Funny thing .

[samtheoap]

Hi all after taking CocoDamol for several years now .

I have been prescribed the same pill the same strength 30-500 my.

In a different box different company but far stronger.

Anyone else the same ?

[Crusee]

Hi samtheoap

I too have been taking cocodamol 30/500 for several years and find them quite effective.However the last few months I have wondered is my pain getting worse or my tablets not working as well,but havent really done anything about it as its not been a major problem.

My last monthly prescription was due approx 6 weeks ago and when it was collected my usual solpadol were replaced with zapain. It was still the dose of 30/500 so it didnt raise an eyebrow but I did find them a little stronger than the solpadol in that they worked a lot quicker.

I put it down to just a slightly different tablet butbit was the same dose so couldn't see why it would be different.My latest prescription was collected about 2 weeks ago but I went back to solpadol.

So whichever one of those I was given I would be happy with.

Which ones have you been given?

Take care.

Crusee

XX

[samtheoap in reply to Crusee]

Hi Crusee my pills are CocoDamol 30.500 my.

They help but do not take all the pain away .

[Crusee in reply to samtheoap]

Hi I find the same,it helps ease the pain but doesnt always take it all away completely.It all depends where the pain is.

I have also been given liquid morphine (oromorph) which is effective but makes me very groggy and out of it.

I have only taken it on a couple of occassions when I have been desperate but only when my husband has been in the house with me.

Take care.

Crusee

XX

[oldman1952]

Hi Samtheoap, do not worry about the name of the medication you are taking. Because NICE restricts the types and what medication costs to the NHS. Sometimes a medical company has worked on a trial medication and researched it for many years before it ever gets to production and is available for human use. It costs them many millions of pounds but if the medication works well on a disease or is a cure for such a disease then they will milk it for every penny it has put into the drug. As for your question there are generic medications now and any company can make their own form of that drug. However there is very strict guidelines for them to produce a medication cheaper than another company. You say take Co-Codamol which is 30mg of Codeine phosphate and 500mg of paracetamol. They have these strict guidelines because there is never any difference between any strength of the same drug. GP's and other prescribers give you the same medication but under a different name. The most expensive one that you are taking is Kapak costs 5 times as much as any other because they made it first. They have a licence of probably 10 years to recoup their research costs back. The only way that you will get a drug that is stronger than the one that you were taking would be for the GP/Consultant to prescribe a higher dose. The name of a medication for example is Panadol, (Paracetamol) if I got a pound for every time that I have heard a patient say to me I like Panadol better because its the best on the market.

You will never get rid of pain completely because you would be deemed unconscious. We all have pain, it's the body's way of telling us that something is not quite right. You have to change your belief that the pain that you have is less than you really have. It sounds difficult but with the right person helping you, your half way there. Just remember analgesia cannot and will not take away all of your pain. Learning to do something else that will help to reduce the feeling of pain is the answer. Hope that clarifies most of your post. Take care Oldman1952.

[granny5]

Hi samtheoap

My co-codamol tablets are made by Zentiva but a couple of times I've been given co-codamol from a different company, which were in a bigger box and slightly larger tablet. But to tell you the truth I didn't take much notice if they worked better or worse as I'm in constant pain 24/7. I'll be keeping an eye on them in future though. The only thing I found with the different types were I found them harder to swallow.

But the one you find works better for you tell your doctor or the chemist to see if you can have them. They like everyone else like feedbacks

take care x

[Rusty8]

Hello the name of mine was tylex the same as cocodomol I had been taking it for years and was happy with it circumstances the doc had to give me something stronger ie longtec and shortec and paracetamol

It doesn't seem to be working unless I need to take stronger dose

I think one cocodomol is cheaper and two it has a different outside lol forgot the word I was looking for

Hope this helps

[oldman1952 in reply to Rusty8]

Hi all again, one medication that is stronger than Co-Codamol is Co-drydamadol it contains di-hydrocodeine and paracetamol. May be you have heard of DF118. The side effects or as I say the problems associated with taking such a pain relief tablet are quite minimal. Constipation being the main on. Its just a shame that in the 21st century we have been to the moon, get test tube babies but we still cannot control a persons pain. We are all made up of water, chemicals and sparks of electrical impulses so is the monies spent on high speed railways and the millennium dome not worth the research in to finding a lasting way to solve our pain crisis. Look at how much the Government and NHS would save. Thanks for listening Oldman1952