Co-proxamol
Posted: Mon 31 January, 2005 Filed under: Health 868 Comments »Interesting to see today that the painkiller co-proxamol is to be scrapped. Apparently it’s been linked with up to 400 deaths per year and a study found it was the second biggest method of drug-related suicide in the UK, accounting for almost one in five deaths.
I’ve used co-proxamol before, and I can see why it’s easy to overdose on, either intentionally or accidentally. It’s a seriously heavy gun in the world of painkillers, and while it’s sad to see something so effective be withdrawn from the market, I can understand the reasons why it’s necessary to do so.
MY LIFE HAS CHANGED AFTER LOOSING THE PILL I SUFFER WITH PAIN ALLTHE TIME KNOW I COULD DO WITH HELP IN FINDING A PLACE TO BUY THEM.
i buy mine from offshore pharma hope this helps people.It goes by the name of darvin it’s exactly the same.
I can discern a very clear pattern here – one of dismal medical incompetence and a blinkered refusal to listen to coherent and consistent patient feedback. If Franz Kafka had lived longer the medical profession would have provided him with material for another iconic novel.
As a preliminary remark, I should state that I take medicines with great reluctance. The human body is a finely tuned machine and, while it can be resilient, it is not invulnerable and can be damaged by artificial substances, whether they be junk food, additives, recreational drugs or medicines.
However, 12 years ago I suffered an injury in the back/shoulder area while playing tennis. I had my arm outstretched to hit the ball, and my body was also rotating, so that I could get more power. Something just gave. Physiotherapy helped to some degree, but the doctors had to keep me on co-proxamol long term. I have taken it, not constantly, but regularly, since then.
It is a very effective painkiller and is particularly good at easing severe headaches caused by injuries further down the spine which transmit pain upwards. The claim that paracetamol is equally effective is unquestionably incorrect and almost absurd. This is an attempt by the medical profession to justify their decision to withdraw the drug. A qualified survey analyst ought to go through any studies which claim to demonstrate this statement: I suspect that flaws will be found in the methodology or the calculations.
The argument that co-proxamol can be used for suicide is redundant given that one can buy 100 500mg paracetamol tablets over the counter, whereas one needs a prescription for co-proxamol tablets, which contain only 325mg of paracetamol. (Ten 500mg paracetamol tablets will kill you if taken at once.)
I noticed that, with regard to the latter point, doctors went through a phase of saying that the 325mg of paracetamol plus the dextropropoxyphene were just as dangerous as the 500mg of paracetamol – before realising that this cast something of a shadow over their claim that paracetamol and co-proxamol were ‘equally effective’ as painkillers. The mask slipped for a second there.
I have stopped taking co-proxamol on a number of occasions. There are withdrawal symptoms: in my case, as I did not take the maximum dose, I just felt a bit odd for a few days, but I can imagine that it might be worse for someone taking 8 tablets per day. Do not stop suddenly.
The alternatives to co-proxamol look particularly unappealing.
I would support any reasonable action to have this ban reversed.
I was just doing a bit of research and stumbled across this site and got quite confused by the more recent comments…
I still get Co-Prox on repeat from my GP – 100 at a time. Admittedly, the dispensary there doesn’t stock it, but a 5 min drive to any of the local pharmacies and I get the script filled – every time.
Many doctors will still prescribe the drug, you just have to source it yourself, but for most, that’s no different to normal. If your doctor doesn’t or won’t, change to another. According to the new Primary Care contracts, you don’t actually have a GP, but a practice, so you actually choose whoever you want (no-matter what the Doberman of a receptionist may tell you).
Hope this is of use.
i want to thank the lady josie for saying about offshore its true and darvin is co proxamol dextropropoxyphene 32.5 paracetamol 325
I would just like to say… My mum who has just turned 80 has suffered the last two years without Co-Proxamol. She suffers with severe arthritis in the hip, knee and feet, paracetamol do absolutely nothing for her.
My mum used to be able to walk to the local shops, take a bus trip into town and back once a week and engage in a little local charity work and it was all down to this miracle painkiller Co-Proxamol…. Now my mum can’t walk from one room to another without crippling pain.
She is too scared (and probably too old and ill) to ask to be considered for hip and knee replacements, as she feels there is a risk of contracting MRSA which has taken some of her close friends.
Worse still, my mother as been diagnosed has having DVT (Deep Vain Thrombosis), a blood clot on the leg and has been told that a lack of exercise is a contributory factor…..now I wonder how that has come about????!!!!!
