November 20, 2006 - 10:45pm
Hi. Recently had outpatient surgery. Was initially given percocet (generic can't think of its name) and now 3 days --- Vicodin (also generic) . I was encouraged to break the pills, so that instead of taking 2 pills every 6 hours, I could get by with 1 and a half.
Is there any reason why I should not use up the perc. as the whole one and take half of the Vicodin? Or if I need to, take one of each? I am going to be having post-op pain for about 2 weeks and am thinking that maybe my body won't get used to one drug if I am throwing 2 different ones at it. Perhaps every 6 hours I alternate medicines? Is it even worth considering?
Thanks for your attention.
November 21, 2006 - 1:01am
#2
Hydrocodone vs Oxycodone
Percocet are actualy 10 times more potent the vicodin. Percocet contains Oxycodone and Tylenol , Vicodin contains Hydrocodone and tylenol. The Percs are much stronger and can produce bad withdrawl symptons if taken for more than 14 days and abruptly stoped. And lil lady opiate withdrawl will give more pain then you could imagine and even worst off fealing then you are now in your "post-op pain" if i were you i would just take the vicodin and throw away your percs or save them for a time you realy need them. Oxycodone is no joke i dont go to 4 NA meatings a week for nothing.
(edited by TeamPharmer)
November 21, 2006 - 1:59am
#3
suggestion
In my opinion and only my opinion, i would suggest that you continue the percocets for the time that you are in the most severe pain and then gradually go down to less and less of the vicodins until you can stand the pain then stop taking them altogether. If you let your body slowly wean down then you have less likely to become addicted and you will be able to control your doses.
***Again just my own little ramblings and thoughts!!
Danielle
November 21, 2006 - 8:39am
#4
Suggestion
I totally agree with Danielle2343. I think that this is the best way for you to treat your pain as well as ensure no dependency issues. I believe Danielle2343 says it all!
November 21, 2006 - 12:52pm
#5
I didn't realize!
Wow! Thanks for all your comments. I did not know there was such a big difference. The doctor did not say a word about this. I have since looked it up, and see I got a smaller dose of the perc. (5/325 ) and a larger dose of Vicodin ( 7.5/750) from looking at the numbers ONLY one would think the Vicodin was stronger.
I guess my idea of mixing is stupid. Maybe I'll just take the percocet at night.
Why do they have so many doses of these meds anyway?
November 21, 2006 - 11:06pm
#6
Percocet 10 times stronger?
I am not sure about percocet being 10 times stronger vicodin mg for mg. From what I have been lead to beleive is that 5mg oxycodone is equal to abuot 7.5 mg of hydrocodone. That would make it about 1/3 stronger. I find it hard to beleive that 5mg oxy is equal 50mg hydrocodone. That is not correct to my knowledge. I would suggest alternating depending on your pain level as if you continually take the hydro/apap 7.5/750 daily, yuo might overdo it on the tylenol and as the percocet hads less apap, it might be a wise decision to alternate meds. This is solely my opinion and should be regarded as such. Best of luck and I hope you heal well.
JeckPDX
November 21, 2006 - 11:17pm
#7
Carlos~ MY experience
I think percs are way wreaker than hydro.
I took both for a back injury>surgery>addiction to 'major' hydro amounts>detoxed>clean and.....
hydro was the only thing that touched the pain.
I know for a fact doctors love to get patients hooked on pain meds.
It pads their back accounts.
byw~I dont mean to be rude- I feel for anyone in chronic pain!
Been there -done that- now done-now helping others!
EDIT- I hate mis-spelled words!
November 21, 2006 - 11:45pm
#8
There are a couple of
There are a couple of things wrong with the conversions in this thread.
Oxycodone is no where near 10x stronger than Hydrocodone, nor is it weaker (although some patients may respond to Hydrocodone better than Oxycodone).
Thatswhatsup gave an accurate comparison by saying that Oxycodone is roughly 2.5x stronger than Hydrocodone. Using Rawoody's well put together Opioid Comparison chart, you can see that Oxycodone is listed as being somewhere between 2-3x stronger than Hydrocodone.
Opioid comparisons are hard to gauge since everyone's body is different and there are many factors that go into a conversion (age, weight, cross-tolerance, etc). But using the chart for a general overview can give you a rough strength comparison.
November 22, 2006 - 1:14am
#9
Thanks Incognito, I thought
Thanks Incognito, I thought something was wrong with that comparison. I had never heard that percocet is 10X stronger than Vicodin (especially after reading Rawoody's comparison chart). I can attest to the fact that Percocet and I do not get along after this whole kidney stone ordeal.
gtrplayer
November 23, 2006 - 2:29pm
#10
mixing RX and OTC
Now that I am further along in my recovery and have managed to work thru the initialpain, and even been able to have some med. free time,(still have 2-3 weeks recovery, though); I'm wondering if just like all bodies react differently to opioids, do they react differently to OTCs? In my case, both of my medicines came with acet. (tylenol, generic).
