David Jo Bradley: ART MART

David Jo Bradley: ART MART
ART MART runs Sep 20th to 26th, Spectrum Gallery Mount Lawley

Codeine, Pt. II

shattering the myth of powerful compulsion


I, on the other hand, have never had any problem with necking pills. Initially I scoffed the heady codeine/ paracetamol concoction at a stupidly high rate. That first a day I downed a total of 12 pills, and averaged another 10 a day for the next three after that without ever considering the risks: I was too busy floating in a blissful stupor to think about what such a large amount of pharmaceuticals could do to the human body.

Finally, on a quiet Saturday night kicking around the house, I did the maths and realised I was not only putting nearly 2 grams of codeine into my body but also six grams of paracetamol. Realising that that was a pretty damn big dose to be taking every 24 hours, I read up on the toxicity limits for paracetamol overdose. I found I was taking just over the required dosage to shut down a human liver. This knowledge frightened the hell out of me, and I spent the next two days too afraid to sleep for fear I’d never wake up again. The first night was pure terror; too dumb with downers to focus my thoughts, too scared of death risk sleep. Instead I lay on my futon mattress, staring at the ceiling and nervously picking at my nose. At one point it started bleeding, and my drug clouded mind convinced me this was a side effect of a haemorrhaging brain. Suffice to say that after that scare I swore off gobbling drugs I knew little about.

My initial near overdose kept me opiate for about a week before reassessing the situation and deciding it was a good idea to take four to six pills, because that was probably a safer amount to be eating on a daily basis. From there on in it was clean sailing, days washed in and out of one another in pleasant confusion, and I had found a new best friend...


djb.

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