why is lortab/hydrocodone so widely used?

[Tristicus]

I took it for my gallbladder, and it didn't seem to do all that well...

 

[Colt45]

I don't remember if I've ever had vicodin, but the percocet they gave me when I had my wisdom teeth out was quite effective... 10/325's, I think.

that's what i don't understand- why is the tylenol even there? why not just give two scripts so you can meter the pain med without worrying about destroying your liver?

To make it less saleable... junkies can't take enough to get good and high without blasting their liver. vaguely similar concept to denatured alcohol, lol.

also, i didn't even realize until just a few minutes ago that oxycontin, vicoden, et al are all basically the same med. so basically the next step up from hydrocodone is...heroin, in one of it's medical forms. seems like quite a gap.

Yeah... morphine, dilaudid, fentanyl, etc, for serious pain. Generally much more dependency causing, and much more useful on the black market, which sort of answers the OP's question about them only giving out vicodin.

 

[SlowSpyder]

that's what i don't understand- why is the tylenol even there? why not just give two scripts so you can meter the pain med without worrying about destroying your liver?

also, i didn't even realize until just a few minutes ago that oxycontin, vicoden, et al are all basically the same med. so basically the next step up from hydrocodone is...heroin, in one of it's medical forms. seems like quite a gap.

edit: also, i'm not really bitching about the pain, just the med. i was awake for the extraction and it doesn't seem like it's going to hurt that bad, probably because this tooth was already rotted out and infected (hooray for poorly done root canals).

Drug manufacturers say that the apap is there to make the pain control more effective. But, it's also there to try and persuade people not to abuse it because they risk liver damage if they do. For many people this just ends up causing liver damage and not stopping abuse.

 

[rudder]

Hydrocodone never did anything for pain for me.

Doesn't stop the pain... but it makes you not care about the pain.

 

[rudder]

not 100% true.

I suffer from chronic pain from Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid Arthritis and minor Cerbal Palsy.

Some days a 7.5-750 is enough to keep the pain in check. if it does not i will take another and that usually does it. BUT there are days when i could take the whole bottle and it wouldnt put a dent in the pain.

You need to look into Lyrica (horrible side effects) or Cymblata (worse side effects than lyrica) but it does deaden your nerves.

 

[waggy]

You need to look into Lyrica (horrible side effects) or Cymblata (worse side effects than lyrica) but it does deaden your nerves.

yeah i take lyrica now. it has helped with the "daily" pain but when it gets bad lyrica is useless.

I am lucky in that i haven't seen any of the side effects.

 

[SlowSpyder]

yeah i take lyrica now. it has helped with the "daily" pain but when it gets bad lyrica is useless.

I am lucky in that i haven't seen any of the side effects.

Right with you... Lyrica is a good pill to take daily to slow down the nerve pain, but it wasn't something I could take for a flare up.

 

[BTA]

only thing hydrocodone does to me is make me constipated...

 

[mattpegher]

To many people on this forum not only have tried hydrocodone but know it well enough to compare to other meds. That is sad.

 

[rudder]

To many people on this forum not only have tried hydrocodone but know it well enough to compare to other meds. That is sad.

How is that sad? I had to go through two rotator cuff surgeries. I was prescribed percocet followed by lortab. Even on the percocet the pain was horrible.

I have had teeth pulled and have been prescribed codeine. I have had cough syrup with codeine and that is the only thing that actually works for a bad cough.

If you live any type of active live... you are gonna need this shit at some point. I am not going to go through shoulder surgery and take ibuprofen to make a point.

 

[Cheesetogo]

When I had my wisdom teeth out, I found that taking 2 Ibuprofen did a lot more for me than a lortab. The hydrocodone put me into a daze, which was kind of nice, but didn't really relieve the pain.

 

[mattpegher]

How is that sad? I had to go through two rotator cuff surgeries. I was prescribed percocet followed by lortab. Even on the percocet the pain was horrible.

I have had teeth pulled and have been prescribed codeine. I have had cough syrup with codeine and that is the only thing that actually works for a bad cough.

If you live any type of active live... you are gonna need this shit at some point. I am not going to go through shoulder surgery and take ibuprofen to make a point.

The comment is not that any one of us shouldnt at some point need the medicine but that so many seem to have.

 

[shortylickens]

all i remember is when i had my 4 wisdom extracted vicodin (hydrocodine?)did nothing and i was still in pain. I drove to the dentist to pick up a perscription for some percocet, that sure did the trick.

Percocet made me wish I had 8 wisdom teeth.

 

[marincounty]

Drug manufacturers say that the apap is there to make the pain control more effective. But, it's also there to try and persuade people not to abuse it because they risk liver damage if they do. For many people this just ends up causing liver damage and not stopping abuse.

Because the govt and the drug manufacturers don't care if drug abusers suffer or die?
Recently they lowered the amount of acetaminophen that they say is safe.
The govt has a history of discouraging doctors from prescribing pain killers, this is part of that. They are so afraid of abuse of pain killers they would rather you die than get high.

