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.