Opioids How often does one have to take codeine to become addicted or develop a tolerance?

Hi,

So I tried codeine for the first time today (and the first time I've taken any drug).
I took quite a low dose - 80mg minus losses associated with extraction- but the effects were very noticeable and nice.

I would certainly take a higher dose next time, maybe double or something.
My question is, how often could I take a dose of 160mg without developing any tolerance or becoming addicted?

I can't really get more than 20 8/500s at a time so tolerance wouldn't be so good as the effect would become less.

Thanks a lot

You will develop a tolerance. It has a lot of factors. The main one is how often you use it.

The second would be how much you take.

Also if you take it to cope emotionally and lean on it as a crutch or take it daily I can guarantee you that you will develop a habit.

I had a very nasty opiates habit. I was prescribed pain medication due to an injury. Now what I was given is exponentially stronger than codeine. So I am not trying to scare you. But one drug can lead to another. If codeine does not cut it and you really get a taste you may move on to stronger pills or even heroin. That can lead to IV drug use.

Also I should mention codeine has a ceiling effect. There is a certain point where you get diminishing returns and even if you take more, you won't feel it much more. That is the cause for most codeine ODs. The doses you speak of are rather tiny in my book, even before I got on pain medication.

I am sure you could find some table or another poster could tell you a bit about codeine's ceiling dose. Also if you plan on ingesting many tablets you may consider cold water extracting the codeine so you do not give yourself Tylenol poisoning. All that info is around in some megathreads here.

I binge on codeine. But where I am I get a bottle of syrup with 300mg of codeine in it. I would take it every weekend and still get a strong buzz(well ontop the weed I smoke with it) it's very weak without weed or any potentiator IMO. But I haven't had a problem with addiction at all. Opiate tolerance goes away quickly so every weekend with those low doses you'd be fine. I also read that the ceiling effect of codeine is around 430mg. The LD50 is also like 800mg so if you were to OD on codeine ALONE then you're and idiot.

I usually dose 300mg each time and it's great so I think you should be fine.