Long term damage from chronic cold water extracted Codeine use?

[Diamorphazepam]

I started using codeine 10 years ago back when they had these tablets called Nurofen Plus which you could split in half to get the codeine alone. Now I use cold water extraction usually on 40 pills. I either get the pills with 500mg APAP/15mg Codeine or 500mg APAP and 10mg Codeine. (400mg of Codeine or 600mg of Codeine minus what I loose along with slightly soluble APAP)

I do the CWE really efficiently getting pretty much all the water I add out and only loosing little absorbed in the filter. I've used on and off over the years and there have been times where I've used once or twice almost daily for months at its worst.

I also know there is a tiny amount of soluble APAP. Almost a gram in cold water. If I do it twice a day that's about 2 grams of APAP a day. It's not over the recommended dose but I'm still concerned about the long-term effects of APAP. I know people get prescribed APAP long term but that doesn't mean it's safe.

I know Codeine is suppose to be a weak opiate but I find it quite strong & I've been a Heroin and Oxycodone user before. I was also on 60mg of methadone daily for 6 months which was the only time my body didn't crave opiates. I taped of the Methadone and stayed clean of opiates for over 6 months until the dr prescribed me benzos for insomnia which I abused and then took some methadone and than started Codeine again while I wasn't thinking about the consequences.

According to Bluelight opiate conversion 400mg of codeine is equal to 40mg of Oxycodone or 10-20mg of Methadone. To me it feels lie 40mg of Oxycodone or 30mg of methadone. Because it's so cheap and readily available it can be just as hard to stop as low doses of the harder opiates. Anyways I'm never going on methadone again that just made me more dependent on opiates. Maybe I'll ask a friend for some Suboxone but than I'll just ben addicted to them instead. But they might be less harmful. Eh, the withdrawals aren't to bad but id prefer to do things the easy way if there's that option.

I've noticed a few symptoms such as mild stomach/GI ache which could be just withdrawal as it disappears within weeks during the times I've got off the Codeine. I also sometimes feel slightly dehydrated to while I'm taking the Codeine.

Has there been any studies done on damage caused by long-term use of regular amounts of APAP or high doses of regular Codeine use???

 

[Keif' Richards]

Yes, most NSAID pain relievers are hard on the liver. The dosages you are describing, if done over an extended period of time, could certainly cause you problems.

You're best bet on this is to get a work-up done by your GP to determine if you have caused any damage, otherwise you have no real way of knowing.

In the short term, I would recommend switching to an opioid without an NSAID compounded with it. Also keep in mind, that drinking any amount of alcohol with NSAIDs can cause exponentially more damage.