“I hid it well, and didn’t really speak out much about the problems I was having with the medication”
A recovering Belfast man has warned of the dangers of the often hidden addiction to over-the-counter medication.
Michael Main said at one stage he went down to just four stone in weight and had to have an operation for a perforated ulcer and needed multiple blood transfusions. He said he started taking ibuprofen and codeine products around 12 years ago for pains in his legs and migraines.
“As time went by, I was using them more to the point where it was starting to become an addiction,” he told Press Association.
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“It takes a while to realise that it is becoming a problem, from spending a lot of time in hospital, you start to realise the extent of what is happening. I had to go for an operation for a perforated ulcer, and had to get part of my bowel removed. In between that period, I needed four or five blood transfusions dueto my haemoglobin levels being so low.”
Mr Main said he kept what was happening secret from most in his life.
“I think the only person who knew was my partner at the time, and family found out later. I hid it well, and didn’t really speak out much about the problems I was having with the medication.”
Mr Main sought help earlier this year from the Belfast Trust’s Addiction Services.
“I was very cautious at the start, and very worried that it wasn’t going to work,” he said.
“I was in fear for my life at the time because I was so thin, but thankfully, the treatment has been brilliant. I started the treatment about four months ago, and it has been great. My life has completely turned around.
“Anyone who is suffering, the best thing you can do is speak out and seek help, definitely.”
Senior psychiatrist Dr Joy Watson said over-the-counter drugs is more of a hidden addiction.
“It’s maybe not the typical addiction such as alcohol, and we’re focusing on this to make sure people are aware when buying codeine products over the counter,” she said.
“It might be codeine combined with paracetamol, or codeine combined with ibuprofen. In the short term, these things are good for helping pain, they have their role, but they can become an addiction.
“You can be returning to the pharmacy more often to get these medications, maybe taking them for reasons other than pain, like to cope with emotion, to cope with past trauma and then you’re having to use more and more every day.”
Dr Watson said some are taking 60 up to 100 tablets a day, and shopping around different pharmacies to secure that many.
“If you’re taking that many of those in a day, you’re going to have serious health consequences. We have seen things like severe liver disease, severe kidney disease, really severe gastrointestinal disease and it can end in death,” she said.
“This is maybe a hidden addiction, and we’re trying to make people aware of it. It is maybe easier to hide, and also to convince yourself that it is ok, and that you need this medication. But no one should need those types of medications for longer than a few days, and especially if you’re feeling unwell if you don’t take them.
“If people notice that, they should come forward to get help because the treatment can really help, and break that cycle of addiction.”
Katherine Kidd of Community Pharmacy NI urged anyone with concerns to speak to a pharmacist for advice.
“They’re highly trained health care professionals, they’re accessible and they’re medicine experts,” she said.
“I would encourage anyone who has a concern about taking a medicine that they’ve purchased over the counter, or anyone who is considering taking a medicine for the first time, to speak to their pharmacist first.
“They will have a private area where they can speak to you without anyone else overhearing. That’s what they’re there for, to provide advice on the safe and appropriate use of medicines.”
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