Co-Codamol and Alcohol – what happens?

I went to the doc this morning, because I seem to have got a back muscle in spasm.

He gave me some tablets and said I can keep on riding as long as I take it fairly gently. Which is good because I'm half way through my 7 week "minimum 1 hour's riding every day" and i don't want to give up.

But the Co-Codamol says "Avoid Alcohol". Sod that for a lark. What will happen if I have a beer tonight. Or 4 beers and then half a bottle of wine?

The prescribed dose is:
Co-Codamol 30/500mg, 2 to be taken 4 times a day, PLUS Diclofenac Sodium 50mg, 1 to be taken 3 times a day.

eh you will be off your head, optiates and booze will be interesting

You'll be fine. Was on Dihydracodeine for 3 months whilst living with an alcoholic and paying rent in wine. Didn't do me any harm officer 😉

Take the diclofenac, which will probably be a massive help on their own. Use the Co-Codamol as a top-up if you have to. A good policy even if you don't have a drink.

it'll be 'interesting'. Are you planning on doing the hour's riding for the day before or after?

its more to do with the metabolism of the paracetemol in it i think. Alcohol + paracetemol puts a much larger strain on your liver if i remeber correctly

Believe me, if you're on prescription codeine you won't be needing any alcohol.

After a big motorbike accident they put me on some stupid dosage. I literally lay there motionless, dribbling for two weeks. It was one of the happiest fortnights of my life 🙂

You'll be rite lad.

Already done today's ride. Planning to do tomorrow's tomorrow morning. I might stick to the Diclofenac and take it easy on the C-C unless I get a lot of pain. I'm guessing the back muscle will heal itself in a few days, so I can stop both as soon as it's better.

Townes Van Zandt sang a very cheery song about codiene, Waiting Around to Die or something.

Good stuff though, especially when your mate persuades you to snort it 😳

I think you should go for it….just make sure you film the results.

I have only tried it after the event (ie, as a painkiller for hangovers). That one works wonders. 🙂

I had it for back spasms, 50/500, drank a few lemonades and was pretty ill the next day. Not something i intend to repeat and i'm not one who easily learns from his own stupidity.

Hi John, you obviously got home last night ok then!

I regularly take the combination you have been prescribed, i have it on repeat.

It will be fine unless you over do it, in the past i've combined extreme tiredeness+extreme pain+empty stomach+booze+the above and ended up having to make extremely urgent trips to the toilet. A lot of trips to the toilet. This is not fun when you are already in extreme pain.

People react differently though and i will obviously have a tollerance to codeine

After breaking my Clavicle last Friday I was given ibuprofen & paracetamol and decided to go out with the guys that evening for copious amounts of Ale, due to all the pain killers didn't suffer from a hangover continued that theme for the rest of the weekend. 😆

Cheers Mike, Yes, I could only do an hour or so last night, and my legs just wouldn't take me up Pepper Slade, it seemed like my back just cut off the power, although I went back this morning and rode up fine.

Well, I know what to look out for then. Don't over-do it you say. Hmmmm.

well you didn't miss dave's stack, none of us saw it 🙁

I had some sort of well matured children's cough remedy a little while ago. It was maybe 5 years out of date but was the only stuff we had in the house and my cough was terrible. So, I took a good glug and went on with my day… for about half an hour when I started to feel exceptionally fine! Didn't make the connection so later on I had some more (maybe 4 hours later) with a couple of generous hot toddies. Apparently I was rather "jolly" that evening. I planned to repeat the dose next day but my wife had thrown it away and replaced it with a bottle of new stuff.

I could have sworn the giraffe on the label was talking to me you know! 🙂

Don't **** about with codeine it's nasty stuff if taken wrong, avoid alcohol if you can even with co-cocodamol. Diclofenic shouldn't be underestimated either take it with something on your stomach as it likes to eat the stomach lining. Oh and not with alcohol as it increases the chances of you then puking up blood.

fun times

What will happen if I have a beer tonight. Or 4 beers and then half a bottle of wine?

Something wonderful

of all the above "advice" on this thread the only one that i would listen to is Drac's; even though i'm sure that all the other fully qualified medical practitioners advice listed on the thread is very good!

i suppose it all depends whether you are near to your local A+E and like the taste of charcoal?

