Packets of Nurofen Plus are being consumed daily by an increasing number of people addicted to painkillers, according to the clinical director of the country’s largest private addiction rehabilitation clinic, who says withdrawal symptoms for Nurofen Plus are similar to what heroin addicts experience.
Fiona Weldon, clinical director of the Rutland Centre, said they had seen a 6% rise in the number of people seeking treatment for difficulties with pain medication in recent years.
"Five years ago, about 1% of our clients were being treated for addiction to pain medication. Now, that figure is closer to 7%," Dr Weldon said.
Addiction to Nurofen Plus had shown a "massive" increase, she said, and was the leading over-the-counter medicine with which people were presenting with addiction. It had reached a point in some cases where children were hiding tablets from parents.
"A lot of people we are seeing are using three to four packets a day, that’s between 80 and 100 tablets. There are children going around trying to hide their parents’ tablets, assuming the role of parental responsibility," Dr Weldon said.
Oxycontin was the main prescribed painkiller where the number seeking treatment for addiction was increasing, particularly members of the medical community, she said.
The opiate-based habit- forming drug is used for pain relief, principally in hospital settings and pain management clinics.
Dr Weldon said some of their patients were so addicted to painkillers they had to undergo detox as hospital inpatients before attending the Rutland Centre for treatment.
Nurofen Plus, like heroin, contains codeine. Too much codeine could, in the long-term, cause gastro-intestinal problems such as internal bleeding, or affect cognitive functions, such as memory, she said.
People who attend the Rutland Centre for treatment take part in therapy sessions to gain an insight into their addiction and are often in denial about it, Dr Weldon said.
Pathways into this type of addiction included being treated for an injury over a period so that addiction crept in over time or, it could occur in a high-stress environment such as a hospital, where painkillers are readily available.
Source: Catherine Shanahan, Irish Examiner, 12/11/12
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