Solpadiene: "Over-the-counter addictions soaring, doctor warns"

Red Sleeping Beauty

http://www.independent.ie/health/lastest-news/overthecounter-addictions-soaring-doctor-warns-1372359.html

What are your views on the availability of Solpadiene? My view is that if you need strong pain relief it's there and should be respected. Prescription medicines are more expensive and also you have to pay for a doctors visit. On the other hand my father has been taking solluble Solpadiene by the box load for as long as I can remember. (He probably takes about 4-8 glasses made up of 2 tablets per day )

If there are mass numbers of people addicted to Solpadiene what would then happen if it was banned from over the counter sales tomorrow ? Would half the nation be rushing to their doctors looking for prescriptions ?
Odd situation altogether.

eth0_

Your dad is an addict and he is damaging his liver. He needs to stop abusing solpadeine ASAP.

I think it should be available over the counter (in pharmacies only) but perhaps we should look at bringing in some sort of smart card to prevent people buying it in volume as your father is.

Can't understand how people can get addicted to it - the taste of it makes me retch.

SomeDose

I'm not convinced that codeine "addiction" is the real issue here. The thing is, the dose of codeine in OTC solpadeine is so low (8mg) that in order to actually become addicted to it, someone needs to consume significant quantities of it. So the real danger here is the potential liver damage caused by the paracetamol component...and example being the OPs father, who is consuming double the max daily dosage of paracetamol. I'd also be interested to hear about the evidence for it causing internal bleeding, as quoted by the article.

There's another argument of whether or not OTC solpadeine is actually any more beneficial than regular paracetamol for analgesia. It basically falls between 2 stools when it comes to pain management i.e. if full dose paracetamol isn't effective, then full dose codeine (30-60mg) is added. Whilst it wouldn't be unreasonable for occasional use, there really isn't any place for these kind of partial dose co-analgesics in acute or chronic pain management.

A consumption of 6 times that of the UK is definitely worrying, however.

brundlefly

having had to deal with migraines since i can remember, i for one can say that the pros to solpadeine far out weigh the cons...sure some days i know that i may run the risk of liver failure in the future but when i feel that pressure building up behind my eyes and see that aura i know that it is only a matter of time before i find myself in a darkened room in agony and more often than not vomiting bile for hours on end.
i first started taking them on my doctors advice after a succession of various tablets failed and have built up a bit of a tolerance and that has got family members worrying about addiction(at this stage i would prefer the addiction to the living hell of a bad migraine) ...give me an alternative that actually works and i will take it but in the mean time its all that works for me as staying away from all the usual triggers (booze cheese etc..)has not worked .

dazberry

I went thru' a very stressful period in work a few years ago and for a period of a few months found myself taking Solpadeine daily - at worst maybe 4 soluables tablets per day, at best 2. This might not seem much compared to alan dunne 27's dad, but at the same time I did not need them - or at least the majority of them beyond the odd bit of eyestrain.

I have no doubt that I was getting a "kick" off them, be it the codine or the caffine or something else. The real issue is that I can't actually take caffine - so I can't drink coffee, tea or coke etc., but I could get away with Solpadeine.

I wasn't happy with the situation and thankfully I managed to sort myself out. I also switched away from soluble Solpadeine to non-soluble Panadeine which don't contain any caffine and are only taken when absolutely needed.

D.

Chunky Monkey

My dad did the same thing Alan. He used to get quite angry when pharmacies only let him buy one box (of course easily solved by going into the other pharmacy a couple of doors down). My mum and I warned him but he was in complete denial. Had to let him see what he was doing and decide to stop himself. Such is the nature of stubborn men.

Found myself going down the same route last year. Definitely perked up after taking them. However now I only take them when my headaches are particularly bad (not often thankfully) and never more than two in a day. Should stop taking them altogether but panadol doesn't work at all for me.

Smart card is a very good idea etho.

sunnyjim

Why add another expense and bureaucracy to something thats OTC?

If someone wants to ignore the instructions that come with each pack, then let them.

eth0_

SomeDose wrote: »

I'm not convinced that codeine "addiction" is the real issue here. The thing is, the dose of codeine in OTC solpadeine is so low (8mg) that in order to actually become addicted to it, someone needs to consume significant quantities of it.

That's true of physical addiction but solpadeine is clearly psychologically addictive - it's been well documented.

sunnyjim wrote:

If someone wants to ignore the instructions that come with each pack, then let them.

And then let our health service pay for treating their cirrhosis or liver transplant? :rolleyes:

sunnyjim

Just so you understand my point of view, I think we should disband the HSE, pay less tax, and have our own health insurance...

Chunky Monkey

^Yeah. Fcuk the poor.

eth0_

sunnyjim wrote: »

Just so you understand my point of view, I think we should disband the HSE, pay less tax, and have our own health insurance...

All of which is completely off topic to the subject matter of this thread.

And yes, sure f*ck the poor who can't afford health insurance!

You're either very young, or a right-wing Daily Mail reader.

DrIndy

lets keep on topic. This conversation will not degenerate.

Sunnyjim - 1st warning.

Odysseus

I take on about four or five cases of this a year, dealing with heroin addicts who sometimes have huge tolerances I was'nt sure about it for a long time, as said above the some is so small. However, it does have a impact on a persons life on a few levels, maybe not physically in terms of withdrawal, but there is the physical risk to the liver.

There is the mental complusion and obsession, and the emotional side whether thats the blunting of negative affects, or the other side of things when people have no access to them and become irate. So we are talking about some form of addiction. However, people will always abuse something, I personally think that they should be OTC. The seem to help some people in terms of pain relife and I don't think we should make it more difficult for people to access.

Chunky Monkey

The biggest box of solpedeine you can get has twenty four tablets (talking about the soluble ones here, not sure about the others). Follwing the max recommended dosage (eight a day) that would last you three days. Go to your GP the first time and get prescribed a box and given a smart card. After that get over the counter. The inital expense may be a fair bit- issuing machines that can read the card to all the pharmacies- but the cards themselves shouldn't cost much.

Now to introduce free GP fees for all.

Odysseus

Chunkmonkey, if you that approach on the basis that you are doing so because the drug possesses an additive potential, are we in a similar position to the one years ago with repeat scripts and benzos? Whilst the addictive potential is less, you have someone getting an addictive drug without constant reviews.

Whilst it would limit the amount of tablets you get, if people want more they will get them, and going to the doctor would I think increase the amount of 500/30 formulations being prescribed, as these are often handed out easily enough on repeat scripts in my experience. The smart card would be a hugh cost for something that is OCT.

Chunky Monkey

So make them prescription only? Or take the codeine out?

Having seen the effects of it, I think something should be done.