Vicodin - a dangerous addictive synthetic narcotic medication or a highly effective pain reliever?
People 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! Think for youself! Can you prepare yummy dishes when your have a toothache? Can you dance your night away with your ankle sprained? Can you fulfill any routine task with delight when your brain is clouded with pain? The answer is definit - no, you cannot! Pain is the torture we all have to bear from time to time. We are afraid of pain and try to avoid it but we rarely think that pain is the best keeper we have, too. Stunned to hear that? Well, don’t be, because pain is what makes all living beings fight for life and take good care of their health!
As the antagonist of Hugh Laurie’s novel “The gun seller” declared, “pain is something you cause to yourself”. Indeed, when something is wrong with our organism, either inside or outside, our brain creates strong throbbing signals that we perceive as pain or chronic ache. This way our organism cries for help and begs us to handle the trouble as soon as possible.
When men and women develop bad chronic health problems pain can torture them 24/7, turning their lives into a horrid nightmare. No doubt, the main task of up-to-date medicine is to help those individuals decrease the pain and lead normal lives. Today narcotic pills, both synthetic and natural, are the most trusted pain relievers available.
Vicodin belongs to the class of synthetic opioid analgesics, too. Containing Hydrocodone (synthetic opiate) and APAP (Paracetamol or Tylenol), Vicodin causes double pain controlling effect bringing you instant relief. This glorious compound of two pain killers is know by numerous brand names depending on the concentrations of Hydrocodone and Acetaminophen in them. So:
- Vicodin comprises 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Vicodin HP comprises 750 mg Paracetamol and 7.5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Vicodin ES is made up of 660 mg Paracetamol and 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Anexsia is made up of 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 is 500 mg Paracetamol and 2.5, 5, 7.5 or 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Maxidone is 750 mg Paracetamol and 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Norco is made up of 325 mg Paracetamol and 5, 7.5, or 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Polygesic has 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Stagesic has 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Xodol comprises 300 mg Paracetamol and 5, 7.5, or 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Zamicet; Zydone has 400 mg Paracetamol and 5, 7.5, or 10 mg Hydrocodone.
Other non-active ingredients 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 ingredients of the drug, please, make an appointment with your medical man before you purchase discount Vicodin online and start taking it.
Vicodin, like any other narcotic analgesic, is recommended to resist moderate to moderately severe pain. This medicine is most usually prescribed for acute, chronic and/or post-operative states. Sometimes it can also be used to get rid of severe cough.
Semi-synthetic narcotic analgesic Vicodin is available in different medical forms: tablets, capsules and liquid solutions. The normal dose for adults is 1-2 tablets of Vicodin with every meal 4 times a day. Actually you can take this drug with or without food but the majority of general practitioners state that full stomach protects gastrointestinal tract. For instance, if you suffer from nausea after taking Vicodin, it may help you to take this medication with food. 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 sort 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 grownups 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 effects and addiction to this med.
If you miss a scheduled 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 dangerous ovedose! The terrible matter is that
Vicodin overdose can be fatal.
Talking about Vicodin adverse reactions, note that this drug can make you feel dizzy or drowsy. That is why you should be careful participating in activities requiring alertness and quick reaction (driving, using complicated machinery ect).
Keep off alcoholic beverages because they increase the risk of Vicodin side effects. Remember that Vicodin contains Acetaminophen in it, and this substance is able of causing liver damage. If in addition to it you consume alcohol every day, it interacts with Acetaminophen and increases the risk of severe liver damage.
Just as all synthetic opioid drugs Vicodin can cause severe side effects, which are rather seldom. If you face a severe sign seek medical help immediately! Severe Vicodin side effects include:
- severe drowsiness,
- bad abdominal 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 causes 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, patients allergic to Vicodin can have bad 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 rise from a seated or lying position you can minimize dizziness and lightheadedness doing it slowly.
If you are rather old great caution is required when taking this medication - you may be more sensitive to the side effects of the medicine, especially decreased breathing and drowsiness. It is forbidden to prescribe Vicodin to people under 18! Children should never be prescribed Vicodin, as its safety and effectiveness in children has not been investigated till now.
If you have to undergo any type of surgery, tell your surgeon that you are using Vicodin ahead of time. This med weakens the action of anaesthesia that is why you may need to stop using Vicodin for a short time.
The topic of Vicodin, pregnancy and breastfeeding is essential, too. The action of Vicodin during pregnancy and breastfeeding are not properly investigated. To be on the safe side, do not take Vicodin if you are pregnant to keep your fetus safe. Discuss with your general practitioner all pros and cons before buying discount Vicodin online without prescription and taking it. Although some medical reports state that this drug is safe for pregnant women, you should start 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 addicted 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 sometimes applied 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 diminishes 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 troubles in older dogs.
Up-to-date medicine is rather careless about Vicodin addiction these days - 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 problems as other drugs! No wonder that this attitude of medical people often leads Vicodin addicts and their nearest and dearest to the idea that everything is OK 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! Males and females who have a problem with drugs or alcohol must be particularly careful and consult their doctor 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 individual and prepares him or her for further treatment.
Why is Vicodin so addictive? The matter is that the regular use of Hydrocodone causes certain changes you brain - in the way it handles narcotics. The longer you take Vicodine and the higher is the dosage you apply daily, the sooner you develop an opiate tolerance. Consequently you require increasingly greater doses of the medicine to feel the same pain decreasing effects.
If an opiate-tolerant person tries to drop taking Vicodine, he or she will experience bad opiate withdrawal symptoms. Vicodin addicts 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 illness 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 personalities 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 ordeal 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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