Codeine withdrawal

Patients dependent on narcotics Patients dependent on narcotics may experience withdrawal symptoms upon the administration of nalbuphine. If unduly troublesome, control by slow IV administration of small increments of morphine until relief occurs. If the previous analgesic was morphine, meperidine, codeine or another narcotic... 

A 64-year-old man with type II diabetes, hypertension, and bilateral renal artery stenosis presented with confusion and dysarthria related to profound hypoglycemia (2.2 mmol/1). He was taking naproxen 500 mg bd, ramipril 2.5 mg/day, glibenclamide 2.5 mg bd, metformin 850 mg bd, a thiazide diuretic, terazosin, ranitidine, paracetamol, and codeine. His plasma creatinine concentration, previously 185 pmol/1, was 362 pmol/1 and it fell to 210 imol/l after the withdrawal of ramipril and naproxen. 

Narcotics (opiates and opioids) are natural, semisynthetic, and synthetic derivatives of the opium poppy. Drugs such as morphine, codeine, heroin, methadone, Darvon, and Percodan fall into this category. They are all depressants, but they are also potent painkillers, and except for heroin (which is illegal) they are prescribed to relieve pain and to control coughing and diarrhea. But because of their pleasurable effects and addictive properties, they can cause problems when taken for nonmedical reasons. Most nonmedical users take these drugs to experience euphoria, to avoid pain, and to relieve withdrawal symptoms. —... 

Codeine Phosphate The presence of aspirin along with codeine, even at a low moisture level, leads to acetylation of codeine phosphate in solid dose forms and is incompatible.36 Codeine sulfate solutions are more stable than phosphate salts.37 Drug dependence and withdrawal resemble that of opioid analgesics. Overdose causes acute intoxication in children, as accidental or deliberate ingestion of cough preparations containing codeine.38... 

A 58-year-old man developed a maculopapular rash on the dorsal aspects of the hand and upper body 6 days after taking codeine as an analgesic for hemoptysis secondary to tuberculosis on withdrawal of codeine, the rash subsided after 48 hours (9). 

Codeine is often subject to abuse and can cause a withdrawal syndrome after abrupt discontinuation of use. 

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