Should that matter? I see in some OTC headache remedys they mix acet. with aspirin for greater pain relief. Could I try that in an effort of not using as much narcotics? Anybody have an opinion?
November 23, 2006 - 3:32pm
#11
apap and NSAID's
That would be an ideal solution to alternate acetaminophen with asparin, advil, aleve or another NSAID. This will definitely provide more analgesia.If you can get through without taking a narcotic thuis is defintiely the way to go. Glad to hear you are diong better.
November 23, 2006 - 5:39pm
#12
Hey, a post I can relate
Hey, a post I can relate to. I know that my pain management docs include all of the above except aspirin. In addition to the opiate medications they advise me to take, they suggest using 2 aleve tablets in the morning and two aleve tablets at night. I have found that incorporating an NSAID into the therapy greatly reduces the amount of "throbbing" type pain that I have . On the other hand, I have found that if I just take the Aleve , or just take the Norco, I have no where near the benefits as when I use both medications.
gtrplayer
November 25, 2006 - 11:02am
#13
mixing meds
I suppose this is what synergy is, right?
Also, does anybody know why if I neglect to take ANY med. for more than say 8 hours or so, the pain is worse than if I just took a small dose in 6-7 hours? The nurse had told me not to let the pain get too bad...but I didn't realize that she was truly serious; it is easier to keep post op pain under control than to GET it IN control. Sorry if that doesn't make sense, It is hard trying to type out the concept.
November 25, 2006 - 11:18am
#14
percs are deffinately not
percs are deffinately not 10x stronger than vicodin. where did you get that from.
November 25, 2006 - 11:26am
#15
just dont take more than
just dont take more than 4000mg of apap a day
to ur question above, you are probably feeling a little withdrawl or the pain itself since the meds have worn off. This is actually kinda good because you don't want to get hooked on these meds and these feelings should help you stay away from them in the future, but don't put yourself in pain deliberately.
November 25, 2006 - 4:50pm
#16
Carlos- That makes
Carlos-
That makes perfect sense concerning controlling pain. You are correct, in that this is a synergestic approach. However; my pain doc is in office with a surgeon, a podiatrist, a dentist, a psychologist, a chiropractor, and a team of physical therapists. My docs all stress the "don't let it get unbearable" concept, which is why they rarely prescribe meds on an "as needed" basis. Most of the time, it is take "XX" every 6 hours, instead of take "xx" every 4-6 hours as needed for pain.
gtrplayer
November 27, 2006 - 11:58pm
#17
Rx drugs, withdrawal???
I am now 10 days out of surgery and only taking the Rx meds 1x a day and 1x before bedtime. Not sure I understand about the acet. and the under a certain amount of milligrams, but it is certainly workable; and I imagine there are good reasons for this.
Am wondering why there were a couple of thoughts in this thread about withdrawal? If Rxs are used as given by a doc. shouldn't there be no problem with stopping them, especially if it is NOT a chronic condition? My estimated "back to work" time is 4 weeks, and by then I wouldn't need even aspirin. Should I be concerned with w/drawals from the Vicodin and/or Perc. ? I am just using what was prescribed. The only clever idea I THOUGHT I had was mixing the 2.
Haven't mentioned this to my doctor, but am now getting concerned.
November 28, 2006 - 1:00am
#18
Addictions can be
Addictions can be accomplished in that short amount of time, but I very seriously doubt that it is something you have to worry about. You seem to be willing to go through the therapy and eliminate the use of your narcotics all together. Think of the addiction part of it as taking the medication when you do not need it. You shouldn't suffer much, if any, provided you have been taking the pain meds for pain, not for recreational purposes. Glad to see someone who actually wants to get back to work for a change. I admire you for that. Kudos to you my friend.
gtrplayer
November 28, 2006 - 10:50pm
#19
Question
Well, thanks. I was just about to read the next forum when the thought crossed my mind...do people actually start taking meds TRYING to get addicted? We all know that folks get addicted, medicine is used recreationally etc. etc. But does anybody really think, gee, this pill is wonderful I'll become its slave??
Perhaps I'm being flip, and I apologize if I am. To become an addict within 3 weeks sounds horrifying; but it somehow doesn't seem like a choice.
November 28, 2006 - 11:31pm
#20
Carlos
Most people become addicted by abusing them, although some people just have addictive personalities. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, that is not a lot of pain medicine at all.
I'm sure your Dr. knows what he or she is doing, and they are not trying to get you addicted to pain killers.......
the percs are about 2.5x stronger, but both do similiar things. If you can get by with less than that would be good. breaking them in half is fine and good for keeping your tolerance down