My mother has to endure daily injections and weekly hospital appointments to get the clot broken down and her doctor says “ you know you really need to exercise more and walk about to prevent this happening again†the t**t.
My mother is deeply depressed, she no longer wants to go out anywhere, even in a wheelchair.
Less importantly, my life has been destroyed, I work full time, I have to be up extra early to make breakfast for my mum and make sure she is ok before I leave for work. I have to phone to make sure she makes herself something to eat at lunch and I cook tea when I return home. I have to give her an injection and make sure she takes the tablets prescribed for the DVT. On top of this I now do all the cooking, washing ironing, cleaning and shopping.
My work is effected, I have had to take time off to take my mother on hospital visits.
My own health is now suffering, I’m depressed my hair is falling out (alopecia).
Tony Blair……your government has got a lot to answer for!
Come to think of it, if Co-Proxamol was the second highest drug at 18% used by people to commit suidcide, how come tricyclic antidepressants at 22% have not been banned also?
It appears the greatest misuse of Co-Prox was amongst 18 to 24 yr olds, I have to ask what symptoms were these young people dislaying to their GP’s in order to obtain them, assuming they were prescribed and not taken or stolen from relatives?
Still getting regular script’s. As everybody else say’s there is no substitute and I have tried them all(burp!!) excuse me.
Following surgery to my lower jaw in 1980 which left me with nerve damage causing excruitiating pain in my lower face and teeth – I had been taking co-proxamol for 25 years – every day without a break – prior to its withdrawal with no bad side-effects or any problems whatsoever. My GP just stopped prescribing it overnight – no gradual withdrawal either – just a letter in the post saying NO MORE and a prescription for co-codamol! I suffered 6 months of horrific withdrawal symptoms that I would not wish on my worst enemy and was very unwell, coupled with endless attempts to find an alternative – co-codamol, co-dydramol, I tried them all but none of them worked. I also tried acupuncture, hypnosis, spiritual healing, and just about every other method of pain control known to man! Finally, my GP gave me Tramadol which I am currently taking at the rate of 8 tablets a day. I hate them because they leave me in a permanent drugged state and make me want to sleep most of the time. I have lost my job and cant work now as I am rarely without pain and the Tramadol just leave me lifeless, feeling unwell and unable to function properly. I am scared to go back to my GP to tell her this, because these tablets are the closest thing I have found to co-proxamol. I would be interested to hear any other folks experiences with Tramadol. I do not find them as effective at relieving pain as co-proxamol and I have to take them with 2 paracetamol each time to get the required amount of pain relief I need (which is what the GP suggested) – which means I am now taking 16 tablets a day! Co-proxamol gave me my life back after the surgery and enabled me to work and enjoy life again and continue in my career. I have tried to obtain them from overseas but all the pharmacies abroad that I have contacted via the internet have told me that they can no longer supply it to the UK as the Government has put a stop on it! The OFFSHORE pharmacy spoken of in an earlier post has a statement on their website which says WE DO NOT SHIP TO THE UK – so I am wondering how other folks have got them?I would LOVE to know of anywhere where I can obtain this drug – better still – I just hope and pray that this idiotic decision to withdraw it is eventually over-turned so that I and many others like me, can live again!
Following my earlier post – I thought I would add that my GP also told me that although some GP’s may still be prescribing co-proxamol at the moment, even though they have been asked not to do so – they actually will not be able to do so after the end of 2007 because there is a cut-off date following the withdrawal when remaining stocks will be destroyed and they will no longer be manufactured and will then be unobtainable. So eventually, even those few lucky folks who have managed to get a continuing supply from understanding GP’s will be left without them. Its just a matter of time it seems and the clock is ticking…
I have taken co-prox for twenty years and my pain is now increasing since i have been prescribed paracetamol is there a substitue other than this.It makes you wonder that if dr david kelly had not committed suicide ( if you believe that you believe in fairies)would it now be banned. All enquires to tony blair 10 downing st,
What a wonderful series of letters.Virtually every comment of pain,side effects from other useless alternatives,selfish authorities who feel no pain,insincerity for reasons to ban,I have experienced.Sadly I now will turn to any available means to obtain distalgesic.Add a new criminal to your list of unhappy people under your period in office Mr Blair!!
