What are the long term effects of codeine phosphate(cough syrups) addiction?
Common effects other than analgesia associated with the use of codeine include euphoria, itching, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, dry mouth, miosis, orthostatic hypotension, urinary retention, depression and constipation.[11] Another side effect commonly noticed is the lack of sexual drive and increased complications in erectile dysfunction.[12] Some people may also have an allergic reaction to codeine, such as the swelling of skin and rashes.[12] Tolerance to many of the effects of codeine develops with prolonged use, including therapeutic effects. The rate at which this occurs develops at different rates for different effects, with tolerance to the constipation-inducing effects developing particularly slowly for instance. A potentially serious adverse drug reaction, as with other opioids, is respiratory depression. This depression is dose-related and is the mechanism for the potentially fatal consequences of overdose.
