Codeine : The Not So Phantom Menace

Lets be clear on this, codeine has one purpose, that is "To Make Squillions of Dollars For Big Pharma" Yes, I know, it also has the secondary facility to relieve pain, from mild to severe, and it is often prescribed as part of a mix in treatment of chronic pain and acute pain. Me? I have been prescribed and have ingested thousands of Panadeine Forte since about 2004. I am constantly under attack from the forces of staggering, knock you down pain and other stuff since about 2000. I went cold turkey and gave up opiods a few years ago and stayed away from them for two years or so, then, I took them up again as a support through my continued battle with the dark forces of multiple health issues, most of which involve, as per right now, lots of pain, all the time. My usage got back up to about 6 Panadeine forte per day every day. I made a conscious and seriously brave decision to give up, and having tapered down rapidly, about 3 days ago I took my last codeine based pill. Of course the full pack arrived straight away, all over body and head pain, murderous dreams, runny nose ( ids nod fuddy !!), permanent yawning, dragging round half dead, blah blah blah. I should mention that I also had a killer brush with stevens Johnson syndrome after using gout pill allapurinol, and since then my blood pressure has been off the planet, thus beating up my kidneys. HOWEVER !!, The worst thing about codeine, it is fiercely addictive, and apst from the physical crap that goes with giving up, the emotional and mental processes can be screwed for years, and addiction may recur. Pity those people who have slide into heavy codeine use intitially for "recreational" reasons. The reason for this post is to say, If I can get off this, so can thousands of others !! I will post regularly, stick with me !! the journey resumes. Cheers, Tony