Hydrocodone Addiction: Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment
In rare cases, acetaminophen may cause a severe skin reaction that can be fatal. This could occur even if you have taken acetaminophen in the past and had no reaction. Stop taking Vicodin and call your doctor right away if you have skin redness or a rash that spreads and causes blistering and peeling. If you have this type of reaction, you should never again take any medicine that contains acetaminophen. Hydrocodone is a drug of abuse and you should be aware if anyone is using your medicine improperly or without a prescription. Vicodin is more likely to cause breathing problems in older adults and people who are severely ill, malnourished, or otherwise debilitated.
What are common prescription opioids?
Rehab centers use evidence-based strategies to alleviate opioid abuse. A treatment plan may include opioid agonist medications, such as methadone, to relieve withdrawal symptoms. They may also include cognitive behavioral therapy to teach strategies for living a healthier life.
Vicodin Statistics
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classifies hydrocodone as a Schedule II controlled substance. This classification is for drugs with a high potential for abuse. For some, use may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence. Many vicodin addiction people find that they have to take more to experience the desired effects, which may lead to physical dependence and potentially addiction. People with substance use disorders should be screened for depression and other mental health issues.
- Vicodin, along with its generic version, is the country’s mostly widely prescribed pain reliever, and it contains a narcotic component that can lead to physical and chemical dependency.
- Read more about this intertwined problem in our Prescription Opioids and Heroin Research Report.
- It is the strongest warning the Food and Drug Administration assigned to bring attention to the significant risks of the drug.
- If you feel you’re starting to crave the drug even at times when you feel little or no pain, talk with your doctor immediately.
- Many people who run out of the money they need to purchase opiates will turn to criminal actions to get their drugs.
Vicodin side effects
It was further demonstrated that the coupling between the opioid receptor and adenylyl cyclase required the presence of Na+ and guanosine triphosphate (Blume et al. 1979). Changing the allosteric site from an Asn131 residue to an Ala or Val residue increases β-arrestin-mediated signaling (Fenalti et al. 2014; Remesic et al. 2017). The residues involved in the Na+ allosteric site thus can act as “efficacy-switches” in the receptor signal transduction (Fenalti et al. 2014). Opioids work by attaching to and activating opioid receptors in your brain, spinal cord, and other areas of your body.
How Much Hydrocodone Can I Take?
If you or your loved one is experiencing any of these symptoms, call 911 immediately. An overdose occurs when people have adverse https://ecosoberhouse.com/ reactions to an excessive amount of a drug. Even when taken at recommended doses, Vicodin can result in addiction.
- Preclinical research reports differences in potency, where oxycodone was 2 to 4 times more potent than morphine after subcutaneous and intraperitoneal injection in rats (Pöyhiä and Kalso 1992).
- If you have a personal or family history of substance use disorders, an alternative pain reliever may be a better option for you.
- Up to 131 million Americans were, oftentimes unnecessarily, prescribed Vicodin in 2011.
- Contact your healthcare providers and tell them you want to detox from Vicodin.
- A long-term addiction that involves high doses of hydrocodone may involve a longer recovery period than addiction from short-term use.
But taking them for a long time and not following directions raises the risk of misuse and opioid use disorder. Once a physical dependence on Vicodin develops, addiction becomes more likely. Vicodin withdrawals can be intense and painful, and many people will continue using Vicodin just to avoid them.
- Most people get through the most uncomfortable symptoms within a few days or a week.
- Pharmacodynamics of oxycodone or its metabolites may allow for regional and cellular selectivity of opioid receptor activation.
- Besides DA, GABA is one of the principal neurotransmitters that mediate reward signaling within the NAc (Meredith et al. 1992; Shirayama et al. 2006).
- Be sure your doctor knows if you also take medicine for depression, mental illness, Parkinson’s disease, migraine headaches, serious infections, or prevention of nausea and vomiting.
Taking certain products together can cause you to get too much acetaminophen which can lead to a fatal overdose. Check the label to see if a medicine contains acetaminophen or APAP. Acetaminophen is a less potent pain reliever that increases the effects of hydrocodone. A range of treatments including medicines and behavioral therapies are effective in helping people with opioid addiction.
The enhanced analgesic efficacy of systemic administration of oxycodone, over other opioids, was reported in many clinical studies. Behavioral therapies for addiction to prescription opioids help people modify their attitudes and behaviors related to drug use, increase healthy life skills, and persist with other forms of treatment, such as medication. Some examples include, cognitive behavioral therapy which helps modify the patient’s drug use expectations and behaviors, and also effectively manage triggers and stress. Multidimensional family therapy, developed for adolescents with drug use problems, addresses a range of personal and family influences on one’s drug use patterns and is designed to improve overall functioning. These behavioral treatment approaches have proven effective, especially when used along with medicines. Read more about drug addiction treatment on the Treatment webpage.