Anybody ever used Codiene for dental abscess pain?

Jules_Baxter · 13/04/15 - 00:22

Hi All

I've finally been put on antibiotics today after struggling for a few days to get an available dentist to treat a raging dental abscess I have, trouble is i'm still getting excruciating pain while the antibiotics kick in, I am desperate for sleep and ibuprofen and paracetamol are pretty useless.

We do have a box of codiene phosphates in the house that my partner was given after surgery on a broken leg, I have took one to see how it goes, has anybody else used them for dental pain?

d'@ve · 13/04/15 - 00:47

Check this out, but I am sure you can take two different kinds of pain killer alternately, each at its own recommended rate, without ill effects. For example, if the pain eases for a couple of hours but then kicks in hard before you can take the next 4-hourly dose, take say aspirin every 4 hours and then say paracetamol in between, also every 4 hours (so one or the other would be 2-hourly). Stick to the 24 hour maximum for each, obviously.

I did that to get me over the first night's sleep a few years ago, after seeking medical advice. You must obviously check this out for yourself, though, phone a night doctor or NHS Direct (if they still exist).

miss_astrid · 13/04/15 - 01:02

I must first stress that you really shouldn't be taking medication that hasn't been prescribed to you by a GP. It could interact with other drugs you are taking, you could have an allergic reaction, it could be past its use by date, loads of other things too! It can be quite dangerous.

That said, I have had dental abscess' in the past, gone to my GP, and been prescribed co-codamol (which is paracetamol & codeine). It worked well for me, but I was on the highest dose she could prescribe (I think it's 500mg paracetamol, 30mg codeine). It can make people drowsy, but I found that wasn't the case for me, cleared the pain up quite nicely.

REDBUS · 13/04/15 - 02:07

if you have codeine take them , forget paracetamol and ibuprofen for severe dental pain ,stonger the better

moonlily · 13/04/15 - 08:14

When I had dental pain the only thing that worked well for me was Syndol- it's just come back on the market so it may be worth giving it a try.

Jules_Baxter · 13/04/15 - 08:27

Thanks all for answering, the one codiene tablet I took did help me enormously actually, did make me feel ever so relaxed and kinda woosy so not sure about day time use but I am hoping the antibiotics will start to get topside of the infection soon.

Yeh I know it's risky taking other peoples meds, i've never done it before but even max strength ibuprofens and paracetamols were not touching it, I had to walk around my living room in circles for about an hour at midnight wondering what the hell to do about the agonising pain - they need to prescribe appropriate pain relief for abscess pain, it's incredibly debilitating!

Thanks for tip Moonlily, my dad used to swear by Syndol for his bad tension headaches years ago so I might get a packet rather than mess with codiene's - trouble is when the pain is really bad you get a bit frantic and willing to do anything to get relief!

Jules_Baxter · 13/04/15 - 08:29

In fact also asking my GP for co-codamol is also a good idea Miss Astrid :-)

zz9 · 13/04/15 - 23:25

Oil Of Cloves is available over the counter and will numb tooth pain away with just a bit rubbed onto the gums.

sadmuppet · 14/04/15 - 00:07

Jules_Baxter wrote: »

Thanks for tip Moonlily, my dad used to swear by Syndol for his bad tension headaches years ago so I might get a packet rather than mess with codiene's - trouble is when the pain is really bad you get a bit frantic and willing to do anything to get relief!

Problem is, Syndol is no longer formulated the same as it was - it is now missing doxylamine succinate, an antihistamine, which made if different to all the other painkillers - it is now just paracetamol,codeine and caffeine like a lot of the others...

Shame, as the old formula was great as a last resort when nothing else would kill a headache!

[Deleted User] · 14/04/15 - 00:17

Jules_Baxter wrote: »

Thanks all for answering, the one codiene tablet I took did help me enormously actually, did make me feel ever so relaxed and kinda woosy.

I had to walk around my living room in circles for about an hour at midnight wondering what the hell to do about the agonising pain - they need to prescribe appropriate pain relief for abscess pain, it's incredibly debilitating!

The codeine is converted to morphine by the liver, careful you don't take too much as it can be dangerous. ;-)

Dental pain is horrible, if you're desperate you should go to a dental hospital for immediate treatment. We have one in Newcastle, I haven't been yet but a relative has.

Jim_McIntosh · 14/04/15 - 00:31

I've taken codeine medications for a dental abscess before. It was one New Year and I don't think the dentist was available for a while so it was the next best thing.

Be careful though as it's easy to take a lot if the pain is niggling enough and lasts for a while and they can be addictive over a longer period. I had a 2-3 month spell of taking more and more, firstly for the tooth abscess and then just as a matter of course as they made me feel great, and it was quite difficult to stop although I had to eventually as I'd ran out of tablets.

I'm prone to addiction though.

EbonyHamster · 14/04/15 - 00:54

The only thing that helps me with dental trouble is soluble aspirin and a hot wheat pack on my face

Jules_Baxter · 14/04/15 - 07:35

I'm already thinking about relocating for work reasons and it would be nice to move to somewhere that has a dental hospital or at least some dentists signing up NHS patients - at the moment the nearest available dentist is 25 min drive away which may not be a nice experience if god forbid I had to drive in agony with an abscess again!

Thankfully things improved a lot yesterday, I just suffer from really bad sensitivity around the teeth and gums to air but I drink soluble paracetamols and these do the trick - I'm relieved not to have taken another codiene because they were weird to a degree, I clearly felt my heart rate suddenly drop and my breathing get shallower when it kicked in, it seemed to make my body twitch every now again :-O The relief was nice but they did feel dangerous!

Sadly i'm allergic to aspirins these days so can't add them to my arsenal :-)

allaboard · 14/04/15 - 08:18

Hi. I have had a few dental abcesses and I have always made an appointment with my Gp to obtain a script for codine. It is the only thing that works. Paracetamol and bufren will not touch it.

JulesF · 14/04/15 - 12:17

d'@ve wrote: »

Check this out, but I am sure you can take two different kinds of pain killer alternately, each at its own recommended rate, without ill effects. For example, if the pain eases for a couple of hours but then kicks in hard before you can take the next 4-hourly dose, take say aspirin every 4 hours and then say paracetamol in between, also every 4 hours (so one or the other would be 2-hourly). Stick to the 24 hour maximum for each, obviously.

I did that to get me over the first night's sleep a few years ago, after seeking medical advice. You must obviously check this out for yourself, though, phone a night doctor or NHS Direct (if they still exist).

Obviously the OP should check it out for himself, as you say, but I've been told by doctors/dentists to do exactly this (alternate aspirin and paracetamol every two hours) on several occasions - when I've had tonsilitis and once when I had a wisdom tooth out.

Edit: Oops, sorry, OP, I missed your post saying you can't take aspirin.

Glad you are feeling a bit better!

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