my brother got killed by lorry js b4 my daughter was born 21 yrs ago docter put me on sleeping tablets was so drowsy fell down every stair in my home damaging the whole of my spine enter co proxamal 4 21 years they have been a godsend ive bought up my daughter an lived a relativly good life now same as all letters ive read having to argue with docter to get them didnt know david kelly toook his own life with co prox thats y theyre stoppiin it there must be some thing we can do come on we are stronger than this goverment
oh cathy here again i am allso on diazepan theyev never threatened to take them away would they if kelly tookhis life on them i wonder
I have been on co-prox for about 5 years and it is the only pain killer that works! if a SMALL percentage of people kill themselves acidentally thats a great shame of course obviously they shouldnt give them to the elderly unsupervised and i suppose the government think they will save money with an alternative but they help people function go to work earn a living and clean the *****y house i really feel i have to go sick every so often to rest my aching muscles but the feeling doesnt last . PLEASE N.I.C.E. RECONSIDER for the sanity of all these people before they all comit suicide! and if its at all possible these comments should be sent SOMEWHERE.
i live in the US and am not familiar with this drug. is there anything similar anyone knows of here? i am sorry this is being taken away. undertreated pain is a huge problem everywhere it seems.
HI ALL I GET DISTALGESIC FROM http://WWW.PHARMA2U.COM ITS A UK SITE BUT THEY ARE SHIPPED FROM CYPRUS AT £35 FOR 100 TABS HOPE THIS HELPS YOU
Coproxamol, Coming of the Market. Fly To MALTA they have a shit load of them. I Thank You.
My doctor has refused to help me as a named patient for co-proxamol. So I have written to Alan Johnson, my MP, various PCT’s and my consultant and all cannot help. This whole situation is a joke! I have severe bladder pain, asthma and allergies to drugs. Co-prox is my only option but still no-one will help me. The government just doesn’t want to be bothered with people like us who are in constant pain – it is an utter disgrace that we are having to source medication from abroad just to maintain a reasonable standard of life!!!
Co-proximol is the only tablet I can take that relieves my long-term back pain. Before this, I tried many other analgesics, which adversely conflicted with other medication and gave me intolerable symptoms. Co-proximol is the only medication I can take to give me some relief from a condition that will never give me total relief. With this medication I am able to have some quality of life, since taking this for the last eight years I am able to work part-time, I am able to sleep with reasonable comfort and it does not react with my other medication. Other painkillers have been unable to give relief from muscle spasms and have made me sick or caused other problems.
My G.P is dismayed and gives me full support with protest to the ban on this drug. He has many patients who are unable to take anything else and as a result of this discontinuation will cause them huge distress and cause massive disruption to their lives. Many charities are opposed to this ban criticising the move as leaving patients with very few options of effective pain relief ( *2). There are many web sites highlighting the effects on individual patients no longer being allowed this drug (*3). I strongly believe along with many others that this withdrawal needs to be halted. I feel my needs are being dismissed without respect to my own individual preferences of medical treatment.
If this drug is to be withdrawn I am not sure how I will be able to function as well as I do now. I now look at the future with great uncertainty. I hope you can help me make this more of a public issue, I have contacted my M.P who is also supporting me with this. If you wish to discuss this further please contact me.
Co-proximol is the only tablet I can take that relieves my long-term back pain. Before this, I tried many other analgesics, which adversely conflicted with other medication and gave me intolerable symptoms. Co-proximol is the only medication I can take to give me some relief from a condition that will never give me total relief. With this medication I am able to have some quality of life, since taking this for the last eight years I am able to work part-time, I am able to sleep with reasonable comfort and it does not react with my other medication. Other painkillers have been unable to give relief from muscle spasms and have made me sick or caused other problems.
My G.P is dismayed and gives me full support with protest to the ban on this drug. He has many patients who are unable to take anything else and as a result of this discontinuation will cause them huge distress and cause massive disruption to their lives. Many charities are opposed to this ban criticising the move as leaving patients with very few options of effective pain relief ( *2). There are many web sites highlighting the effects on individual patients no longer being allowed this drug (*3). I strongly believe along with many others that this withdrawal needs to be halted. I feel my needs are being dismissed without respect to my own individual preferences of medical treatment.
If this drug is to be withdrawn I am not sure how I will be able to function as well as I do now. I now look at the future with great uncertainty. I hope you can help me make this more of a public issue, I have contacted my M.P who is also supporting me with this. If you wish to discuss this further please contact me.
