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Humans can enjoy life as it is, follow our usual ways, develop our creativity and skills endlessly with only one condition - we are not in pain! Consider it closely! Can you think of yummy dishes when your have a toothache? Can you party hearty with your ankle sprained? Can you perform any routine task with delight when your mind is clouded with pain? The answer is certain - no, you cannot! Pain is the torture we all have to stand from time to time. We are afraid of pain and try to avoid it but we rarely think that pain is the best advisor we have, too. Amazed to hear that? Well, don’t be, because pain is what makes all living beings fight for life and take good care of their health!

As the main character of Hugh Laurie’s novel “The gun seller” stated, “pain is something you cause to yourself”. Indeed, when something is wrong with our body, either inside or outside, our brain creates strong throbbing impulses that we perceive as pain or chronic ache. This way our organism cries for help and pleads us to take care of the trouble as soon as possible.

When persons develop bad chronic health troubles pain can torture them on a twenty-four hour basis, turning their lives into a distressing ordeal. Of course, the major task of contemporary medicine is to help those patients diminish the pain and lead normal lives. Today narcotic medicines, both synthetic and natural, are the most efficient pain killers available.

Vicodin belongs to the class of synthetic opioid analgesics, too. Consisting of Hydrocodone (synthetic opiate) and APAP (Paracetamol or Tylenol), Vicodin causes double pain controlling action bringing you swift relief. This glorious combination of two pain relievers is know by numerous brand names depending on the concentrations of Hydrocodone and Acetaminophen in them. So:

- Vicodin consists of 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Vicodin HP is made up of 750 mg Paracetamol and 7.5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Vicodin ES is made up of 660 mg Paracetamol and 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Anexsia comprises 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 made up of 500 mg Paracetamol and 2.5, 5, 7.5 or 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Maxidone consists of 750 mg Paracetamol and 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Norco comprises 325 mg Paracetamol and 5, 7.5, or 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Polygesic has 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Stagesic is made up of 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Xodol comprises 300 mg Paracetamol and 5, 7.5, or 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Zamicet; Zydone comprises 400 mg Paracetamol and 5, 7.5, or 10 mg Hydrocodone.

Other non-active components 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 components of the medication, please, consult your physician before you get discount Vicodin and start taking it.

Vicodin, like any other opioid analgesic, is recommended to resist moderate to moderately severe pain. This med is most commonly recommended for acute, chronic and/or post-operative conditions. Sometimes it can also be recommended to overcome severe cough.

Semi-synthetic narcotic analgesic Vicodin is available in different medical forms: tablets, capsules and liquid solutions. The safe dose for adults is 1-2 tablets of Vicodin with every meal 4 times a day. In fact you can take this med with or without food but the majority of physicians underline that full stomach protects gastrointestinal tract. For example, if you have nausea after taking Vicodin, it may help you to take this drug 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 typical for Vicodin takers.

Please, remember that each sort of brand or generic pill contains various quantities of Vicodin. That is why you should be very careful how many tablets you take. The maximum safe amount of Acetaminophen for adults 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 ruinous ovedose! The distressing thing is that
Vicodin overdose can be ultimate.

Talking about Vicodin side effects, note that this drug can make you feel dizzy or drowsy. That is why you should be cautious taking part in activities demanding alertness and quick reaction (driving, using complicated machinery ect).

Keep off alcoholic beverages because they increase the risk of Vicodin adverse effects. Remember that Vicodin contains Acetaminophen in it, and this substance is able of causing liver damage. If in addition to it you use alcohol daily, it interacts with Acetaminophen and increases the risk of bad liver damage.

Just as all synthetic opioid drugs Vicodin can cause serious side effects, which are rather seldom. If you face a serious sign seek medical help immediately! Severe Vicodin side effects include:

- bad 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 causes 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, persons allergic to Vicodin can have severe allergic reaction:

- itching, skin rash or hives,
- unusual swelling of the mouth, tongue and throat, wheezing and breathing difficulty.

If you follow the course of Vicodin therapy and feel uncomfortable when you have to rise from a seated or lying position you can minimize dizziness and lightheadedness doing it slowly.

If you are rather old great caution is required when taking this medication - you may be more sensitive to the adverse effects of the medicine, especially decreased breathing and drowsiness. It is forbidden to prescribe Vicodin to humans under 18! Children should never be prescribed 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 vital, too. The effects of Vicodin during pregnancy and breastfeeding are not properly studied. To be on the safe side, avoid taking Vicodin if you are pregnant to keep your unborn baby safe. Discuss with your medical man all pros and cons before getting cheap Vicodin without prescription and taking it. Although some medical reports state that this med is safe for pregnant women, you should use it only if obvious positive effects outweigh the possible risks. Bear in mind 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 dependant within the mother’s womb! Nursing mothers should not use Vicodin because Paracetamol and Hydrocodone easily gets into breast milk effecting your baby.

Vicodin is sometimes applied 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 killer. The point is that although Hydrocodone that decreases 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 troubles in older dogs.

Up-to-date medicine is rather careless about Vicodin addiction these days - addiction to illicit street drugs and/or alcohol is considered to be a far more serious 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 nearest and dearest to the idea that everything is under control and they do not need the withdrawal treatment. What a shame!

If you feel any withdrawal symptoms after you stop taking Vicodin, seek drug abuse treatment immediately! Males and females who have a problem with drugs or alcohol must be particularly careful and consult their medical man 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 stay with 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 drug to reach the same pain diminishing effects.

If an opiate-tolerant person tries to drop taking Vicodine, he or she will experience bad opiate withdrawal symptoms. Vicodin addicts experience the first withdrawal symptoms within 6-24 hours following their last dose. They experience:

- 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 experience 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 distressing 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.