Vicodin - a dangerous addictive synthetic opioid drug or a highly effective pain reliever?
Humans 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 think of yummy foods when your have a toothache? Can you party hearty with your ankle sprained? Can you fulfill any routine task with positive attitude when your mind is clouded with pain? The answer is obvious - no, you cannot! Pain is the nightmare we all have to stand from time to time. We are afraid of pain and try to avoid it but we seldom think that pain is the best keeper we have, too. Shocked 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 really so, when something is wrong with our body, either inside or outside, our mind generates strong throbbing signals that we decipher as pain or chronic ache. This way our organism cries for help and pleads us to handle the problem as soon as possible.
When personalities develop serious chronic health troubles pain can torture them 24/7, turning their lives into a devastating ordeal. No doubt, the main task of present-day medicine is to help those individuals sooth the pain and lead normal lives. Today narcotic pills, both synthetic and natural, are the most effective pain killers available.
Vicodin belongs to the class of synthetic narcotic analgesics, too. Containing Hydrocodone (synthetic opiate) and Acetaminophen (Paracetamol or Tylenol), Vicodin causes double pain decreasing action bringing you rapid relief. This glorious compound of two pain relievers goes under many brand names depending on the concentrations of Hydrocodone and Acetaminophen in them. So:
- Vicodin comprises 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Vicodin HP consists of 750 mg Paracetamol and 7.5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Vicodin ES is made up of 660 mg Paracetamol and 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Anexsia consists of 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone or 650 mg Paracetamol and 7.5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Dolorex Forte; Hycet; Liquicet; Lorcet has 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 325 mg Paracetamol and 5, 7.5, or 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Polygesic comprises 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Stagesic consists of 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 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 medication, please, visit your GP before you order cheapest Vicodin online and start taking it.
Vicodin, like any other narcotic analgesic, is prescribed to fight back moderate to moderately severe pain. This medication is most usually used for acute, chronic and/or post-operative conditions. Sometimes it can also be used to stop severe cough.
Semi-synthetic narcotic analgesic Vicodin is available in different medical forms: tablets, capsules and liquid solutions. The usual dose for adults is 1-2 tablets of Vicodin with every meal 4 times a day. In fact you may take this drug with or without food but the majority of doctors state that full stomach protects gastrointestinal tract. For example, 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 avoiding constipation usual for Vicodin takers.
Please, keep in mind that each type of brand or generic pill contains various amounts 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 killing 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. Do not take double or extra doses to avoid dangerous ovedose! The horrid 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 demanding 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 dringk alcohol daily, it interacts with Acetaminophen and increases the risk of severe liver damage.
Just as all synthetic opioid 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:
- severe 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, individuals allergic to Vicodin can experience 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 needed when taking this medicine - you may be more sensitive to the side effects of the medicine, especially decreased breathing and drowsiness. It is forbidden to prescribe Vicodin to patients 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 med weakens the action of narcosis that is why you may need to stop using Vicodin for a short time.
The topic of Vicodin, pregnancy and breastfeeding is important, too. The action of Vicodin during pregnancy and lactation are not properly studied. To be on the safe side, avoid taking Vicodin if you are pregnant to keep your fetus safe. Discuss with your GP all pros and cons before buying Vicodin without a prescription and taking it. Although some medical reports state that this medicine 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 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 occasionally used 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 problems in older dogs.
Contemporary medicine is rather careless about Vicodin addiction today - addiction to illicit street drugs and/or alcohol is considered to be a far more dangerous condition. Frankly speaking, Vicodin is not really viewed as a drug able of causing the same negative risks as other drugs! No wonder that this attitude of professionals often leads Vicodin addicts and their close people to the idea that everything is the way it should be and they do not require the withdrawal treatment. What a shame!
If you feel any withdrawal symptoms after you stop taking Vicodin, seek drug abuse treatment immediately! Personalities who have a problem with drugs or alcohol must be particularly careful and go to their GP 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 personality and prepares him or her for further treatment.
Why is Vicodin so addictive? The fact is that the regular use of Hydrocodone causes certain changes you brain - in the way it handles opiates. The longer you take 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 med to feel the same pain controlling effects.
If an opiate-tolerant person tries to give up taking Vicodine, he or she will experience strong 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 disease 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 nightmare is the episode from the “House M.D” serial where the main character Greg House survives the most awful 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.
Tags: narcotic, order Vicodin, pain killer, Paracetamol, severe pain, Vicodin addiction, Vicodin overdose, Vicodin without prescription