Vicodin - a dangerous habit-forming synthetic opioid medication or a highly effective pain killer?
We can enjoy life as it is, follow our habitual ways, develop our creativity and skills endlessly with only one condition - we are not in pain! Give it a closer look! Can you think of yummy foods when your have a toothache? Can you dance your night away with your ankle sprained? Can you fulfill any routine task with positive attitude when your mind is clouded with pain? The answer is definit - no, you cannot! Pain is the torture we all have to pass from time to time. We are afraid of pain and try to avoid it but we rarely think that pain is the best friend we have, too. Stunned to hear that? Well, don’t be, because pain is what makes all living beings survive and take good care of their health!
As the main character of Hugh Laurie’s novel “The gun seller” said, “pain is something you cause to yourself”. It is true, when something is wrong with our body, either inside or outside, our brain creates strong throbbing impulses that we decipher as pain or chronic ache. This way our organism cries for help and pleads us to take care of the problem as soon as possible.
When persons develop dangerous chronic health troubles pain can stay with them round the clock, turning their lives into a horrible torture. Of course, the major task of present-day medicine is to help those persons diminish the pain and lead normal lives. Today opioid drugs, both synthetic and natural, are the most effective pain relievers available.
Vicodin belongs to the class of synthetic opioid analgesics, too. Containing Hydrocodone (synthetic opiate) and Acetaminophen (Paracetamol or Tylenol), Vicodin causes double pain decreasing effect bringing you instant relief. This glorious compound of two pain killers goes under many brand names depending on the concentrations of Hydrocodone and Acetaminophen in them. So:
- Vicodin is 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Vicodin HP is made up of 750 mg Paracetamol and 7.5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Vicodin ES has 660 mg Paracetamol and 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Anexsia comprises 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone or 650 mg Paracetamol and 7.5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Dolorex Forte; Hycet; Liquicet; Lorcet is 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone; 650 Paracetamol mg / 10 mg Hydrocodone; or 650 mg Paracetamol and 7.5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Lortab consists of 500 mg Paracetamol and 2.5, 5, 7.5 or 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Maxidone consists of 750 mg Paracetamol and 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Norco is made up of 325 mg Paracetamol and 5, 7.5, or 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Polygesic comprises 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Stagesic comprises 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Xodol is made up of 300 mg Paracetamol and 5, 7.5, or 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Zamicet; Zydone consists of 400 mg Paracetamol and 5, 7.5, or 10 mg Hydrocodone.
Other non-active components included in each pill of Vicodin are: colloidal silicon dioxide, starch, croscarmellose sodium, dibasic calcium phosphate, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, povidone and stearic acid. If you are allergic to any main or non-active components of the drug, please, make an appointment with your healthcare provider before you buy discount Vicodin and start taking it.
Vicodin, like any other opioid analgesic, is used to manage moderate to moderately severe pain. This medicine is most usually used for acute, chronic and/or post-operative conditions. Sometimes it can also be used to overcome severe cough.
Semi-synthetic opioid analgesic Vicodin is available in different medical forms: tablets, capsules and liquid solutions. The safe dose for adults is 1-2 tablets of Vicodin with every meal 4 times a day. In fact you may take this med with or without food but the majority of practitioners state that full stomach protects gastrointestinal tract. So, if you have nausea after taking Vicodin, it may help you to take this medication after a square mealafter a substantial meal. Likewise, if you follow Vicodin therapy, drinking plenty of water during a day can help in preventing constipation usual for Vicodin takers.
Please, note that each type of brand or generic pill contains different quantities of Vicodin. That is why you should be very cautious how many tablets you take. The maximum safe quantity of Acetaminophen for adults is only 1 gram (1000 mg) per dose or 4 grams (4000 mg) per day. If you take Vicodin, 1-2 tablets each time is needed, the max number of tablets a day is 8 tablets. If you take Vicodin ES, 1 tablet each time is needed, i.e. max 5 tablets a day. If you take Vicodin HP, 1 tablet each time is needed, i.e. max 6 tablets a day. Pain relieving capsules can contain 2.5 to 10 mg Hydrocodone and 300 to 750 mg Acetaminophen. You should take Vicodin every 4 to 6 hours or 15 ml of liquid solution every 4 to 6 hours as needed. If possible, take minimal dosage of Vicodin and keep to the time span of 6 hours to avoid numerous adverse reactions and addiction to this drug.
If you miss a regular dose of Vicodin, take it as soon as you can. If it is almost time for your next dose, take only that dose skipping the previous one. Never take double or extra doses to avoid ruinous ovedose! The horrible fact is that
Vicodin overdose can be ultimate.
Talking about Vicodin adverse reactions, remember that this medicine can make you feel dizzy or drowsy. That is why you should be cautious participating in activities requiring alertness and quick reaction (driving, using complicated machinery ect).
Keep off alcoholic beverages because they increase the risk of Vicodin adverse reactions. Remember that Vicodin contains Acetaminophen in it, and this substance is able of causing liver damage. If in addition to it you use alcohol every day, it interacts with Acetaminophen and increases the risk of severe liver damage.