Cheers Giles and yes there is more qualified medical staff on here. We each have a field this is not really mine but something I have understanding in and have seen what happens with those that are unlucky and it goes wrong for them.

codeine and alcohol are both depressants of the central nervous system – too much of either can make you pretty ill or even kill you if you're stoopid (stopping breathing or drowning in vomit are both capable of ruining your day)

in "sensible" amounts combining them won't do you that much harm; the effects ARE additive though so sensible is quite a lot less than yournormal sensible alcohol amount (60mg codeine four times a day is a sporting dose – easily enough to make some people very drowsy and usafe to drive, for example, even before you start boozing). Plus, the combined effect may well (though variable) make you feel pretty grim and makes some people throw up a lot (might I suggest that'd be bad for your back?)

alcohol & paracetamol: unless you're a very very heavy regular drinker, alcohol won't affect your safety if taking normal doses of paracetamol – they're mostly dealt with by different enzyme systems (If you're a BIIIG drinker, the toxic/fatal doses of paras can be lower than if you're not a drinker for a couple of reasons)

If you take the codeine for any length of time you can pretty much expect to get constipated, which I'm sure is also great fun if you have a back in spasm too. Watch out for it and consider taking something to keep things moving if you do take for any longish period

I took 1 codedine a few years back then had a couple of beers. I woke up in my spare room wearing a suit and found a trail of chaos around the house. I couldn't remember any of it.

Probably a very bad idea.

+1 13thfloormonk on the TVZ song, the tabs here: Waiting around to die

as for drinking on Voltorol and Codine, do it if you want but its at your own risk, its not really anymore fun than the usual but it could fxxk you up.

I'm here with the same company (except the booze, been dry for over 2mths now) and toothache!

codeine is proper strong stuff,I would avoid drink as drac says,diclofenic caused a major bout of gastritus when i was younger,never ate anything for weeks! 😥

Last time I had a bad back, they gave me diclofenac, Co-dyrdomal, Dy-hydrocodeine and diazipan. Took with a glass of champagne ata family christening – it felt like the good old days

Many moons ago, had toothache. So blagged two of the old dears Co-Codamols.

No clue what strength they were.

So off to the pub and had two whisky's.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeee !!

Did realise something was not right and stopped drinking. The thought of what i would have been like after 6 or so drinks is a bit scary.

So best not try it really.

So yesterday I decided not to take the last 2 doses of Co-Codamol, I just had the Diclofenac and a paracetamol, and did my usual friday night drinking. Feel OK this morning but the back still hurts.
Tonight I'll probably take the tablets and not have a drink so I'll be better for the Sunday morning ride.

I had a couple of 30/500 co-codamol then 4 pints of Fosters yesterday. I felt much more drunk than I should and went for a sleep. No other side effects other than becoming a lightweight.

alcohol + paracetamol = bad for liver.. I'll be surprised if they prescribe it for longer than 3 days..

I would go for not taking the paracetamol and drinking on the diclofenac.. nice buzz and not dangerous in these small doses..

the wally earlier in the thread spouting about damged stomach lining from diclofenac is a …..wally.. it might make you feel queezy cos it's an opiate but opiates are quite good for the tummy lining on the whole..

eat well.. and everything in moderation

I've had cocodamols and alcohol many many times, it never makes the slightest bit of difference to me (over just drinking) so I'm not convinced it makes much difference at all (other than possibly damaging your liver). That said, I was recently told that for my body mass (16stone) I should be taking approx 1.5x the normal stated dose of most tablets so maybe that's the reason it has little or no effect. And why I seem to need fairly hefty tablets to kill pain.

Well the wally knows a damn lot more than you. Diclofenic is not an opiate it's an NSAID which rot your stomach rather well. But would I know I'm only licensed to prescribe opiates and NSAID.

Ah I see a **** painter knows more about drugs than a medical processional. I let the jury decide who they want to splash some paint on the walls and who they want to look after them when seriously
Ill the wally or the I heard it down the pub guy.

Coffeking it may well not with you dihydrocodeine just gives me a warm glow. Most others I know it flattens, knocks them silly or they feel Ill. Codeine and alcohol really shouldn't be mixed at all.

Shall I ask my pharmacist wife 😉

Yup more clued than me on it Pennie but I bet painters know more.

yeh, good effort Yunki ! 🙄

mind, I'm not sure a "generally healthy" (he assumed) youngish person would have much of a risk of a GI bleed from a shortish course, even though diclofenac is a NSAID as drac said – or did you mean if he vomits enough on the opiate/beer to get a tear ?

As general rule he should be ok but as we know nothing of his medical history and it's plausible he may not know he has gastric problems it's best to play safe. Diclofenic is harsh stuff but one of the safer NSAIDs, long courses are given with a drug to help reduce the chance of problems. Taking NSAIDs with alcohol increases the risk of damaging the lining.

Anyway I'd also be asking if the pain is so bad that he can consider going out for a drink with his mates then does he need to take them on that day?

If if he thinks he needs something to take the edge of just a touch then paracetamol on a normal dose with alcohol should be ok but again with caution.