Should I worry that I'm taking so many Painkiller pills?

Skymist

jenniewb wrote: »

I'd LOVE a tens machine...unfortunetly buying food and rent tends to swallow most of my income leaving not enough for a tens machine unless I start saving now....and manage to never buy anything extra again for about a year :rotfl:(as good an idea as this sounds I don't think I have the ability to do this!:o) But would be great, have seen these and they do get good reviews. I wish I had the cash!!

jenniewb, have you seen this one?

http://www.lloydspharmacy.com/en/tens-digital-pain-reliever-35300

It's on sale, at the moment for £9.99, so not too expensive!!

S

sarah*a

Skymist wrote: »

jenniewb, have you seen this one?

http://www.lloydspharmacy.com/en/tens-digital-pain-reliever-35300

It's on sale, at the moment for £9.99, so not too expensive!!

S

I have that one for my OH - he swears by it - and you can pick the replacement pads up very cheap on eBay (20 for £10 as opposed to 4 for £10 at the pharmacy)

I will say, however, do try and see if you can borrow one first - we originally bought ours for me but it doesn't help and can actually make my pain worse but, like I said, my OH thinks it's great and it always helps his back.

peachyprice

I think the only ones that would worry me would be the paracetamol/codine, I rarely take them unless I'm in severe pain but they really make me woosy.

Perhaps you could ask a pharmacist of paracetamil combo would work as well? there wouldn't be the same addiction risk. No need to buy the expensive Neurofen version, one tablet of each does the same job!

londonsurrey

Sorry, just in case you take Nurofen Plus:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14666291

jenniewb

Tens for under £10? And a good review?- Thats excellent thankyou so much! I had only ever seen them closer to the £100 mark which would take me many many months if not over a year to save for! Will be aiming to get that soon!

RE: What type of codine? It is Cocodamol and says 8mg/500mg on the pack, prescription to take them no more then 4 times a day, I defo have been taking them for more then 4 days...I guess the GP was hoping either the referal would have come through or my (very) anti pill attitude (normally) would have prevented me taking them for more then 3 days. Unfortunetly the pain isn't something I can sleep with so I have reduced what I can but do take them daily sometimes twice a day but at least once a day before trying to sleep. I don't think its the maximum amount though? I think I am pretty sure I had been given a higher dose in the past (am hoping here its not a terribly high dose as its not working all that well and I like to imagine there is still hope out there that things could be improved in way of pain relief- even if I chose not to take it! Know that makes no sense to anyone else but me btw!!)

Will see my GP next week about alternative therapies, not possible this week as I've been playing catch-up after being unwell last week, next week should be easier to get time to do this. Have to admit am a little wary as I think many of the GPs I have seen are very skeptical and so may either laugh or just point blank refuse and tell me to "get used to the pain". Though in another sense I am beginning not to care what he/she thinks anymore...

Thanks for the update in Neurofen: this is the bit where I smile wide because I only ever get the cheapest ibuprofen I can: the 39p a box stuff from the Supermarket/Boots

pmduk

jeniewb ibuprofen is only 28p in wilkinsons. gotta save money where you can!

Humphrey10

jenniewb wrote: »

RE: What type of codine? It is Cocodamol and says 8mg/500mg on the pack, prescription to take them no more then 4 times a day,

The 'only take for 4 days' warning is intended for over the counter users, not if you have had it prescribed. It's to stop people assuming it's safe to take as many as they like as often as they like, just because it's available over the counter. Don't worry, the doctor who prescribed it will be aware of what is safe and what is not. The maximum dose is higher than what you are taking. Speak to your GP if you are worried.

jenniewb wrote: »

Thanks for the update in Neurofen: this is the bit where I smile wide because I only ever get the cheapest ibuprofen I can: the 39p a box stuff from the Supermarket/Boots

It's Nurofen Plus the recall is for, not Nurofen. Nurofen Plus is ibuprofen and codeine.

FYI: expensive fancy painkillers like Nurofen Plus are more effective than cheap own-brand bargain ones, even in cases where the effective ingredients are identical, due to the increased placebo effect from the fancy expensive ones.

londonsurrey

Poundland and the 99p Store do 3 packs of ibuprofen for £1/99p :beer:

I got some recently for a friend who has broken his foot three times in about as many months. They only let you buy three packs at a time. So I got three at Poundland, and then went down the street to get three from the 99p Store. Lol.

Zoetoes

Actually I would be more concerned about taking Ibuprofen every day, it's very bad for your stomach and can cause an ulcer to develop if taken too much.

I was taking it myself for a while for my stomach and think it's made it so much worse now, I need a scan and endoscopy.

I've been prescribed codeine so have stopped the ibuprofen. Codeine can become addictive and people needing treatment to come off it, so only take it if you really have to, not as routine.

Buscopan I've also just been prescribed, not sure if it's doing anything?

Just checked my codeine and it's 30mg/500mg, so what you have is probably not too bad?

Have you told the doctor you take ibuprofen often?

jenniewb

Humphrey10 wrote: »

FYI: expensive fancy painkillers like Nurofen Plus are more effective than cheap own-brand bargain ones, even in cases where the effective ingredients are identical, due to the increased placebo effect from the fancy expensive ones.

I am one of the 1% who has not been sold on this placebo effect. Call it the result of multiple pill taking in hospital 10 years ago (inpatient treatment) and also being a student and basicly just not having enough to pay 10x the amount for the same pills!
I'd assume all NHS hospitals use the cheapest pills possible and they worked whenever I've needed them. I see the ingredients and I buy the ingredients, not the label.
I have tried both and don't notice the difference on top of which I try to activly avoid caffiene (due to insomnia issues I don't need worsening!) and most of the time the more expensive brands add caffiene to their products.

I guess its open to personal choice but I don't see the difference, the times I've 'borrowed' pills from friends when I've been caught short I've also not noticed the difference I'm assuming I'm the 1% or so which bucked the trend in such studies to test placebo effect and my wallet is very grateful for this!