Acurate combines paracetamol 450 mg, caffeine 30 mg, codeine phosphate 10 mg and doxylamine succinate 5 mg. It is used for moderate pain — headache, migraine, backache, period pain and dental pain. It contains an opioid and a sedating antihistamine, and is for short-term use only.
What is Acurate?
Acurate contains four active ingredients:
- Paracetamol 450 mg — a simple painkiller
- Caffeine 30 mg — a mild stimulant that enhances paracetamol
- Codeine phosphate 10 mg — a weak opioid
- Doxylamine succinate 5 mg — a sedating antihistamine
Each has a role. Paracetamol acts centrally on pain perception. Codeine is converted by the liver into morphine and blocks pain signalling. Caffeine modestly increases paracetamol’s effect and offsets some drowsiness. Doxylamine is a first-generation antihistamine with pronounced sedative properties, included to relieve tension and help someone in pain sleep.
The result is a genuinely effective painkiller for pain that is disturbing sleep or accompanied by tension. It is also a product carrying the cautions of an opioid, a full paracetamol dose, and a strongly sedating antihistamine simultaneously.
Acurate is closely comparable to Stilpane, which uses promethazine in place of doxylamine. Both belong to a family of South African compound analgesics — Syndol is another — that pair codeine with a sedating antihistamine.
What is Acurate commonly used for?
Acurate is used for moderate pain:
- Tension headache, where the muscular tension component is prominent.
- Migraine.
- Backache and muscular pain.
- Period pain.
- Dental pain.
- Pain that is preventing sleep.
- Post-operative pain, short-term.
It is intended for a few days at a time, and two things make longer use a real problem.
Codeine causes dependence, and it does so quietly. The typical pattern is someone who began with genuine pain, found it effective, and kept going — with nothing interrupting that, since these products are widely available and familiar.
Regular use also produces medication overuse headache. Taking an acute painkiller for headache on most days sets up headaches caused by the treatment. It feels like the original problem worsening, prompting more tablets, which sustains it.
For someone treating headaches more than about two days a week, that pattern deserves a conversation with a doctor. Migraine has specific acute treatments — triptans — and preventive options such as low-dose amitriptyline, both of which are better answers than escalating a compound painkiller.
The caffeine is worth noting too. At 30 mg per tablet it is modest, but several tablets a day adds up, and it can contribute to poor sleep and to rebound headache when it is stopped.
How Acurate fits into this medicine category
| Type | Examples | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Plain paracetamol | Donapan, Zypol | No opioid, no sedation — try first |
| Plain anti-inflammatory | Ibuprofen (Brufen) | Better for inflammatory pain |
| Paracetamol + codeine | Cogesic | Opioid without the antihistamine |
| With a sedating antihistamine | Acurate, Stilpane, Syndol | Adds sedation; for pain disturbing sleep |
| Triple combinations | Mybulen, Gen-Payne | Add an anti-inflammatory instead |
Working up from the top means you take on an opioid only when a simpler option has genuinely failed. See the allergy, cold and flu medicines hub.
What to check before using Acurate
Do not take any other paracetamol product — including cold and flu remedies, sinus tablets and other combination painkillers. Each Acurate tablet contains 450 mg of paracetamol, and duplicating it is the main way this product causes serious harm.
Do not drive after taking it. Doxylamine is strongly sedating, and combined with codeine the effect is substantial and can persist into the next morning.
Do not drink alcohol with it.
Speak to a pharmacist or doctor if:
- You have breathing problems — sleep apnoea, COPD, severe asthma. Both codeine and doxylamine suppress breathing.
- You have a history of dependence on codeine, other opioids or alcohol.
- You have liver disease, or drink heavily.
- You have kidney disease.
- You have glaucoma, an enlarged prostate, or difficulty passing urine — the doxylamine matters here.
- You have epilepsy.
- You are pregnant or breastfeeding. Codeine passes into breast milk and is generally avoided.
- The medicine is for a child or teenager. Codeine is not given under 12, nor to under-18s after tonsil or adenoid surgery.
- You are older, where sedation, confusion, constipation, urinary retention and falls are markedly more likely.
- You take other sedating medicines, a benzodiazepine, or another antihistamine.
- You are sensitive to caffeine, or drink a lot of coffee.
Follow the pack instructions, and note the maximum in 24 hours.
Possible cautions and when to ask a pharmacist or doctor
A few days, not a few weeks. That is the essential point.
Signs that use has become a problem: taking it most days, exceeding the pack maximum, needing it for pain it once handled easily, buying from more than one pharmacy, or feeling restless, achy, sweaty, anxious or unable to sleep when you go without. Those last symptoms are codeine withdrawal, routinely mistaken for the original pain returning — which is precisely what keeps people taking it.
If that describes you, speak to a doctor or pharmacist. This is common with codeine-containing painkillers, it is not a moral failing, and there is effective help. Stopping abruptly after prolonged use is unpleasant enough that support genuinely helps.
Paracetamol overdose is a medical emergency with no early warning. Someone who has taken too much can feel entirely well for a day or more while liver damage develops. Go to an emergency department immediately with the packaging, even if they seem fine.
Constipation is common from the codeine, and dry mouth, blurred vision and urinary hesitancy from the doxylamine.
Confusion and falls in older adults are a genuine risk with this combination.
Seek urgent medical attention for slow or shallow breathing, extreme drowsiness or difficulty waking someone, confusion, eye pain with blurred vision or halos, inability to pass urine, severe constipation with abdominal pain, or facial swelling with difficulty breathing.
Related medicine guides
- Browse Allergy, Cold & Flu Medicines guides
- Read: Austell Cetirizine used for
- Read: Rhineton used for
Frequently asked questions
What is Acurate used for? Moderate pain — tension headache, migraine, backache, period pain and dental pain, particularly where it is disturbing sleep.
Does it contain codeine? Yes, 10 mg per tablet. Codeine is an opioid and causes dependence with regular use.
Why does it make me drowsy? It contains doxylamine, a strongly sedating antihistamine, alongside codeine. Do not drive after taking it.
Can I take paracetamol with it? No. Each tablet already contains 450 mg of paracetamol. Check cold and flu remedies too.
How is it different from Stilpane? Both pair codeine with a sedating antihistamine. Acurate uses doxylamine and adds caffeine; Stilpane uses promethazine.
How long can I take it? A few days. Longer use leads to codeine dependence and can cause medication overuse headache.