Fred, a self-employed professional man, became addicted to over-the-counter pain-killers in his 40s. Suffering from a stomach complaint when his father died, his GP prescribed codeine, which he quickly noticed eased the emotional pain he was going through. Fred soon began supplementing the prescribed amount with pain-killers available over the counter in an attempt to maintain the soothing effects.
Within six months he had become a drug addict, taking more than four times the stated dose just to maintain his sanity and keep withdrawal at bay.
"Eventually I wasn't getting the pleasant effects but I had to keep taking them just to stop the cravings," he says. The dose recommended on the pack is two to three tablets a day, but I'd take 12 in the morning alone." He said he often drove through the midlands looking for late-night pharmacies to top up on the Solpadeine and Syndol, and says he never had any problem getting them.
"When you're a white-collar worker nobody asks questions. You might chat about the weather, and if you do get worried that the chemist suspects something you send the secretary or one of the kids." After a year abusing pain-killers Fred was acting like one of the junkies he had only ever heard about on news bulletins.
"I got so paranoid that if I was walking down the road I felt that everyone in every car that passed knew exactly what I was doing. I spent the entire weekend in bed sweating and shivering, going through withdrawal and trying to give up before Monday, when I would start again just to act normal."
He knew his wife was worried but refused to tell her what was wrong, saying it would have jeopardised his drug habit. Blurred vision made driving difficult, and today he says that had the addiction continued he would either have either been killed on the roads or died of an overdose.
Finally, the pain and confusion he was causing his family made him admit the truth and enter a six-week residential programme at the Rutland Drug Treatment Centre in Dublin.
"I was afraid of going into treatment and being put with heroin addicts, but I soon discovered that we had all gone down the same road and were using drugs just to stay normal."
"I had a lot of suicidal thoughts when I first came off, and although I've been clean for nearly a year it's still not easy. I go to bed with cravings and wake up with cravings. The other night I stayed in work until all the chemists had closed just so I wouldn't have to walk past one."
Although he never drank, Fred believes he has an addictive personality.
"I've been a workaholic all my life, often doing 14-hour days, and people used to praise me for it. I liked the feeling of being praised and that's why I worked so hard. Through the addiction I've gotten to know myself better and now that I've come out the other end I'm a much stronger person. In treatment they tore me apart before building me back up again."
