Taking more codeine than prescribed to you by a doctor, or taking illegal codeine such as from a friend, a dealer or website , increases the risk of overdose and other side effects, such as:. Lower blood pressure and abnormal breathing, which can lead to respiratory arrest — which is when you stop breathing altogether.
Fatal side effects from another drug if the codeine is part of a combined medicine, such as co-codamol. These include: kidney failure, liver failure, indigestion or bleeding from the stomach.
Fatal side effects if you mix the codeine with other drugs that suppress breathing — such as alcohol , benzodiazepines like diazepam Valium , or other opioid drugs. As with other opiates, taking very high doses of codeine during pregnancy may lead to withdrawal symptoms in newborn babies. People sometimes take codeine to help them manage with stress and depression. Using any drug to escape bad feelings can increase the risk of becoming dependent on the drug. However, long-term abuse of any mood-altering chemical — like codeine — can also contribute to symptoms such as anxiety and depression, so you could be making your mental health worse by taking it.
This may not be true for codeine bought from a dealer or over the internet, however. Codeine bought from dealers or online may not have had safety testing, and could be cut with other drugs. Even if the codeine tablet looks like a pharmaceutical product, there are plenty of counterfeits fakes that look like the real thing.
Codeine is especially dangerous to mix with alcohol, benzodiazepines like diazepam Valium and other opioid drugs. Some people get addicted to codeine after being prescribed it to treat physical pain. They can experience withdrawal symptoms if they stop taking the tablets and this can be a reason that people continue taking it or seek codeine illegally. Tolerance can also build up, so that users have to take more just to get the same effects or to avoid unpleasant withdrawals.
Supplying someone else, even your friends, can get you up to 14 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both. Like drink-driving, driving when high is dangerous and illegal. Swansbury, A. Painkiller overdoses. Br Dent J , — Download citation. Published : 13 September Issue Date : September Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:. Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative.
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Received 13 February , accepted 31 July The funders had no role in the research described in this paper. Louisa Degenhardt has received untied educational grants from Reckitt Benckiser for the postmarketing surveillance of opioid substitution therapy medications in Australia, and the development of an opioid-related behaviour scale.
She has also received untied educational grants from Mundipharma to conduct postmarketing surveillance of the use of oxycodone formulations in Australia. Suzanne Nielsen has been an investigator on untied education grants from Reckitt Benckiser. These funders had no role in the research described in this article. Publication of your online response is subject to the Medical Journal of Australia 's editorial discretion.
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Body contains. Date range from. Date range to. Article type. Author's surname. First page. Issues by year. Article types. Research letters. Guidelines and statements. Narrative reviews. Ethics and law. Medical education. Volume Issue 7. Trends and characteristics of accidental and intentional codeine overdose deaths in Australia. Med J Aust ; 7 : Abstract Objectives: To examine trends in codeine-related mortality rates in Australia, and the clinical and toxicological characteristics of codeine-related deaths.
In this article, we present data on codeine-related mortality in Australia, examining: rates of accidental and intentional codeine-related mortality; rates of heroin- and Schedule 8 opioid-related mortality; demographic, mental and physical health characteristics of codeine-related mortality cases; and the circumstances of these deaths, including the presence of other drugs and the origin of codeine products consumed before death prescribed or obtained over the counter.
Methods Coding of deaths We searched the National Coronial Information System NCIS for deaths during the period — in which codeine toxicity or overdose was recorded as a direct or a contributory cause of death. Coding of additional variables Several variables of interest were not consistently coded in the NCIS because of differing jurisdictional procedures. Results Poisson regression modelling indicated that the rate of all codeine-related deaths increased during the period — by 0.
Deaths caused by accidental versus intentional overdose Those who had intentionally overdosed were more likely to be older, female and have a history of mental health problems, and were less likely to have a history of substance use problems, chronic pain or injecting drug use Box 3.
Discussion The rate of codeine-related deaths increased significantly between and , from 3. Clinical implications Our findings suggest the need for different public health and clinical strategies to prevent fatal intentional and accidental codeine overdoses.
Limitations of our study The online availability of autopsy and coroner findings and of police and toxicology reports differs greatly between jurisdictions.
Conclusion Increasing rates of codeine-related mortality detected by our study suggest it is important to systematically monitor codeine use and harms.
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Has the time come to phase out codeine? CMAJ ; Iedema J. Cautions with codeine. Aust Prescr ; Characteristics of dependent and nondependent regular users of codeine. J Clin Psychopharmacol ; Over the counter codeine dependence.
The restrictions to the use of codeine and dilemmas about safe alternatives. J Child Health Care ; Serious morbidity associated with misuse of over-the-counter codeine-ibuprofen analgesics. N Z Med J ; Serious morbidity associated with misuse of over-the-counter codeine-ibuprofen analgesics: a series of 27 cases. Hepatic damage and death from overdose of paracetamol. Lancet ; Acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure: results of a United States multicenter, prospective study.
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