What hazards and health risks are possible if you have to follow Hydrocodone treatment? Learn all the answers about narcotic analgesics you have been looking for!

What else but intolerable physical pain can make you feel so helpless and miserable? Pain that lasts for days, weeks and even months! It is time to say that it is bitter reality for many people with serious chronic health issues. Of course, what conventional medicine shoud take care of first of all is decreasing the person’s pain in the safest and swiftest way possible! Irrespective of their bad reputation, opioid analgesics are the most reliable drugs available now - every experienced practitioner will assure you of that!

Hydrocodone is one of the most effective narcotic pain killers and antitussive medications belonging to the group of synthetic narcotics. Of course, you can purchase discount Hydrocodone without a prescription right now to stop the distressing ordeal you feel immediately, but we highly recommend you to learn about all pros and cons before making this essential step.

It is not so easy to purchase Hydrocodone alone. As a rule Hydrocodone is an active ingredient in many different prescription pills. The majority of those compounds are prescribed to alleviate pain, although some of them also recommended to cure bad cough.

For the medical practice of pain control, Hydrocodone is recommended both for short-term pain (e.g. after a surgery or a complicated dental procedure) or for long-term pain control (e.g. cancer and other chronic states). Regarding the fact that Hydrocodone is a narcotic, many healthcare providers like to limit its intake to the shortest period of time possible.

All Hydrocodone containing medicines are combinations drugs because they contain Hydrocodone plus one or more active ingredients. For the medical practice of pain control, these other active ingredients are Acetaminophen (Tylenol) or Ibuprofen (Motri, Advil). For the medical practice of cough control there is a variety of different active ingredients, such as antihistamines - these medications are designed to prevent people from taking more Hydrocodone than prescribed. One medical investigation has suggested that the respiratory depression caused by Hydrocodone may be good for treating dyspnea related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and restrictive lung disease. However, the potential for the precipitation of respiratory insufficiency makes the recommendation of Hydrocodone really risky and it must be undertaken, if at all, with extreme caution!

As you already remember, Hydrocodone is a semi-synthetic narcotic pain killer acting similarly to Codeine. Both pills are very effective at overcoming pain and treating coughing, but they also cause drowsiness, mood changes and mental “clouding.” It happens this way because Hydrocodone and Codeine work directly in the brain binding opioid pain receptors of our central nervous system and suppressing the excessive cough signals.

It is very hard to name the biggest safe dose for any of the pure narcotic medication - the personal dose depends on the opioid tolerance of the man or woman taking the drug. So, the official maximum Hydrocodone dose is 240 mg per day. One man or woman can metabolize this quantity of the pain killer while another personality will have numerous adverse responses and symptomes of overdose!

Please, realize that all opioids are not cross-tolerant, for example, Oxycodone and Morphine do not produce complete tolerance to each other.

With all that, Hydrocodone presents an interesting exception among the opioid analgesics. It produces a double effect in combination with Acetaminophen. For example, a compound Hydrocodone/APAP goes under the major brand name Vicodin; a combination Hydrocodone/Ibuprofen goes under the major brand name Vicoprofen. As for Ibuprofen, it rarely causes overdose problems because to have a severe problem, you should take as much as 400mg of Ibuprofen per kilogram of body weight which is next to impossible. On the other hand, Acetaminophen called Paracetamol or Tylenol outside America is rather easy to overdose - 6000mg (6g) a day (this amount of Acetaminophen is contained in 12 tablets of Vicodin).

See for yourselves: each Vicodin contains 5mg of Hydrocodone and 500mg of Acetaminophen. If you use Vicodin ES, it contains 7.5mg of Hydrocodone and 750mg of APAP. In this case you cannot take more than 8 pills daily to avoid Acetaminophen overdose leading to severe liver toxicity. This amount of Acetaminophen is not enough for immediate death, but after some time the results will be horrible - you will face excruciatingly painful death by hepatic failure. That is why when you purchase discount Hydrocodone have a good look at the dosage of each active ingredient of the med to know for sure how many tablets a day you can take safely.

Let us find out the main trouble of Hydrocodone - its dependence. Please, realize that psychic and physical dependence as well as tolerance develop after repeated administration of narcotics; therefore Hydrocodone should be prescribed and administered with caution. Luckily psychic dependence is not typical when Hydrocodone bitartrate and Acetaminophen tablets are taken for a short period time for curing pain.

Physical addiction becomes possible when prolonged intake of Hydrocodone is required to prevent the painful withdrawal syndrome taking place after massive therapeutical use of Hydrocodone for several weeks or more. Warning! In some personalities a mild degree of physical dependence may develop after a few days of narcotic therapy!

Tolerance is the phenomenon when increasingly large doses of Hyrocodone are needed to produce the same degree of analgesia. Its first manifestation is a shortened duration of analgesic followed by decreases in the intensity of analgesia. It is impossible to predict the rate of development of Hydrocodone tolerance - it is individual for every personality. In any case - as soon as you notice the first signs of tolerance, make an appointment with your GP to prevent strong physical dependence!

It is a well known fact that persons any narcotics, antihistamines, antipsychotics, antianxiety agents, anidepressants, MAO inhibitors, alcohol and other CNS depressants experience a certain degree of central nervous system. If you start taking Hydrocodone in addition, which is a strong CNS depressants, too, the effect may be really dangerous! Never combine Hydrocodone with other CNS depressants unless your GP recommended you to! Please, keep in mind that Hhydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen tablets may cause additive CNS depression as well if they react with other CNS depressants within your body! Tell your healthcare professional that you take any narcotics, antihistamines, antipsychotics, antianxiety agents, anidepressants, MAO inhibitors and alcohol on a regular basis! When combined therapy is started, the amount of the both agents should be reduced to diminish negative interaction.

Use severe caution when combining Hydrocodone with other narcotics - you can easily overdose them and lose your life! Never take these medicines together unless you are under your MD’s 24/7 supervision.

The side effects of Hydrocodone are similar to those observed with other narcotic pharmaceuticals. Nervous system unwanted effects of Hydrocodone are: mental depression, dizziness, lightheadedness, respiratory depression which can be fatal, stupor, delirium, somnolence, agitation, and dysphoria.

Other central nervous system adverse responses refer to withdrawal symptoms after either abrupt stopping or fast tapering of Hydrocodone. They are: agitation, restlessness, anxiety, insomnia, tremor, abdominal cramps, blurred vision, vomiting, and sweating.

Gastrointestinal side effects include nausea, vomiting, constipation and dry mouth.

Dermatologic side effects are rashes typical for persons with renal insufficiency.

Genitourinary adverse reactions include ureteral spasm, spasm of vesicle sphincters and urinary retention.

Constipation is a typical and predictable side effect of Hydrocodone. The bulk of all people who take Hydrocodone develop some degree of constipation - in fact, you will be lucky enough to avoid this adverse effect of Hydrocodone only if you take it for a few days or if you take it occasionally.

No wonder the main part of practitioners recommend their patients to take Hydrocodone with a mild laxative from the very start before any problems occur. Please, realize that as long as you take Hydrocodone constipation will not go away or get better on its own! Individuals who has been taking Hydrocodone for years are just as likely to have constipation as persons who has just started taking it! The body will never adapt to the effects of Hydrocodone that cause constipation - it is a matter of chemical reactions taking place in your body.

Ordinary constipation can be extremely dangerous in certain cases - e.g. after having a baby or after having a heart attack - when straining should be avoided. Please, visit your general practitioner if your constipation becomes severe or if laxatives do not help any more! This way you will avoid irregular stools and a number of health problems connected with them.

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