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Concerns Of Vicodin Es
by bizziebe, Apr 13, 2001 12:00AM
I have very bad teeth and can not afford to go to the dentist except when it gets so bad I half to get it pulled and go get help from an org. to help pay, but I have been taking One Vicodin es a day for about a year now and I had one doctor tell me if I take it before the pain starts then it won't get as bad as having to go to the ER and having to get a shot and I have panic attacks so I'm scared to take more than one and sometimes I half to take two in one day if my tooth is bad and it scares me because I have been hearing all this about getting addicted to them , what are my chances of withdrawl if I was to stop? My husband is getting his back pay on his va because he is disabled and very sick so I plan to get all my teeth fixed soon, but I'm scared of what I have been reading on this addiction.. Can you help??
Bizziebe
Bizziebe
Good luck.
Otherwise no problems(but think deeply if problem, do not blame drug-LOOK BEYOND) you have real easy time giving up on that dose>>>>>>>>>>>>.DO IT>.
Peace
True, for two years running I took up to 100 Vicodin per day (each pill with the equivalent of an extra-strength Tylenol in it) and through some work of the devil, I'm still walking around and my liver test three weeks ago was incomprehensibly normal. But I've been told by specialists that there are rare cases of people walking around that either naturally process Tylenol efficiently without appreciably damaging the liver, or, through years of progressively higher and higher doses, acquire a certain "resistance" to Tylenol's liver-toxic effects. I think I belong to the former category.
But if you're "the average joe," you don't enjoy that kind of safety margin, you need to heed the warnings on the bottles or from your pharmacist. I've most often heard that more than eight extra-strength Tylenol (generically called acetaminophen) has the potential, especially when there are other health factors involved, to cause irreversible liver damage leading to liver failure and death.
It's a lovely way to die, I hear. You get the news from your doctor that your liver has failed and you have a handful of days to live, allowing you to lie in a hospital bed and think about how you just threw your life away.
Of course, we're talking about maniacs like me who take ludicrous amounts of Vicodin, thus ingesting these aforementioned fatal doses of Tylenol. But, as I said, in my case, I have a deal with the devil that keeps me alive (I also haven't used Vicodin or Tylenol for several years, not wanting to test the limits of my infernal contract.)
As long as you don't exceed the maximum prescribed Vicodin dose, Bizziebe, you won't overdose on the Tylenol, so this message isn't really meant to alarm as much as educate you.
IMPORTANT: One recent, poorly publicized discovery, something you really should be mindful of regardless of whether you're doing one or 50 Vicodin per day:
Recent research has yielded what I understand to be pretty conclusive proof that mixing alcohol with Tylenol increases Tylenol's ability to damage the liver by a considerable margin. There is a well-documented story of a 30-ish man who downed three Tylenol with two beers and, as a result, died several days later of liver failure. The man had no previous history or either alcoholism or liver problems. Extreme example, I realize, but sobering tale, regardless!
This alcohol-tylenol "synergy of death" is on my mind from time to time because I know it's common practice for people to wash down Vicodins with beers or booze, either just to get a better buzz, or in an attempt at "stretching" their dwindling supply of Vics til he next refill becomes due.
Anyway, Bizziebe, especially since the MD on site took the time to address your concerns, I thought you were being ill served by not having the Tylenol-alcohol issue mentioned by him (Dr. Steve: educated, certainly, lazy, definitely).
Avoiding the problem, of course, is easy. Just don't drink with the Vics or anything with Tylenol (acetaminophen) in it. Tylenol, used properly, is still one of the safer, more effective over-the-counter painkillers around. I personally find enteric aspirin more effective (enteric ONLY, by the way, for your stomach's sake), but Tylenol, all in all, is still a good drug for minor pain and fever.
Hope this has helped without alarming you. From your earlier posts, it doesn't sound like you're doing anything dangerous with this stuff, but it's good to be aware of this stuff.
Peace.
just for the shear joy of terrorizing you further, there actually IS one more thing to be concerned with (truly) when taking Vicodin, my friend -- Tylenol-induced liver damage.
True, for two years running I took up to 100 Vicodin per day (each pill with the equivalent of an extra-stength Tylenol in it) and through some work of the devil, I'm still walking around and my last month's liver test was incomprehensibly normal. But I've been told by specialists that there are rare cases of people walking around that either naturally process Tylenol efficently without appreciably damaging the liver, or, through years of progressively higher and higher doses, acquire a certain "resistance" to Tylenol's liver-toxic effects. I think I belong to the former catagory.
But if you're "the average joe," you don't enjoy that kind of safety