Medication

Commonly used medications include paracetamol, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, codeine-based medications, tramadol, opiate patches and oral opiates (morphine-based medications).
Each has their own side-effect profile eg:

• Paracetamol can cause liver damage if too many are taken
• NSAID’s can cause stomach upset, indigestion, stomach ulcers, or exacerbate asthma
• Codeine-based medications can cause nausea, drowsiness, constipation, appetite loss
• Tramadol can cause similar side-effects to the codeine medications
• Opiates are more powerful painkillers than the codeine medications and their side-effects are similar but more powerful. These include morphine, diamorphine, morphine sulphate (MST), oxycontin, oxynorm, oromorph, etc.