[glend (Glen)]

I can second Andy's comment about Panadeine Forte being a much better pain relief medication than Oxycodone, but it may have alot to do with prescribed dosage. My recent kidney stone attack, and hospital stay,, was my first experience with morphein, and then opoids that they switch you onto to get you off morphein quickly. When you are delerious with pain you are grateful for whatever works, but personally i found that Oxycodone did little for my pain, it did make me pretty sick (nausea, vomiting) and yes it could be considered a mild euphoric, but two tablets of Cogalin Forte (a combined 60mg of codeine with 1000mg of Panadol (aka Panadeine Forte), worked much more effectively as a pain relief agent with fewer side effects. I have had recurrent kidney stones for decades and mostly the Panadol/codeine mix does the job on smaller ones. For big ones only morphein can provide any sort of relief but they won't let you take that for long, for good reason.
Lucky for me that kidney stones are temporary torture (rarely longer than a week), and they can be removed via catheter if massive ( you don't want to know how they do that). So long term pain relief is not required and so addiction and Paracetamol poisoning issues are not a big problem.
Taking any pain medication for long periods is dangerous, and you should stick to the prescribed dose interval and not take more than recommended. Reduce it as fast as you can and only keep emergency stocks if you have a possible recurrent situation.

Re Alex's comments about just not taking pain medication, perhaps he senses pain in ways different to others. When you are struggling to stay concious under all consuming pain, most people will ask for relief, and not argue about how that is provided.