Respiratory side effects from codeine (15mg) and sleep aid?
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I am prescribed codeine for my restless legs at night. However, I have been using this to relieve my symptoms for well over a year now and I am worried about the long term effects on my health. So, I decided to try an alternative - sleep aid. Tonight was particularly bad so I took 50mg of the doxylamine sleep aid tablets (2). As that was still not helping, aprox 3 hours later I took one 15mg codeine tablet.
It has now been 4 hours since I took the codeine and about 7 since I had the sleep aid. When I try to sleep, I can feel my breathing slow and occasionally I slightly jolt myself awake as if I hadn’t been getting enough oxygen.
I’ve read about respiratory depression with codeine but I’ve never experienced something like this before so I thought it might have been a reaction to the sleep aid combination. I could be overthinking it but it is scaring me a little to the point where I don’t want to sleep. It’s now 4am so unfortunately I won’t be able to function very well tomorrow. Regardless, please let me know what I should do e.g. if caffeine or something would help. It doesn’t feel like an appropriate reaction to the amount I’ve taken but I would love a confirmation so that I can sleep without worry. Thanks,
Stephanie
0 likes, 1 reply
joshuapryce1987 stephanie91096
Posted
Sleeping pills cause heart problems to a degree. This is why doctors do not prolong taking them. They are like antibiotics and have similar effects to the body as antibiotics. They are treated in a similar way by doctors with prescribing. What you need to do is try healthier alternatives to prescribed sleep aids. This may help you in the short term and long term.