Former addict calls for crackdown on over-counter medicines containing codeine
Mark Fearon, 47, is eight months clean after a three-year addiction to the over-the-counter painkillers that almost took his life.
Nurofen Plus contains both ibuprofen and codeine. While these tablets can be bought without a prescription in Ireland, medical advice is they shouldn't be taken for more than three days.
But Mark, from Stepaside, South Dublin, travelled around the capital to different pharmacies to get his fix and even hobbled into stores to illustrate his pain to chemists.
It all began to alleviate lower back pain that he suffered all his adult life, but it slowly crept into an addiction that took hold of his life.
He told the Irish Sunday Mirror: 'I underestimated the power of Nurofen Plus. I said I'd stay on them until the pain was gone.
'At six months I said, 'Why am I still taking these? The pain is long gone. By six months I was up to a pack a day.'
Mark realised he had a serious problem and one night decided to go cold turkey, but had unbearable withdrawals and the next day was at the chemist.
He continued: 'As my usage crept up I started to notice a very small euphoric feeling.
'It was enough for me to start to like that feeling, want it, and keep on getting it.
'But that's when I started to feel unwell, I started to get stomach cramps, and it was impacting my health.
'Monday would roll by and I'd always try to stop. I tried to taper myself down, but I would get to Wednesday and my usage would just go up.
'And I was in that same cycle for the next two years.
'My usage was getting higher and higher and I was getting sicker and sicker.
'Then towards the end, I had built up to three packs every day, which is 72 tablets.'
At this stage in his addiction, Mark's family and friends began to notice that he was extremely unwell.
The Dubliner had stomach ulcers, was rapidly losing weight, was turning green, and his mental health was deteriorating.
After vomiting blood at a friend's wedding, Mark decided he needed professional help and went to his GP.
It was then he was told that he was just moments away from death. Mark continued: 'He ordered blood tests immediately and two days later said you have to go straight to the hospital.
'He said my haemoglobin level is so low that I had no oxygen running around my body. I was on the verge of a stroke.
'So I got blood transfusions, three pints of blood. The doctors said, 'You are extremely lucky to be here. You don't understand how close you were to death'.
'If I had left it much longer, I wouldn't be here.'
After this hospital visit, Mark did relapse, but he then went back to his GP, who referred him to a seven-week programme at St Patrick's Hospital.
While the Dubliner says it was the toughest seven weeks of his life, it saved him, and he is now happier than ever.
Mark says these tablets can't simply be taken off the shelves, as people do need them.
However, he believes stricter practices need to be in place – such as limiting customers to one packet a month using their ID.
The Dubliner said he decided to open up about his addiction as so many other people are in the same position. He said: 'Nobody talks about codeine addiction, and I've seen with my own eyes at pharmacies the number of people who can buy this stuff.
'Hundreds of people have the exact same story as me from every corner of Ireland,' Mark said.
Reckitt Benckiser, the pharmaceutical company that makes Nurofen Plus, has been contacted for comment.
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