads of coffee filters which I've used for codeine CWE but ibuprofen/codeine just doesn't ever get through the filter, I left an inch of it in there for six hours and hardly anything had got through.
 
Out of interest, BigG, have you ever done a extraction of codeine from ibuprofen/codeine, and what did the final solution taste like? And did you use coffee filters or one of the two methods seemingly available online for ibuprofen/codeine extraction?
 
I think the final solution tasted of almonds...

Sorry, I'll fuck off now
 
BigG said:
I've done lots with paracetamol/codeine and a few with ibuprofen/codeine but not as many as it's generally more expensive and I was just trying to bridge between scripts at the time. Its was a while ago but IIRC it tasted the same with both....really bitter and nasty.

I was just thinking if it's too thick to pass through the filter paper you could try with slightly more water (not too much) but that might make it pass through easier.
Click to expand...

Tips:

Don't use warm water - this isn't necessary and will result in unwanted extras in solution. Only use a minimal amount of very cold water.

Shake the mixture then filter it through cheesecloth or similar to remove the majority of solids. Squeeze the cloth to retrieve as much liquid as possible.

Now filter through coffee filters primed with cold water. This won't take long as most of the solids have been removed.

Piece of piss.
 
I would look into building a vaccum filtration funnel and flask. you could even use your house vaccum cleaner as the suction if you left a way to create a small opening/ a vaccum modulater if you will in case the hoover is too strong.

Filter large volumes of liquid through something like cotton wool in the spout of the filter or a "charmin plug" filter. . crystal clear solutions.
 
The funny thing about doing CWE on the standard 10 mg hydrocodones (325 APAP) is the pill is a yellow oblong. You end up with crystal clear yellow liquid. Not attractive.
 
BTW, I did an extraction of ibuprofen/codeine last night and decided that a time lapse of what happens to the tablets in water would be interesting.

Little did I know it would be like a snow globe. 25 seconds.

 
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