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Dilaudid
by martiemark, Oct 23, 2009 08:39PM
This is my very first post and first time on this site. I have been reading some questions from other members and I must say that I enjoy reading the response to many questions asked by members. I have learned a alittle my self.....lol..... So now I have a question. I am taking Vicoprofen for leg pain. It works for allmost 2 hours then I feel like I have not taken anything. Someone told me to ask my MD to write for Dilaudid. If Dilaudid does work me (if MD writes for it) what are the chances I will get hooked and take it for the high and not for the pain? How long does Dilaudid stay in your system? What are some side effects that come with taken Dilaudid?
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Dilaudid also has a short half life and all the prescriptions I have seen say take as needed every 2-3 hours. This medicine will also sky rocket your tolerance. It's availability rate to the body when taken orally is very low. You will be prescribed either 4 mg or 8mg for oral consumption. If you were to have alot of pain and go to the hospital, they would be giving something in the .1mg range into the IV. The stomach acid actually destroys the dilaudid when taken orally.
You also did not say what strength Vicoprofen you are taking. Anyway, the next step in pain control is oxycodone. This can come in the form of immediate release or extended release known as oxycontin
The really bad is that lie all opiates, Dilaudid is very addictive;
Hope this helps!
As far as dependency goes, if you take opiates every day, there is about a 99% or more chance you are dependent. Maybe you will be lucky and not have to go through that. Some people do not even get withdrawal symptoms after years of taking opiates. Those are few and far between.
You said you had leg pain. Can it be fixed with surgery? Opiates were never meant to be taken long term. I don't say that lightly. If I were you, I would be looking for a way to fix my leg rather than upping drugs, especially in the opiate realm.
I am not trying to be mean in any way. I too started out like you except with a much worse abdominal condition. In the beginning, I was taking 5 mg percocet (Oxycodone Immediate Release (Oxy IR) to which I took about 2 every other day. In the end, which was 32 days ago, I was up to 450 mg per day just to not be crying on the couch in pain. My very compassionate doctor would up my dose everytime I asked. Looking back, I wish I had done some things differently. What was the turning point? My doctor started giving me fentanyl patches. I wore one and after the three days decided that I was NOT going down that route. Long story short, I found a specialist who fixed my issue and then I had to get off the pain meds.
Sorry to get long winded. I am not calling you an addict by any means. You, like me, took the meds exactly as prescribed. It has been said that our bodies are actually built to accept and like opiates. We can talk about the MU Receptors another time.
If you still need and want to up your meds, I have heard that if you ask for a drug by name, your doctor will think you are a drug seeker. Just tell the doctor that what he has prescribed is not working. Always tell them the truth. Let them decide whether they want to up your medicine or not.
The next step up for you might be a 10/? Vicoden/Lorcet/whatever which is hydrocodone mixed with tylenol/ibuprofen. After that, you go to percocet, oxycodone, which is 1.5 times stronger than hydrocodone. The highest strength in comes in is 10/350 to which all percocet is IR.
After that, you start getting into the pure oxycodone without the tylenol. They do this to limit the amount of tylenol your liver is getting. The limit is 4000mg per day. Ibuprofen also has a limit so I would talk with your doctor about that.
Bottom line is to talk with your doctor, trust your doctor, ask lots of questions, and take as prescribed.
Hope this helps!
I take the ER Hydromorph Contin every 12 hours, and the IR Dilaudid every 4-6 hours for breakthrough.
This medicine is actually sometimes seen as less addictive than other drugs (or at least easier to come off of), and has less side effects than most of the rest.
It is true that the liquid form of Dilaudid given in the hospital is much more potent than the tablet forms.
I started Dilaudid when I became too tolerant to Oxycodone. I am so happy with the pain relief it gives me. It is hands down more effective for me than any of the other drugs I was prescribed before it.
The difference between the Dilaudid and the Oxycodones (both forms, ER, and IR) is amazing to me. I don't get all the loopy side effects at all, nor do I feel withdrawal symptoms if I skip a pill... and because of that, I'll never go back on the Oxys.
****Now, one thing I have learned, is that all medications are subjective, and all results are very individual. What might work for you, may not work for me. Many people have great success with the Oxycodones, and I did for almost 2 years. My options besides the Oxy when it stopped working, were the Fentanyl Patch, or Dilaudid. We had already tried Fentanyl some months before, and could not function while it was in my system, So Dilaudid was for me, and it works so well. And as I said with the Oxys, many people have great success with Fentanyl, but it was not for me. Another thing, is that for some of these drugs like the Fentanyl and Dilaudid, you MUST be "opiate tolerant", otherwise they are very dangerous.
If the Vicoprofen is not working any more, talk to your doctor...you probably need something that is extended release if you feel you need something every 3 hours.
I hope this was helpful...and I hope you get something to relieve your pain soon!
One thing though and it is a question from me. Isn't shingles nerve pain? I am not a doctor by any means but search this site for shingles and you will get some insight. I was thinking Lyrica or something like that. Maybe I am totally off base.
Medhelp search is your friend as well as Google itself.