Did I experience a codeine allergy?

[den4]

Long story short, I wanted to experience what opiate high feels like, and got my hands on Nurofen+ tablets (1 tablet - 12.5 mg of codeine). I decided to pop just 2 to test for allergy at around 3.30pm. Around 4.30-5 pm I started feeling kinda nice. It was a small dose anyway, so the high was very weak (I have zero tolerance), I just felt good, relaxed, a bit warm inside, chatty and sleepy at the same time. It lasted for 2-3 hours, I reckon.. After that I thought about popping 2 more pills, however, I noticed my throat was a bit tight and I decided to may be try it again tomorrow. Now I am glad I did not take those tablets, cause the throat tightness got worse, and at around 10-11 pm I started worrying if it could be a severe allergic reaction and my throat was going to close up. My throat felt really tight, almost sore, my tongue felt a bit swollen too. It didn't look like it was swollen tho, neither I had difficulties breathing. It just felt tight, like it was closing up.. So at this point I was feeling very paranoid and it made my symptoms even worse, so I decided to take some benadryll at midnight which relieved the symptoms. Its 1.53 am here now and I feel pretty ok.

So, do you guys think I have a codeine allergy? I looked it up on Google, it does mention swellings as a symptom of an allergy, but I did not have any other symptoms such as itching, hives, feeling nauseous, red skin or anything of this kind. My blood pressure and heart rate were fine too. The only symptom I had was tight throat and it felt like my tongue was swollen too. I smoked a bit more cigarettes than I usually do on that night, may be its just smoking irritating my throat a bit+anxiety? I quite liked the codeine high, even at such small doses it felt nice, so I am tempted to experience real effects at higher doses, but this tight throat thing putts me of trying codeine again..

Is there any way I can test if I have an allergy for sure? Do you think doctors could check if I have an allergy? I feel like the doc would just say I should not try codeine again.. What do you guys think about this story? I don't have any other allergies and I tried different things.. Thanks in advance for your replies!

 

[xxanxxtwo]

It sounds like it to me. I'm very allergic to higher doses of codeine and morphine but can handle other opioids just fine. It's good that you knew to take Benadryl.

 

[oxyloveUK]

Morphine (produced by codeine in the liver) commonly gives a histamine effect that can cause those things. Oxycodone is normally much better when it comes to side effects, recommend it cus itll be like nothing you ever felt before with your low tolerance 10mg will be completely safe

 

[den4]

I cant buy oxycodone OTC... And I dont think GPs will be so keen to prescribe it either...

 

[N2theavenue]

When I discovered I was allergic to codeine the first thing that happened was an all over body rash, that itched like crazy, then my throat started to swell and had to go back to the hospital. (I had just had my tonsils removed) but it didn't feel tight per se, I just could breath fine one minute and not the next. It was scary.
Codeine is the only thing that does that to me, all other opiates go down the hatch in stupid high doses just fine.

 

[den4]

Unfortunately, codeine is the only opiate available OTC here in the UK.

The funny thing is I just remembered I had N+ once before, like a few years ago. And and that time I did not have any severe adverse reactions.. May be it was just my anxiety and sore throat by itself yesterday.. Its still a bit sore and irritated today, may be it was just a coincidence.. its just suspicious I did not have any rashes or itching, and my throat and tongue started feeling tight like 5 hours after I had those tablets. So I think I will give codeine one more try.. Will start with a lower dose and increase slowly.. 8 mg -12.5 mg -16 mg- 25 mg.. Will have benadryl with me and somebody else at the flat just in case.. And if its ok, I could slowly work my way up to recreational doses.. It really upsets me most people are enjoying such high doses as 200-300 mg, but I may be allergic to even 25 mg of codeine.. It sucks..

 

[Keif' Richards]

Well, one would really expect, given the circumstances, that the cause and effect here indicates that the closing of your throat was almost certainly caused by the Codeine. If you're certain that this is not a psychological thing, then I would take this assumption to the bank. It is, however, typical to experience symptoms like hives, severe itching, rash etc. This doesn't mean that everyone is going to though. If you're throat was starting to close from such a low dose of Codeine, this would indicate that you're very sensitive to the drug.

I'm not saying you cannot ever use Codeine again, but given what you have experienced, you need to be extremely careful when messing with it and take proper precautions. Ideally, you won't take it again, but we have to assume that you will for our purposes. Oral Antihistamines are going to provide a certain degree of prophylaxis. The most common and probably cheapest option would be Diphenhydramine (Benadryl), but there is a laundry list of different antihistamines that will provide the same relief. Take 50mg-100mg at least 30 minutes prior to ingestion of Codeine. Be prepared to call emergency services should you experience a life threatening reaction. An Epinephrine shot (Epi-Pen) is a common, acute treatment for reactions like this.

Be careful. If you would like to experiment with Opioids, the ideal situation would be to use some other than Morphine/Codeine, as the majority of these drugs don't typically produce such a severe reaction.

 

[den4]

I really don't know whether tight throat I am experiencing is really an allergy or just anxiety... So, I've done the same thing a few times more. Like 25 mg of codeine.. Initially my throat gets tight like for an hour or so till the effects kick in, then Im trying to calm myself down or distract myself+sedative effect from codeine relaxes me, so I don't really notice the tightness anymore. Well at least its not as bad as it was so I can stop caring. At this point Im like well must be anxiety. So like 4 hours after I popped first few pills I may actually pop another 25 mg.. Then I either fall asleep or the codeine effect wears off (I won't call this high, cause 25mg is nothing, I dont feel much, just feeling a bit relaxed and content, like a nice feeling inside too, but nothing overwhelming), and then the next day I wake up even tho I am not paranoid or worried my throat feels dry and even a bit sore.. Like you know that feeling when you get drunk and smoke a pack or two overnight, and then the next day you can really feel it on your throat.. So at this point I am pretty sure, it a post-swelling feeling... But then again it feels a bit tight for next few days even if I don't use codeine at all.. So is a psychological thing? I am really confused.

So, I don't know... Should I take a break from it and wait till my throat feels normal again and try the same dosage again? Or should I just park at the hospital parking, take a recreational dose of 90-100 mg and see what happens? I mean I wanna know for sure whether I am allergic or no.. But I wanna be safe at the same time too..

Do you know if there are any codeine allergy tests I could undergo?

I'm really confused by all this throat thing now.. I know probably the best option is to never use codeine again, but I don't wanna just quit until I am 100% sure I'm allergic.. Never been allergic to anything I used, never had this throat thing whether I was snorting or swallowing.. But it's my 1st time with opiates..

 

[den4]

And yeah, I was also thinking.. They list that one of the common side effects for codeine is dry mouth... So may be codeine just makes my throat feel dry and uncomfortable? Cause I notice it gets less uncomfortable if Im eating smthing juicy/drinking at the same time. May be its not an allergy but it just feels dry and uncomfortable?

 

[Doclad]

I had an unbearable itch of 300mg of Codeina almost without tolerance that produced an opiate fucking trip. I've never tasted it again.


DocLad