'My wife saved my life after co-codamol prescription almost killed me' View 5 Images

A husband-to-be who was so addicted to co-codamol he would take 48 a day says his wife saved his life by giving him the ultimatum: 'choose me or the drug'. Ben Welthy was first prescribed the drug for toothache in his twenties and, as well as easing the pain, he found he enjoyed the warm, euphoric feeling.

The 32-year-old admits he would occasionally take the painkiller over the next 10 years, but soon found himself addicted. Eventually he found himself taking 48 tablets a day over the last two and a half years and would be sick without it. Codeine is a painkiller that is part of a group of medicines called opiates. It works in the central nervous system and the brain to block pain signals to the

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