Vicodin Hydrocodone Acetaminophen: Uses, Dosage and Side Effects Leave a comment

Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is not recommended. Your doctor may decide not to treat you with this medication or change some of the other medicines you take. There are no adequate studies in women for determining infant risk when using this medication during breastfeeding. Weigh the potential benefits against the potential risks before taking this medication while breastfeeding. Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated pediatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of hydrocodone and acetaminophen combination oral liquid in children 2 years of age and older. However, safety and efficacy have not been established in children younger than 2 years of age.

How should I keep hydrocodone/acetaminophen stored?

Always tell your health care provider about any prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, vitamins/minerals, herbal products, and other supplements you are using. Tell your health care provider if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Your health care provider will advise you if you should take hydrocodone/acetaminophen while breastfeeding. If you are breastfeeding while taking hydrocodone/acetaminophen, watch your baby for drowsiness and slowed breathing, and get help right away if you notice these things. Do not stop taking hydrocodone/acetaminophen or breastfeeding without telling your health care provider. Throw any unused or expired hydrocodone/acetaminophen by either taking the medicine to a U.S.

• It is not known whether theseeffects on fertility are reversible see ADVERSE REACTIONS.
• Mental and physical dependence can occur but are unlikely when used for short-term pain relief.
• If a CYP3A4 inhibitor is discontinued, consider increasing thehydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen tablets dosage until stable drug effects are achieved.
• Alternatively, consider the use of non-opioid analgesics in these patients.

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Acetaminophen is used to relieve pain and reduce fever in patients. But acetaminophen may cause other unwanted effects when taken in large doses, including liver damage. Although rare, use of acetaminophen has been reported to lead to liver transplantation and death, usually at high doses and when multiple acetaminophen-containing products have been used. There is a relationship between increasing hydrocodone plasma concentration and increasing frequencyof dose-related opioid adverse reactions such as nausea, vomiting, CNS effects, and respiratorydepression. In opioid-tolerant patients, the situation may be altered by the development of tolerance toopioid-related adverse reactions see DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION. The opioid antagonists, naloxone or nalmefene, are specific antidotes to respiratory depressionresulting from opioid overdose.

Respiratory depression is the chief risk for elderly patients treated with opioids, and has occurred afterlarge initial doses were administered to patients who were not opioid-tolerant or when opioids wereco-administered with other agents that depress respiration. Titrate the dosage of hydrocodone bitartrateand acetaminophen tablets slowly in geriatric patients and follow closely for signs of central nervoussystem and respiratory depression see WARNINGS. Because of these risks, reserve concomitantprescribing of these drugs for use in patients for whom alternative treatment options are inadequate.

What is hydrocodone/acetaminophen used for?

In general, use caution when selecting a dosage for an elderly patient, usuallystarting at the low end of the dosing range, reflecting the greater frequency of decreased hepatic, renal,or cardiac function, and of concomitant disease or other drug therapy. If the decision is made to prescribe a benzodiazepine or other CNS depressant concomitantly with anopioid analgesic, prescribe the lowest effective dosages and minimum durations of concomitant use. Followpatients closely for signs and symptoms of respiratory depression and sedation.

If you have any questions about missed doses, contact your health care provider. Long-term use of hydrocodone/acetaminophen may affect your ability to become pregnant or get a partner pregnant. Hydrocodone/acetaminophen is a controlled substance because it can be misused or lead to dependence.

Risks Of Driving And Operating Machinery

• It is very important that your doctor check your or your child’s progress while using this medicine, especially within the first 24 to 72 hours of treatment.
• The severity of the withdrawal symptomsexperienced will depend on the degree of physical dependence and the dose of the antagonistadministered.
• Taking this medicine the wrong way can cause serious side effects.
• The respiratory depression involves areduction in the responsiveness of the brain stem respiratory centers to both increases in carbon dioxidetension and electrical stimulation.
• Employ other supportive measures (including oxygenand vasopressors) in the management of circulatory shock and pulmonary edema as indicated.

Avoid the use of mixed agonist/antagonist (e.g, pentazocine, nalbuphine, and butorphanol) or partialagonist (e.g., buprenorphine) analgesics in patients who are receiving a full opioid agonist analgesic,including hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen tablets. In these patients, mixed agonist/antagonistand partial analgesics may reduce the analgesic effect and/or precipitate withdrawal symptoms. The concomitant use of opioids with other opioid analgesics, such as butorphanol, nalbuphine,pentazocine, may reduce the analgesic effect of hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen tablets and/orprecipitate withdrawal symptoms. When hydrocodone is used for a long time, it may become habit-forming, causing mental or physical dependence.

If you miss a dose of hydrocodone and acetaminophen oral solution or Norco®, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. The amount of medicine that you take depends on the strength of the medicine. Also, the number of doses you take each day, the time allowed between doses, and the length of time you take the medicine depend on the medical problem for which you are using the medicine.

Overdose

Withdrawal also may be precipitated through the administration of drugs withopioid antagonist activity (e.g., naloxone, nalmefene), mixed agonist/antagonist analgesics (e.g.,pentazocine, butorphanol, nalbuphine), or partial agonists (e.g., buprenorphine). Physical dependencemay not occur to a clinically significant degree until after several days to weeks of continued opioidusage. “Drug-seeking” behavior is very common in persons with substance use disorders.

The minimum effective analgesic concentration will vary widely among patients, especially amongpatients who have been previously treated with potent agonist opioids. The minimum effective analgesicconcentration of hydrocodone for any individual patient may increase over time due to an increase inpain, the development of a new pain syndrome, and/or the development of analgesic tolerance see DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION. Inform patients that anaphylaxis has been reported with ingredients contained in hydrocodone bitartrateand acetaminophen tablets.

The precise mechanism of the analgesic properties of acetaminophen is not established but is thought toinvolve central actions. Get medical help right away, if you have any of the symptoms listed above. Vicodin was recently reformulated, and the acetaminophen component was reduced to 300 mg in all preparations, however, generic formulations may still contain 500 and 750 mg of acetaminophen.

Advise patients of the potential for severe constipation, including management instructions and when toseek medical attention see ADVERSE REACTIONS, CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY. Opioids may also obscure the clinical course in a patient with a head injury. Avoid the use ofhydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen tablets in patients with impaired consciousness or coma. Rarely, acetaminophen may cause serious skin reactions such as acute generalized exanthematouspustulosis (AGEP), Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS), and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), which canbe fatal. Patients should be informed about the signs of serious skin reactions, and use of the drugshould be discontinued at the first appearance of skin rash or any other sign of hypersensitivity. Observational vicodin vs norco studies have demonstrated that concomitant use of opioid analgesics and benzodiazepinesincreases the risk of drug-related mortality compared to use of opioid analgesics alone.