HUNTER health workers are treating up to 10 people a week for addiction to over-the-counter codeine tablets such as Nurofen Plus and Panadeine.
Addicts are trawling Hunter pharmacies, buying scores of boxes and taking up to 100 tablets a day, risking potentially fatal medical problems including perforated gastric ulcers and kidney failure.
Hunter addiction medicine specialist Dr Craig Sadler said the problem was more widespread than most people realised.
According to research published in the Medical Journal of Australia, misuse of over-the-counter analgesics is the "third-most common category of substance abuse in Australia after cannabis and ecstasy", with more than half a million Australians hooked.
Dr Sadler said there had been a marked increase in the number of Hunter people seeking treatment, possibly because of a nationwide crackdown three months ago on the way codeine tablets were sold.
He said many users were forced to go through detox programs and ended up on methadone in an effort to break their addiction.
"There does appear to be an increase in the number of presentations," he said.
"Codeine is an opioid, not as strong as morphine, but it is in the same class of drug . . . and while withdrawal from it is not dangerous it is very unpleasant and usually requires medical intervention."
A Coalfields mother of three, who spoke to the Newcastle Herald on condition of anonymity, described how her life spiralled out of control after she started taking Nurofen Plus to manage back pain.
She battled her addiction for three years and became suicidal.
"I started out taking the recommended dosage but as the tablets wore off I started to take more and more to dull the pain," she said.
"In the end I couldn't get through the day without taking up to 100 pills. I was swallowing 10 each time and just kept taking more."
The woman ended up in hospital with life-threatening stomach complications caused by the ibuprofen in the tablets.
The 37-year-old went through detox and is now on naltrexone, which can be used to treat heroin addicts.
"There is a real shame attached to any type of addiction, and I had never used drugs before," she said.
"It was very hard to tell anyone I was addicted to Nurofen Plus, it seemed ridiculous even to me, but it is very real."
Dr Sadler said users generally fell into two categories, those who had a previous opioid addiction and those with no history of drug abuse who started using the medication for pain management.
"Some of these people start using due to a physical ailment and they may not necessarily be aware codeine is an opioid and is addictive," he said.
"It is extremely important that people use the medication with caution and know that exceeding the recommended dosage or taking them without medical review is likely to create a problem."
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