NEWS: Nurofen + etc to be made Prescription only!!!

[fivelinefury]

I bought a box of normal 24 Panadeine from one of my local chemists last week after being told "the whole story" from the pharmacist. Went to a different chemist today and bought a box of Panadeine Extra after basically having them recommended. Weird

 

[drug_mentor]

Went into the chemist today to grab more codeine and this particular pharmacy was selling the most common generic ibu formulation for double digits per pack of 30! They are making a killing off this, it wont be long before codeine isn't anymore economically viable than harder opiates.

 

[phase_dancer]

it wont be long before codeine isn't anymore economically viable than harder opiates.

and of course that's a fear shared by many of us.

 

[drug_mentor]

^ I know huh, I really think down the track they are going to find they have opened up a can of worms with these new laws. Only time will tell I suppose, I am just pissed off something I do so regularly has hiked up in price so much and just as they hike the cost of smokes up too!

If I had a decent source for harder opiates I probably wouldn't bother with codeine anymore, where before it was so much cheaper now it probably isn't much less expensive than it would be to get the same effects off heroin.

 

[Mr Blonde]

^ Yeah I'm sore about being hit with the cigarette price increase and now the codeine.

I'm thinking I need to look for a source for something else as well...

 

[Sustanon]

I feel for u guys. This restriction has made me lean more towards other things. I was happy that its so cheap and easy to get. Bloody government look what ur making me do!!

 

[Crankinit]

I miss oxy, haven't been able to get any in a few months

 

[madmick19]

you would be surprised at the amount of people arriving for alcohol and drug assessments & admission to opiate maintenance therapies for OTC codiene containing products. Be very careful here BL the stomach problems are pretty severe if you get the ibruprofen as well

 

[Sustanon]

you would be surprised at the amount of people arriving for alcohol and drug assessments & admission to opiate maintenance therapies for OTC codiene containing products. Be very careful here BL the stomach problems are pretty severe if you get the ibruprofen as well

Would one need to worry if they have been taking 4-5 nurofen plus twice a week for say 5-6 months? How much damage has been done? I mean i have seen that sort of doses that were prescribed for pain sufferers daily. What do u guys think?

 

[Crankinit]

I doubt it man, I think those problems are more the half a pack a day for months on end type, as a rule.

 

[phase_dancer]

Sustanon; thanks for fixing that up.

 

[madmick19]

howdy sustanon, once you start taking it more than the prescribed/ optimun amount you can start doing damage pretty quickly. but its also dependant on a few other variables such as your general health, any diseases or illnesses you may have had or currently experienceing.

the way that medications are viewed is:
up untill a certain point OTC painkillers can be used, once past that the optimum treatment is to try a different medication which selectively or more generically targets pain, over using lower order medications can actually do more damage without adding any thereputic value.

paracetamol or Ibruprofen= good for general pain
paracetamol or Ibruprofen + codiene= good for more severe pain including the need for some analgesia (codiene)


Taken From analgesia Brochure
MILD TO MODERATE PAIN

□ Paracetamol (Panamax®, Febridol®, Dymadon P®)
□ Naproxen (Naprosyn®, Inza®, Proxen®,
Naprogesic ®)
□ Tramadol (Tramal®, Zydol®)

MODERATE TO SEVERE PAIN
□ Oxycodone (Endone®)
□ Oxycodone (OxyContin®)
□ Morphine (MS Contin®)

when clients come in looking for a review of their use of OTC pain killers the medical officers usually do a maths conversion of the amount of codiene that a person is using. This allows The prescribers to judge what level of opiate dependance/intoxication is and what the target for maintenance would be. example would be a person taking x amount of neurophen plus would need approximately x amount of a opiate maintenence to achieve the same afect the person is getting with the physical harms done from injesting the OTS combinations. Also there is the opportunity for GP's to prescribe codiene phosphate by itself.


