Dicogesic is a generic preparation of dihydrocodeine tartrate 30 mg tablets made by Duopharma in Malaysia. I managed to get a script of 60 tablets of DHC (dihydrocodeine) filled just now and the interesting thing about Dicogesic Tablets is that it’s smaller than DF-118 and it comes in a blister pack.
The blister pack of Dicogesic contains 10 small tablets of 30 mg dihydrocodeine tartrate. The tablets are green and it’s much smaller than GSK DF-118 tablets. This is an important distinction as I’ve had Dicogesic in the past and it seems to produce much less constipation than DF-118 (which is notorious for its constipation inducing properties) probably due to the lower chalk content in the Dicogesic tablet.
Qualitatively, there is no difference between Dicogesic and DF-118 tablets – both contains 30 mg of DHC in each tablet. Surprisingly, Dicogesic seems to retail for much higher than the original DF-118 tablets, for reasons unknown to me. However, the reduced binders and fillers (especially chalk, which is present in large amounts in DF-118 tablets) makes it a much more palatable alternative to DF-118.
This is a close up of the blister pack – Dicogesic Tablets comes in the standard bubble blister pack with the tablets visible through the front.
The back of the blister pack lists the contents of the Dicogesic Tablets – Dihydrocodeine Tartrate 30 mg.
Dicogesic tablets are green and has a four leaved clover logo on one side and the letter ‘P’ on the other. The logo looks remarkably like the Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals logo and the blister pack design for dihydrocodeine is unusual since most DHC preparations comes in loose tablets in 500 or 1000 tablet containers.
Dicogesic gets a thumbs up from me, despite being a generic preparation, coz the reduced chalk content does not cause problems that users of DF-118 encounters – prolonged constipation. 😉
]]>