Healthdirect Australia is not responsible for the content and advertising on the external website you are now entering.
Brand name: Paracetamol plus Codeine 500 mg/10 mg (Pharmacy Action) TM
Active ingredients: paracetamol + codeine
What it is used for
Fast effective temporary relief of strong pain including migraine headache, toothache, period pain, minor arthritic pain and aches and pains associated with colds and flu. Reduces fever.
How to take it
The way to take this medicine is: Oral. This medicine is taken by mouth.
- Store below 30 degrees Celsius
- Shelf lifetime is 36 Months.
You should seek medical advice in relation to medicines and use only as directed by a healthcare professional.
Always read the label. If symptoms persist see your healthcare professional.
Visual appearance
White capsule shaped biconvex uncoated tablets
Images are the copyright of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia
Do I need a prescription?
This medicine is available from a pharmacist and requires a prescription. It is
Reporting side effects
You can help ensure medicines are safe by reporting the side effects you experience.
You can report side effects to your doctor, or directly at www.tga.gov.au/reporting-problems
Need more information?
These trusted information partners have more on this topic.
Top results
Over-the-counter codeine: changes to supply | NPS MedicineWise
Information and resources on the rescheduling of codeine
Read more on NPS MedicineWise website
Shingles self-care - myDr.com.au
Shingles is a painful viral skin rash that usually appears on one side of your waist, but can affect your chest, back, legs or face. Find out what products are available to ease the pain of shingles.
Read more on myDr website
Strains and sprains: self-care - myDr.com.au
Strains and sprains, or soft tissue injuries, are common through playing sports and in everyday life. Find out what products are available for strains and sprains.
Read more on myDr website
Colds - myDr.com.au
A cold is an infection caused by a virus. It usually lasts two to three days and does not cause serious illness in healthy people. Find out what products are available for colds.
Read more on myDr website
Prescribing for people with acute rheumatic fever | Issue 2 | Volume 40 | Australian Prescriber | Australian Prescriber
Check out the recent changes in Australian recommendations for antibiotic use, aspirin dose and prevention of endocarditis.
Read more on Australian Prescriber website
Migraine information | myVMC
Migraine is a severe, recurring headache which may cause visual symptoms (aura). They affect 12% of people, most commonly women, who often have triggers.
Read more on myVMC – Virtual Medical Centre website
Chronic headaches (migraine, medication) information | myVMC
Chronic daily headache is a syndrome of daily headaches including two distinct diagnoses: chronic migraine and medication overuse headache.
Read more on myVMC – Virtual Medical Centre website
Costs and concerns in cancer care | Issue 5 | Volume 39 | Australian Prescriber
How do we determine which new anticancer drugs are cost-effective and how do we pay for the ones that are?
Read more on Australian Prescriber website
Top results
Single dose oral paracetamol (acetaminophen) plus codeine for postoperative pain relief in adults | Cochrane
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Single dose oral ibuprofen plus codeine for acute postoperative pain in adults | Cochrane
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Paracetamol for relief of perineal pain after birth | Cochrane
The birth of a baby should be a very special time for every woman, but perineal pain can sometimes interfere and cause problems. The perineum is a diamond-shaped area between the vagina and the anus. Perineal pain can arise from bruising or tearing that sometimes occurs as the baby is born. Pain can also arise from a cut which may be used to enlarge the perineal outlet for the baby to be born (episiotomy). Episiotomies require stitches (also called sutures), and natural tears also may need stitches. Any trauma and stitches can cause discomfort and pain. In addition, there is often pain if forceps or ventouse have been used to help the baby into the world. Reducing the chance of perineal trauma and thus perineal pain is clearly important for women.However, this review is part of a series of reviews looking at drugs to help relieve perineal pain once it is there in the early days after the birth.This review identified 10 studies, involving 1367 women, looking at how effective paracetamol might be in helping with this pain. The studies were quite old and thus not of high quality. However, they showed that paracetamol (either in a single 500 mg to 600 mg or a single 1000 mg dose) was effective at reducing the perineal pain, mostly caused by episiotomies. The studies did not look carefully at potential adverse effects but generally paracetamol at these doses causes few problems. There are also generally no identified problems for breastfed babies when mothers take paracetamol, but these outcomes were not specifically assessed in any of the included studies. The comparison of how effective paracetamol is compared with other drugs is being assessed in the other reviews in the series.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Single dose oral ibuprofen plus paracetamol (acetaminophen) for acute postoperative pain | Cochrane
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Oral paracetamol for treatment of acute episodic tension-type headache in adults | Cochrane
This review found that few people with two to 14 tension-type headaches a month get good pain relief from taking paracetamol 1000 mg. There are questions about how studies of this type of headache are conducted. These questions involve the type of people chosen for the studies, and the types of outcomes reported. This limits the usefulness of the results, especially for people who just have an occasional headache.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Paracetamol (acetaminophen) with or without an antiemetic for acute migraine in adults | Cochrane
This is an updated version of the original Cochrane review published in Issue 11, 2010 (Derry 2010). New searches identified one additional study for inclusion; this study compared paracetamol with etodolac and did not contribute to any of the analyses in the review.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Dextropropoxyphene in a single dose taken on its own and also with paracetamol to treat postoperative pain | Cochrane
Dextropropoxyphene in a single dose taken on its own and also with paracetamol to treat postoperative pain
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Caffeine as an analgesic adjuvant for acute pain in adults | Cochrane
Caffeine is found in various plant products, and may be ingested in drinks like tea, coffee, and some soft drinks and energy drinks. Caffeine is a stimulant, and can improve alertness and prevent tiredness over short periods. It may disturb sleep in some people if taken before bed. Ordinary consumption of caffeine (less than 500 milligrams daily) is not harmful to health. Caffeine is commonly used in pain-relieving medicines available from pharmacies without a prescription. An adjuvant is something that is added to a medicine to make it work better.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Single dose oral ibuprofen plus oxycodone for acute postoperative pain | Cochrane
Acute pain is often felt soon after injury, and most people who have surgery will have pain of moderate or severe intensity without treatment for their pain. In most, though not all, circumstances, the pain can be treated with oral analgesics. Many oral analgesics are available, and this review is one of a series examining how effective each one is, at particular doses.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Oral painkillers available without prescription for acute pain | Cochrane
Acute pain is often felt soon after injury, and is of short duration. Most people who have surgery have moderate or severe pain afterwards. Painkillers (analgesics) are tested in people with pain, often following the removal of wisdom teeth. Study participants have to have at least moderate pain levels and the pain is usually treated with painkillers taken by mouth. This overview is useful mainly for acute pain lasting only a few days or weeks, and not for chronic pain lasting for many months. For this overview we have not included information from reviews on migraine, tension headache, or period pain.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
