timetohealguy

Hi everyone,

In the midst of my ex's drinking spiraling out of control, I noticed she was taking quite a lot of a pain medication tablets which do not require a prescription from a doctor.

She started asking me to buy this for her when I was doing the grocery shopping as she said she was having headaches (which I assumed were alcohol hangovers). I bought a box of it for her at the pharmacy ... then realised just a few days later it was all gone and the empty box was in the trash !

I then read online about what it contained and found out it contained codeine.

Around the same time, her aggression towards me starting getting really bad. She changed from typically being a slurred words, unsteady on her feet drunk, into an energetic, aggressive drunk.

I then found a very large number of empty packets of it hidden in our bedroom.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this with their A ?

Codeine is an opiate and I have read that opiates can cause aggression and rage.

There is an article about alcohol and codeine here ...

Mixing Alcohol and Codeine

... and some other articles about codeine here ...

https://teens.drugabuse.gov/drug-fac...-codeine-syrup

Don't Give Kids Cough Syrup That Contains Codeine, FDA Says : Shots - Health News : NPR

"Tighter regulations needed for over-the-counter codeine in Canada" ... http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/...urnalCode=cphc

LexieCat

Codeine would appear to have the OPPOSITE effect--it wouldn't make someone "energetic" or "aggressive." Certainly it's dangerous to combine it with alcohol, but they would just cause more dopiness, from what I understand.

Who knows what all she might have been taking--lots of people who abuse amphetamines or coke will take depressants to try to balance out.

Does it really matter to you? At this point? You've never going to know for sure what was going on with her.

timetohealguy

Good point. Was just laying in bed thinking about it last night.

It could also have been progression of alcoholism causing the anger - less inhibition etc.

It was a very sudden and stark change though - she had had anger issues before on alcohol, but around the time codeine started it was like her anger was turned up to 11.

Maybe what I was seeing was interdose withdrawal of the codeine - who knows.

I found some info about opiate rage and wondered if that was what I was seeing ...

https://www.google.com/search?q=opiate+rage

flower959

I thought Codeine was only available by prescription? At least where I am, it is. Anyone with an alcohol addiction is playing a dangerous game mixing in other medicines even if it's available over the counter. Your A is probably addicted to the Codeine as well.

timetohealguy

Hi flower959,

Don't Give Kids Cough Syrup That Contains Codeine, FDA Says : Shots - Health News : NPR reads ...

I researched the codeine + alcohol combination a while back and found some comments on some sites where young people were intentionally combining the two.

Here is the link to the FDA's public label database doing a search for codeine ...

https://labels.fda.gov/getIngredient...By=ProductType

The big danger in codeine + alcohol is that they are both central nervous system depressants. Same with benzodiazepines + alcohol.

Benzos + alcohol, and opiates + alcohol are listed #1 and #2 on psychcentral's list of deadliest drug combinations ...

https://blogs.psychcentral.com/addic...-combinations/

LeeJane

Interesting topic, thanks for posting about it.

An A I know slightly uses codeine alongside the alcohol. I don't understand why other than she says it gives a little "lift" during hangover recovery time.

My A hubby who isn't drinking currently (may change in the blink of an eye, of course) is on codeine prescribed by our doctor. For pain relief. I was surprised it was prescribed as doctor fully aware of Hub's drinking. So he takes four doses a day plus another strong painkiller.

The pain he suffers is from alcohol caused damage to his body.

I don't know, I have stepped away from it.

blackzwan

In some people, there can be a paradoxical reaction to codeine - rather than having a sedative effect, the user can become energetic or irritable.

Sleepyhollo

Codeine cannot be bought OTC. You need a prescription as it is a scheduled drug. At least here in the US and it appears OP is in US. And mixing pain meds or really any scheduled drug and alcohol is always a bad idea. I'm certain that there are plenty of alcoholics who mix meds wth alcohol.

LovePeaceSushi

No mixing meds here (thank goodness), but I will say that I can't take hydrocodone because it has an opposite effect on me - - instead of relaxing or sedating, it makes me hyper. Last time I took one of those (YEARS ago), I was up all night cleaning!

Smarie78

My A got into every single thing from codeine cough syrup to hairspray to the vicks vapor liquid we put into the humidifier. When deep into addiction it is not all too unusual to grab anything to numb. My cough syrup was really tough because I suffer from chronic bronchitis and when I get a flare up it can last weeks to months of non stop cough. He drank the whole bottle.

PeacefulWater12

My AH takes 4 doses of 500/30 codeine a day for pain relief, plus gabapentin with it (spelling?).

He is still drinking heavily - about 4 litres whisky a week plus goodness knows how much wine. Although this is less than it used to be.

I have noticed that he is far more laid back these days. He used to get rages but all that stopped. I did wonder if it was the medications doing it.

I love and live my Al-anon program but I think maybe his meds help too. His doctor says he will be on them for the rest of his life.

He is monitored regularly by our doctor. Husband has heart failure and neuropathy, diabetes and several other issues.

Bird615

The beginning of the end between me and my former alcoholic boyfriend was when he was prescribed codeine for back issues and eventually started abusing it. His behaviour slowly became more and more irrational and at first I didn't know what was going on until I found his prescription bottle and saw he was taking way more than prescribed.

I finally moved out and then he seemed to go completely off the rails, including harassment and stalking so bad that I had to get a restraining order. What used to be a person with a mean mouth when drunk became someone completely unpredictable and bizarre.

hopeful4

I think part of addiction is their addictive personality. I know my XAH will always be an addict to something, simply because of that. He has a super addictive personality. Trying to keep up with it simply wore me out.

PeacefulWater12

I think this is absolutely true. Our addictions will shift about. Move from one to another.

I think I will always have an addictive personality so what I do is make sure I channel it into "healthy" addictions.

Smarie78

A thousand percent. When I met my xABF I believe he was a sex addict (I was as well in my own way, just not as severe). Instead of drinking he filled the void with women. Multiple women per week. He didn't have many friends or hobbies, just the program and women. When we met he relapsed quickly to alcohol knowing he could no longer sustain multiple women IAR with me (though I later found out he did cheat)- so theoretically the women left, time for alcohol to step back in. Then when he would try and get sober and hit the program hard again, his addiction turned to me (hundreds of texts, checking in, declarations of his obsession for me). And when I wasn't there it turned to other women and things like soda and constant snacking before and after dinner. I know "snacking" sounds silly and the man was in excellent physical (aesthetic) shape, but I truly do think he had a problem here too because it never mattered if we just ate a kings feast. He HAD to get up every 5 minutes and find a snack in the cabinet when we just settled to watch television.

He was literally insatiable.

Smarie78

and yes I see my own addictions liking to make guest appearances frequently....I too just need to turn them into healthy ones.