Codeine

Codeine is a very common narcotic found in many over-the-counter medicines used to treat mild amounts of pain such as colds or headaches. Despite how common they are, they have the potential to be very addicting.

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Codeine should be used to treat mild pain in its recommended dosage, which depends on the person. If one finds themselves using codeine in higher doses than recommended, or when not in any pain at all, it is a sign of addiction. Although codeine is only used for minor to moderate pains, it still produces relaxing and sedative effects, making it a potential risk for addiction.

The inability to focus, disorientation, lack of motivation and impaired judgment are among some of the effects one may experience if they abuse codeine.

Treatment for Codeine

Codeine will turn into morphine after ingested, so detoxification of codeine is similar to that of other opiates.

In addition to that, codeine itself treats physical pain, creating a very unpleasant physical and mental recovery process. Medically-assisted detox is often the method of choice for those with a codeine addiction. Supervision and prescription medication are very important for this process. The body will have to get used to other prescription medications in order to help suppress the physical effects of codeine withdrawal.

Since symptoms of opiate addiction are present with codeine, behavioral therapy is an important part of codeine addiction recovery. The brain depends on codeine for pleasure, so the act of changing one’s outlook and stigma towards the substance is a major step in breaking the addiction.

Other Substances