Bring back this effective & popular painkiler and overturn such a barbaric & outdated ban. With a Goverment like this,who needs enemies.Typical of a nanny state. These polititians have no idea how ordinry people live. Let the people of Great Britain have their say,and come election time the Labour Govt will find out they no longer run this country.
i have been taking co-prox for 15 years and still get them from doc
We really do need a source of this very effective pain killer if our all knowing nanny state is to really make it difficult or impossible to get. Alcohol and tobacco and many other “drugs” cause far more damage and ill health – not to say deaths – but this seems not to be a problem. I guess trying to ban both would cause more fuss than Sarkosy is at the moment.
I get almost instant relief from just one tablet (cannot risk taking two any more as I will eventually run out) that doesnt happen with NSAIDs and smarties are more effective than paracetamol.
Help.
I’ve been taking co-proxamol for about eighteen months on and off – more regularly lately for arthritic pain, aching and stiffness in both hips,and in the buttocks when I lie down – a real pain in the a*.
A couple of months ago I was refused them and prescribed paracetemol instaed. I was not happy. I demanded co-prox from my usual Doctor and he gave way, despite warnings that the supply was finite. I am now down to my last fifty tablets – I ‘do’ about five a day. I hope to get more next week, we shall see. Tramadol made me feel very down, and anxious I had several dreadful dreams & was only on them for three weeks! The codeine based p/k’s bung me up bowel wise.
I cannopt believe there is not a huge campaign to turn around this ridiculous impending ban on a painkiller that helps so many unfortunate people.
Ive tried for over a year to get co proxamol for over a year on the internet every where says you cant get them bet tonight I struck lucky after reading a comment on a previous user Ive been on them for prob 15 years and havent had any for 7 months I suffer with headaches and these help me a lot but I must admit I was proper addicted I must be mad ordering them on line when I been of them for so long I had my own business and in a interview I used to ask “If you had a headache what tablet do you take” ha isnt that bad. We need a help group something like a AA. There is no other tablet that takes the pressure away like 2 co proxamols and a glass of water aaahhh. I can feel it now.
I wonder if anyone has dine a study on how many people will be suicidal WITHOUT Co proxamol. Taking people off their meds without suitable replacements means they are actively causing pain for people.
People with persitent pain and no hope of relief have been know to suicide.
This group should lay down a challenge to the researchers to find out how many people they are killing by withdrawing the drug. They know how many died with it. They don’t know how many die without it.
By using the original research without thinking it through they show their true ingnorance.
Is it still available overseas?
If so buy not buy it on line.
I am gutted by this political interference.
I have been using co-proxamol for the last 15 years after three hip replacements and an arthritic spine it has allowed me to live a reasonably normal life. If the government is worried about involuntary deaths through accidental overdose why on earth doesn’t it address the packaging of the tablets which come in tens, and can lead to easy confusion as to the number that have been taken. Add my voice to the protest against this ” nanny” government which should allow doctors to prescribe the appropriate medication for their patients.
Hi, can anyone tell me if they have been successfull with http://www.pharma2u.com (ie-Daniel Giles) Please let me know, cause I’m having a bit of hassle!!
I have Fibromyalgia and have taken co-prox for 18 years,my Doc is very supportive and tests my blood every 6 months,so far no side effects! He warned about this and sent me to the local pain clinic to see if anything else worked,It was a bloody nightmare, I felt really ill and in a lot of pain.Tramadol made me feel suicidal! I live in channel isles and they are phasing them out end of 2008,I don’t know what I am going to do, they enable me to work.I could go on long term sick but then the states would have to keep me and where’s the dignity in that ? Is there nothing we can do?
i do not know what i am going to do with out them i just not be able to go to work without co proxamal
Disreguard my last posting about PHARMA2U, MY TABLETS ARRIVED! A good service if anyone is interested?
HI TRICIA HOPE IT HAS HELPED YOU ALL THE BEST
u can buy co-proxamol online at ActiveAnabolic.
[Edited by Lyle : Put in correct site link.
Note : I’m not responsible for links like this one – if you use it and get ripped off, don’t come crying to me]
To Tricia.Pharma2u.com provide a good service to chronic pain sufferers,they do have a problem though with delivering items late and an unhelpful admin department as you will see yourself.
yes sarah, I am experiencing some delivery probs!! But the woman seems quite helpful so far, she reckons to order early to allow for any slip-ups!! So, heres hoping! I would advise people to avoid that ActiveAnabolic web site, they sent me something called Paravon that is supposed to be co proxamol and they look nothing like them….huge red/pink capsuals! And they dont respond to any e-mails after they get your money!!
