{"id":121884,"date":"2025-10-14T17:50:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T17:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/121884\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T17:50:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T17:50:09","slug":"nhs-nefopam-alert-issued-to-anyone-taking-tablet-for-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/121884\/","title":{"rendered":"NHS nefopam alert issued to anyone taking tablet for pain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>People taking one of the UK&#8217;s most <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/life-style\/health\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">commonly prescribed painkillers<\/a> have been given a reminder about its potential side effects. Patients should speak to a doctor if they keep struggling with any of these eight problems.<\/p>\n<p>Nefopam is a type of non-narcotic painkiller. <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/medicines\/nefopam\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">According to the NHS website<\/a>, it seems that the drug helps to &#8220;block pain messages sent to your brain&#8221; and your body stops noticing, leading to relief from many different conditions that trigger pain.<\/p>\n<p data-mce-linkchecker-status=\"valid\">It is usually prescribed by a doctor when other painkillers such as paracetamol and ibuprofen do not help with a person&#8217;s pain. <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/nursingnotes.co.uk\/resources\/the-100-most-common-medications-in-uk-hospitals\/#:~:text=Oxycodone.-,Nefopam,-.\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">It is one of the most commonly prescribed tablets in the UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You may only need to take nefopam for a short time if you are,\u00a0for example, in <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/pain-relief?pageNumber=8\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">pain<\/a> following an operation. Some patients with long-term painful conditions,\u00a0such as cancer, might need to take this drug for longer.<\/p>\n<p data-mce-linkchecker-status=\"valid\">During whatever period you take the pills, which will be discussed with a doctor, there are potential side effects that people should be aware of.\u00a0The NHS has put out a warning about these on its website, so people are fully aware of the risks that come with this medication.<\/p>\n<p>It reads: &#8220;Like all medicines, nefopam can cause side effects. However, many people have no side effects or only minor ones. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if the advice on how to cope does not help and a side effect is still bothering you or does not go away.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Common side effects include:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Feeling sick, dizzy or light-headed<\/li>\n<li>Dry mouth<\/li>\n<li>Difficulty peeing<\/li>\n<li>Tingling in hands and feet<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are some more serious side effects, such as hallucinations and having a fast heartbeat, but these are rare. If you take nefopam for a long time, it&#8217;s possible to become addicted, but this is also quite uncommon.<\/p>\n<p>The NHS website warns that nefopam may also turn your urine pink. But, the medics claim that &#8220;this is harmless and does not last long&#8221;. You should be advised not to drink alcohol while you are taking nefopam because it increases the possibility of certain side effects.<\/p>\n<p>Who can and cannot take nefopam?<\/p>\n<p data-mce-linkchecker-status=\"valid\">The usual dose of nefopam is one to two 30mg tablets, taken three times a day. <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/medicines\/nefopam\/who-can-and-cannot-take-nefopam\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Most adults should be able to take nefopam<\/a> without any major issues.<\/p>\n<p data-mce-linkchecker-status=\"valid\">There are a few different reasons why a doctor might consider putting patients on an alternative medication to nefopam, such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Having liver or kidney problems<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Having ever had difficulty peeing<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Having an uncommon kind of glaucoma (increased pressure in the eye) called angle closure glaucoma<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Trying to get pregnant, are already pregnant or breastfeeding<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>People who have been diagnosed with epilepsy (or have ever had a seizure or fit) should also avoid taking nefopam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People taking one of the UK&#8217;s most commonly prescribed painkillers have been given a reminder about its potential&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[274],"tags":[18,135,65027,19,17,462,74259,1565,74260,736,57809,7886],"class_list":{"0":"post-121884","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-health-section","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-medication","14":"tag-nefopam","15":"tag-nhs","16":"tag-nhs-warning","17":"tag-pain-management","18":"tag-pain-relief","19":"tag-side-effects"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}