Warning: OTC painkillers can be addictive

The Telegraph reports that OTC painkillers can cause addiction within as little as three days. Many thousands of people have become addicted to them. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is requiring that from next year labels on packets will read: “Can cause addiction. For three days use only”.

The painkillers involved contain codeine, and include Nurofen Plus and Solpadeine Plus. They will no longer be able to claim that they are a remedy for coughs and colds, only that they relieve pain. Some addicts, incredibly, have been taking up to 70 pills a day, putting themselves at risk of seriously damaging their health with complications such as stomach bleeding, liver problems, gallstones and depression.

It is important with pharmaceutical drugs not to exceed the stated dose, and even then painkillers are not without risk of doing you harm, quite apart from the risk of addiction.

If you would prefer not to use drugs to help with your pain, or if, like me, you find painkillers do not help with pain anyway, a drug-free way of reducing many types of chronic pain is to cut down on salt and salty food. - Why not give this a try? - Unlike drugs, it is completely safe to cut down on salt, or even to avoid added salt altogether.