Codeine and Drowsiness: What Users Say

• CW5...
• March 6, 2016

For Diarrhea "3 bowel resections due to Crohn's disease. I now have short bowel syndrome with chronic diarrhea. I have tried every anti-diarrheal drug there is, and the only one that has helped is codeine. I consider it a wonder drug for my condition, enabling me to lead a mostly normal life. I have taken the same amount every day for 6 years. I don't feel 'high', but do feel slightly drowsy occasionally. I did have a period of 8 months where I stopped taking it, and while I did have some physical symptoms (not mental) in stopping, they were not too bad. The symptom relief I had on the drug far outweighed the negatives. I continue to take it, and it makes my life easier."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 24, 2013

For Pain "Had 4 wisdom teeth taken out this morning at 8:30 a.m. My dentist prescribed some codeine for the pain. Having never taken codeine before, and the label reading to take 1 or 2 pills for pain, I decided to take 2 around 12:30 p.m. WOW, these things take all of the pain away, alright, however, for about 1 - 2 hours, they made me very drowsy, out of it, and I couldn't look at anything with a screen without it being blurry or me feeling dizzy. I was literally glued to my seat. Thought I was going to throw up at one point too. Should probably only be used for chronic, unbearable pain, otherwise, it is not worth the side effects. Still feeling a little woozy now at 10:00 p.m. Will stick to the softer stuff because it seems like I am really sensitive to it."

• ros...
• January 17, 2016

For Pain "Fantastic would be suffering without! I take co-codamol 30/500 for toothache that I'm getting work on and having to wait a while for referral to go through. But this really does make the pain vanish in about 10 minutes! Only downside is it can make you feel very drowsy and very slight stomach ache, but I take it to help me sleep as that's when the pain is at its worst, and it does help you sleep. Also causes constipation, and the pain-free moments only last a few hours."

• Anonymous
• August 25, 2010

For Pain "'Graduated' to codeine after finding paracetamol and aspirin were not doing it for my foot (varicose) ulcer pain. Helpful in small doses, but I was surprised at the level of drowsiness it caused, even when off the drug for more than 24 hours. Also, eating lots of fruit is helping to alleviate some of the constipation I was warned about."

• dam...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 16, 2013

For Pain "After morphine, this would probably be the best pain reliever I know of. I have never had any dizziness, blurred vision, or sleepiness, but that's probably just me. Fantastic for wisdom teeth also."

• Tam...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 6, 2018

For Pain "Moderate pain reliever. Causes dizziness and sleepiness and also worsens my mood. I get more irritable when I take it."

• Pet...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• January 24, 2022

For Pain "Very good medication, I take 30 to 60 mg during tooth pain, and it helps massively. This saved me from long ER visits. Medication also has a sedative effect."