Just as all synthetic narcotic medications Vicodin can cause severe side effects, which are rather seldom. If you face a serious sign seek medical help immediately! Serious Vicodin side effects include:
- bad drowsiness,
- bad stomach pain and constipation,
- slow heart rate,
- hyperventilation, troubled or slow breathing,
- hallucinations and altered mental status,
- confusion, anxiety or fear,
- unusual fatigue,
- hearing loss,
- decreased urination,
- cold and clammy skin,
- bluish tinge on the skin,
- blood disorders,
- low blood pressure,
- seizures,
- kidney and liver problems including failure.
Liver failure produces jaundice and a number of symptoms like pain in the upper right side of the abdomen, yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes and dark urine.
What is more, persons allergic to Vicodin can have severe allergic reaction:
- itching, skin rash or hives,
- unusual swelling of the mouth, tongue and throat, wheezing and breathing difficulty.
If you take Vicodin therapy and feel uncomfortable when you have to get up or go to bed you can minimize dizziness and lightheadedness doing it slowly.
If you are rather old great caution is required when taking this drug - you may be more sensitive to the side effects of the med, especially decreased breathing and drowsiness. It is forbidden to prescribe Vicodin to people under 18! Children should never be given Vicodin, as its safety and effectiveness in children has not been established till now.
If you have to undergo any type of surgery, tell your surgeon that you are using Vicodin beforehand. This drug weakens the effect of anaesthesia that is why you may need to stop using Vicodin for a short time.
The topic of Vicodin, pregnancy and breastfeeding is vital, too. The action of Vicodin during pregnancy and breastfeeding are not properly investigated. To be on the safe side, avoid taking Vicodin if you are pregnant to keep your unborn baby safe. Discuss with your healthcare provider all pros and cons before buying cheap Vicodin without prescription and starting it. Although some medical reports state that this drug is safe for pregnant women, you should take it only if obvious positive effects outweigh the possible risks. Remember that if Vicodin is regularly taken in the time before delivery, it may cause respiratory depression and withdrawal symptoms in the newborn baby because the fetus becomes Vicodin dependant within the mother’s womb! Nursing mothers should not use Vicodin because Paracetamol and Hydrocodone easily gets into human milk effecting your baby.
Vicodin is occasionally prescribed in veterinary for dogs if they are allergic to Carprofen (Rimadyl Rx) or Etodolac (Etogesic Rx). But frankly speaking it is not the best choice of a pain reliever. The point is that although Hydrocodone that decreases pain is well tolerated but Tylenol is toxic to dogs and it causes numerous liver problems. All the same, Vicodin is sometimes the only option for chronic arthritis problems in older dogs.
Up-to-date medicine is rather careless about Vicodin addiction now - addiction to illicit street drugs and/or alcohol is considered to be a far more serious condition. To tell you the truth, Vicodin is not really viewed as a drug able of causing the same horrid troubles as other drugs! No wonder that this attitude of medical people often leads Vicodin addicts and their close people to the idea that everything is the way it should be and they do not need the withdrawal treatment. What a shame!
If you feel any withdrawal symptoms after you stop taking Vicodin, seek drug abuse treatment immediately! People who have a problem with drugs or alcohol must be particularly careful and make an appointment with their MD regularly. If you have to undergo Vicodin addictin treatment, be ready for the initial phase - the detoxification process. It cleanses the physical body of a patient and prepares him or her for further treatment.
Why is Vicodin so habit-forming? The matter is that the regular use of Hydrocodone causes certain changes you brain - in the way it handles opiates. The longer you stay with Vicodine and the higher is the dosage you apply daily, the sooner you develop an opiate tolerance. Consequently you need increasingly greater doses of the medication to reach the same pain diminishing effects.
If an opiate-tolerant man or woman tries to stop taking Vicodine, he or she will experience bad opiate withdrawal symptoms. Vicodin dependent persons experience the first withdrawal symptoms within 6-24 hours following their last dose. They feel:
- runny nose, muscle aches and other flu-like symptoms;
- nausea;
- diarrhea;
- anxiety;
- depression;
- insomnia;
- irritability;
- chills;
- drug cravings;
- increased pain of the health issue that forced them to take Vicodin.
Secondary Vicodin withdrawal symptoms that can last for months with varying degrees of intensity are:
- insomnia,
- lethargy,
- depression.
The withdrawal peak is located within 72 hours of the last Vicodin dose and it lasts for 4-5 days. Pain men and women who are using Vicodin for its analgesic effects develop increased sensitivity to pain during the withdrawal period.
Probably the best and the most realistic illustration of severe Vicodin withdrawal torture is the episode from the “House M.D” serial where the main character Greg House survives the most horrible Vicodin withdrawal symptoms. The best way to avert Vicodin addiction is taking 1 tablet of Vicodin 3 times a day after meals and never prolonging the period of Vicodin therapy, then you will get back to normal painless life and will be able to enjoy every delightful moment of it with the people you love and care for.
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