Overview

• People whose pain continues after short-term use are advised to speak to a pharmacist or GP rather than keep taking the medicine.
• The NHS highlights risks from prolonged codeine use, including tolerance, increased pain sensitivity (hyperalgesia), and potential addiction.
• For ongoing treatment, clinicians may review dosing and set out how and when to stop, with severe or cancer pain monitored closely.
• Low‑strength co‑codamol is sold without a prescription in UK pharmacies, and the drug is widely used with tens of millions of prescriptions each year and 650,000 dispensed by pharmacists alone.
• The advisory notes that codeine products face tighter controls abroad, with co‑codamol unavailable over the counter in the United States and similarly restricted in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and parts of Europe.