Codeine

From Drug Rehab Wiki

Codeine, or methylmorphine, is a natural alkaloid found in opium poppy. Approved indications for codeine include cough, diarrhea, mild to moderate pain, and irritable bowel syndrome. As with other opiate painkillers, chronic use of codeine can cause physical dependence. Codeine can be abused, and heroin addicts may use codeine to ward off the effects of withdrawal. 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. As codeine is metabolized to morphine, morphine can be passed through breast milk in potentially lethal amounts, fatally depressing the respiration of a breastfed baby.