I have been ploughing on ‘happily’ as a “named patient” through 2006/7 but now there is a total stop. Disaster. Does anyone know if the offshores can still supply in 2008 & onward?
My mother has Lupus and has been on coproxamol for 10 years. It is the only drug that has successfuly addressed many of her symptoms. She is always extremely ill and depressed on the alternatives that she has been prescribed. Is anyone aware of a coordinated campaign to get Coproxamol reinstated? I couldn’t agree more with Ralph on the affects on people who have no alternative and how many suicides will result from the withdrawal of this drug. This is a farcical policy enforced by individuals who seem to be detached from the reality of how many people, with a wide variety of problems, this drug enables to lead something approaching a normal life.
I believe that GPs can still perscribe co-proxamol as long as they tell you that it is now no longer on lincence. However, getting them to do this might be problematic as the cost of the drug has rocketed. They can give a private perscription which will cost about £25 per 100 (which, if this figure is correct, is £10 cheaper than Pharma2u who, incidentally have given me excellent service).
As someone who can’t take any other painkiller for various reasons, co-proxamol is so important. I wish there was some way to campaign effectively…
went to docters today an no co proxamal rang arthiritus care who were very helpful goin bk will let u all know how i got on if anyone wants there web address feel free to ask
reading everyones’ postings touches me – so much pain, so many courageous people, so much anger, justifiable anger. Like many, I’ve badgered my GPS and managed to find the one in the practice who would prescribe co proxamol – until very recently when everything changed. He’s now on holiday for two weeks and I can’t see him to discover if he’s going to authorise the cost or not, now they are so expensive to supply. I gather from the pharmacy that the cost is shared between the GP practise and the PCT. It’s not going to be an easy 2 weeks to wait. As a back up I’ve put an order in with http://www.Pharma2u.com but at £35 for a hundred and needing 8 a day, it’s another stress on a budget that is so reduced as I am no longer well enough to work because of pain. I had to fight hard to get disability living allowance recently, and the thought of going through another battle on my own is just crushing. Surely this is against our human rights? Does anyone know what the EU has to say about this? Pharma2u is in the EU, in Cyprus. I would like to join any pressure group. Best wishes to all fellow sufferers
PARAVON are generic Co-Prox (DEXTROPROPOXYPHENE HYDROCHLORIDE 32mg
PARACETAMOL – 350mg)from Activeanabolic.com
I`m still getting Co-Prox from my local chemist, with a private prescription, but they now cost £30.00 per 100 (they were £4.60 per 100 last time!)
pharma2u.com suck.they dont keep their promise on delivery times and you have to chase them for information.p.s. who the hell is jane smith anyway?sounds a bit dodgey to me,i wonder if mr.smith knows wot shes up 2.lol.
As co-proxamol became an illegal drug from Jan 1st, i think customs will not be allowing them through if your order is stopped at customs from the the offshores. I have not had a problem before, its now possible that it will get confiscated and a legal letter. My last order is now over a week late,
that has not happened since 2006.
hello chris. has your order arrived yet ? just to let you know there not banned there just a very restricted drug
Hi marko, thanks for your comments, no the order has not arrived yet, will ask for reship if not here by Fri. I am sure Customs have this one, will let you know, i assume you have to take the same route
as me.
hi again chris if costoms got it it should still be released to you the same happened to me and i got a reship and both orders arrived on diffrent days fingers crossed all the best.
I’ve only just found this site having supported my Mum who’s as cross as most of the people here. Usual story, nothing else works on the pain. She’s just been through horrendous withdrawal having tried Tramaset.
Just thought I’d mention the Prime minister’s petition line http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/coproxamol/
It stops on Thursday 28 Feb but I reckon it’s worth having a go. We could really do with a huge campaign but arthritis care haven’t even bothered to reply to me after 2 weeks. Wish I’d found this site sooner!
hi marko and anyone else who might have an interest, no sign of my order after nearly 4weeks.Offshore will reship, and nothing received from customs. anyone else now having problems?
Good news. It’s worth plaguing your doctor! My mum’s dr has reinstated her co-proxamol on a named patient basis. If she’s doing it then others can. Fight on!