More info taken from the Chronic Pain Management Clinical Flowchart
When opiates are to be trialled:

Opiate Equivalence Table
Opiate equivalence tables are useful when transferring between
medications, including the commencement of supervised dosing
of methadone or buprenorphine for the management of opiate
dependence. The following medications are roughly equivalent
over a 24-hour period (based on Therapeutic Guidelines):

• Codeine 240mg
• Morphine 40mg
• Methadone 10-15mg
• Oxycodone 20-30mg
• Buprenorphine 2-4mg

Significant dose escalation above these levels is often only performed
after discussion with or review by other medical colleagues

 

[Sublimit]

i got a 40 pack of panadine no questions asked, no id. different chemists have different criteria i guess

 

[Mr Blonde]

^ The thing is though, under the new laws I thought they are all supposed to take ID and details. Not that I'm complaining...

 

[Sublimit]

apparently not, i think the small independent/smaller the chemist the easier it is.... it's the big franchise ones like the warehouse that are really strict about it

 

[Sublimit]

it's the price that does my head in the most.... gone are the days that you could pick up a 100 pack of codgalgin(spelling?) for the same price as a 40 pack of panadine... stupid rudd

 

[drug_mentor]

^ Same here! I mean it really isn't much more effort to hit an extra pharmacy on the way home but I am paying twice as much for a 600mg dose than I used to pay for 800mg. This is all about financial gain, without a database linking up all pharmacies and recording all purchases these laws wont reduce opiate abuse much, if at all.

 

[Sustanon]

howdy sustanon, once you start taking it more than the prescribed/ optimun amount you can start doing damage pretty quickly. but its also dependant on a few other variables such as your general health, any diseases or illnesses you may have had or currently experienceing.

the way that medications are viewed is:
up untill a certain point OTC painkillers can be used, once past that the optimum treatment is to try a different medication which selectively or more generically targets pain, over using lower order medications can actually do more damage without adding any thereputic value.

paracetamol or Ibruprofen= good for general pain
paracetamol or Ibruprofen + codiene= good for more severe pain including the need for some analgesia (codiene)


Taken From analgesia Brochure
MILD TO MODERATE PAIN

□ Paracetamol (Panamax®, Febridol®, Dymadon P®)
□ Naproxen (Naprosyn®, Inza®, Proxen®,
Naprogesic ®)
□ Tramadol (Tramal®, Zydol®)

MODERATE TO SEVERE PAIN
□ Oxycodone (Endone®)
□ Oxycodone (OxyContin®)
□ Morphine (MS Contin®)

when clients come in looking for a review of their use of OTC pain killers the medical officers usually do a maths conversion of the amount of codiene that a person is using. This allows The prescribers to judge what level of opiate dependance/intoxication is and what the target for maintenance would be. example would be a person taking x amount of neurophen plus would need approximately x amount of a opiate maintenence to achieve the same afect the person is getting with the physical harms done from injesting the OTS combinations. Also there is the opportunity for GP's to prescribe codiene phosphate by itself.


More info taken from the Chronic Pain Management Clinical Flowchart
When opiates are to be trialled:

Opiate Equivalence Table
Opiate equivalence tables are useful when transferring between
medications, including the commencement of supervised dosing
of methadone or buprenorphine for the management of opiate
dependence. The following medications are roughly equivalent
over a 24-hour period (based on Therapeutic Guidelines):

• Codeine 240mg
• Morphine 40mg
• Methadone 10-15mg
• Oxycodone 20-30mg
• Buprenorphine 2-4mg

Significant dose escalation above these levels is often only performed
after discussion with or review by other medical colleagues

phase_dancer: No worries mate.

madmick19: Thanks for that, that was a very informative post. Was lookin for a comparison chart like that before.

 

[Mr Blonde]

I would like to see information on how much morphine extensive metabolizers get out of codeine, especially in doses over the 400mg mark.

Also, if I was taking 1200mg of codeine (a low dose due to my tolerance), is that really equivalent to 200mg morphine or 100mg oxycodone?

 

[Sustanon]

I would like to see information on how much morphine extensive metabolizers get out of codeine, especially in doses over the 400mg mark.

Also, if I was taking 1200mg of codeine (a low dose due to my tolerance), is that really equivalent to 200mg morphine or 100mg oxycodone?

My understanding is that the enzyme converts 10% of the codeine into morphine. The ceiling dose of codeine is around 500-600mg. So even if u double dose u still wont have more than 50-60mg converted into morphine. The reason why u mite feel it more (just like me) because we all prob loose a little bit of codeine through the extraction.