See, if I'm in enough pain that codeine seems like a good idea, by the time I've taken enough of it to make a difference[1] I'm too stoned to do anything, stupid or otherwise. And still in pain, just less able to pay attention to it. It's basically a way to make time pass more quickly.
Paracetamol only seems to function as an antipyretic. It does absolutely nothing for pain, to the point where I've wondered if people were making it up. It's mainly useful as the thing you have to take before they give you opioids.
I remain unsure about NSAIs. They don't seem to have any magic effects on joint pain, but that doesn't mean they aren't stopping it being worse. I've not had enough migraine to tell if ibuprofen helps make it go away any faster. Possibly helpful against drippy snot. My digestive system isn't a fan.
The only time I've been given Tramadol (post-operatively), I wasn't in pain. It made my face tingle.
I've had co-dydramol and morphine. They were like a large dose of codeine, with added nausea. Quite unpleasant.
Can't help feeling that I'm just bad at drugs...
[1] This isn't strictly true: I've found that if I take a small dose of codeine, it makes me pleasantly sleepy some 6-12 hours later as it wears off, which can be useful for things like neck spasms. It's not repeatable, though, as taking more stops the effect.