Side Effects Of Hydrocodone

Hydrocodone is one medication with two uses. The National Library of Medicine lists it as a narcotic analgesic, a pain reliever that changes the way the brain perceives messages of pain, and as a antitussive, a medication that blocks the cough reflex.

Hydrocodone is really not a medication but is an ingredient in medications that combine it with acetaminophen, ibuprofen or another antitussive. There are some side effects attributable to hydrocodone in these combination products, but the other ingredients also have known side effects that are often overlooked because these ingredients are over the counter.

Side Effects of Hydrocodone

The most serious side effects of hydrocodone involve respiratory depression, which can progress to respiratory arrest and death. The Food and Drug Adminisration lists this side effect as a risk at dosages above 40 mg in a single dose or 80 mg per day.

Other side effects involve dizziness, confusion, cloudiness and impaired judgment.

Life all narcotic analgesics constipation is common when taking hydrocodone. It is not related to the daily dose but rather to the length of time the medication is taken and the patient's lack of activity.

Low blood pressure and a slowing of the heart rate can also occur, but most commonly these are seen in patients who overdose or who combine hydrocodone with alcohol or another central nervous system depressant.

Side Effects of Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen Combinations

On April 28, 2009, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a warning related to acetaminophen that applied to medications, such as Vicodin, which contain this ingredient. Liver damage is noted in some adults taking more than 4,000 mg of acetaminophen per day. Each tablet of Vicodin contains 500 mg of acetaminophen, so a person taking two tablets four times per day is at risk, according to Robert Fontana, M.D. of the University of Michigan.

When you take Tylenol or the generic, acetaminophen, separately in cold medicines or in medications designed to relieve pain in the evening and help you fall asleep, these all count towards the daily total.

People who drink more than two servings of alcohol a day as well as those who have damage to their livers already may not be able to tolerate even 4,000 mg per day without sustaining life-threatening liver damage, according to the a summary published in the 2005 edition of "Hepatology."

Side Effects of Hydrocodone-Ibuprofen Combinations

Ibuprofen carries the side effect of gastric bleeding. In the June 2008 issue of the "British Medical Journal", researchers announced that a relationship existed between ibuprofen use and an increased rate of myocardial infarction, or heart attack. This was an observational study only; no control group was set up and it is possible that other factors were involved. But if your risks of having a heart attack are already elevated, as they are in obese people and those with either diabetes or abnormal cholesterol levels, then avoiding the medicines like Vicoprofen, which combines hydrocodone with ibuprofen.