When I had kidney stones a while back the doctor tried to give me scrip for vicodin. I told him it did next to nothing for the pain, so he relented and gave me scrip for percocet, but made me promise him I wouldn't sell them on the black market. WTF? I need this for the pain-I'm not about to sell them. Thankfully the ER doctor wrote me scrip for Dilaudid, that's a good strong pain reliever. Morphine barely dents the pain of a kidney stone. Demerol is the best pain reliever I've ever had but when I asked my doctor to write me a scrip for pills he refused, saying he didn't want me to wreck my car on the way to the ER.
And they wonder why there is such a blackmarket for prescription drugs?

 

[MetalMat]

Cause its a fun rec drug. Pop a Narco and got out drinking sometime

 

[RoloMather]

Demerol should not be prescribed. There are better drugs out there with less side effects.

 

[MetalMat]

seems pretty goddamned worthless. it appears to be the most widely prescribed pain medication, yet it's barely if any more effective than OTC painkillers (probably gets all its effectiveness from the acetaminophen, anyway). on top of that, druggies seem to love it because it might make you a little loopy.

even my mom, who gets drunk off of a glass of wine, wired off a glass of soda, and generally feels the effects of all meds 5x as hard as she should, says that hydrocodone sucks. what legitimate reason does this medication have for being on the market?

i'm taking this shit for a tooth extraction, and i think i'm just gonna switch to excedrin migraine.

You could always ask for Tramadol, its weaker that hydros for the most part and does not make people loopy.

 

[RoloMather]

Best drugs to take if you want to get high are the ones that gets absorbed quickly:

IV Heroin

IV Fentanyl and derivatives

 

[MetalMat]

Best drugs to take if you want to get high are the ones that gets absorbed quickly:

IV Heroin

IV Fentanyl and derivatives

For anything you have ever needed to know about drugs:

http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/

They have some seriously fvcked up people but there is alot of good information on what to do and what not to do.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Two reasons.

First for the vast majority of people it does work.
Second, docs hate writing C-II prescriptions like Percocet, because every time they do there's a record. Writing for too many of that kind of medication may trigger an audit from the state or federal narcotic bureaus. Consider them as IRS auditors without a sense of humor.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

not 100% true.

I suffer from chronic pain from Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid Arthritis and minor Cerbal Palsy.

Some days a 7.5-750 is enough to keep the pain in check. if it does not i will take another and that usually does it. BUT there are days when i could take the whole bottle and it wouldnt put a dent in the pain.

I hope you are on some sort of DMARD as well?

 

[SlowSpyder]

Two reasons.

First for the vast majority of people it does work.
Second, docs hate writing C-II prescriptions like Percocet, because every time they do there's a record. Writing for too many of that kind of medication may trigger an audit from the state or federal narcotic bureaus. Consider them as IRS auditors without a sense of humor.

Yea, ER docs love tramadol for that reason. They can prescribe it and not have to worry as it's non-controlled. Oddly enough, there are a minority of people who really like tramadol compared to other 'stronger' opiates/opioids. Tramadol is available without any other substance added, is non-controlled, and has a long half life (stays in your system for a long time). One of it's major metabolites hits your opiate receptors pretty good, too.

Actually, people would be suprised at what non-controlled substances are out there... some are over the counter and are very easy to get... I don't think you even have to be 18 for some. Some are just other plants.

There are plenty of non-scheduled benzos.

There is a drug that you can buy at your drug grocery store that is very closely related to meth that you can take without any preperation.

Getting morphine/codeine is painfully easy. There are other 100% legal herbs that have chemicals that are orally active and much stronger than morphine.

Plenty of legal cannabinoids.

The list goes on and on. The government keeps scheduling drugs, and people keep finding newer chemicals to stay a step ahead. One will get popular enough to get the attention of the DEA or whoever, be taken off the market, and another takes it's place.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

To many people on this forum not only have tried hydrocodone but know it well enough to compare to other meds. That is sad.

What is sad is that your war on drugs has made you think that everybody who genuinely needs pain meds are junkies...

PS. You can buy something broadly similar to vicodin OTC in the UK...

 

[marincounty]

Two reasons.

First for the vast majority of people it does work.
Second, docs hate writing C-II prescriptions like Percocet, because every time they do there's a record. Writing for too many of that kind of medication may trigger an audit from the state or federal narcotic bureaus. Consider them as IRS auditors without a sense of humor.

And it's wrong. The govt needs to back off this witch hunt and allow doctors to prescribe pain meds. People are suffering because of their anti-drug hysteria.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Two reasons.

First for the vast majority of people it does work.
Second, docs hate writing C-II prescriptions like Percocet, because every time they do there's a record. Writing for too many of that kind of medication may trigger an audit from the state or federal narcotic bureaus. Consider them as IRS auditors without a sense of humor.

I am led to believe that IRS auditors have their sense of humour surgically removed before being instated in post...