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How long is "too long" on Hydrocodone

Hi, I broke some ribs in a bicycle accident about five weeks ago. Despite what some people have predicted, the pain has not really abated. My PCP has been good. We've put me on Hydrocodone APAP 7.5/500 three times a day "as needed" and that has worked really well. I'm about to go on my sixth week of this.
I still wake up with pain and have trouble turning my torso without pain as well as laugh without pain (without the Hydro.) Walking, jogging, biking are completely out of the question right now. I thought I'd be back to that by now.
I know Hydro is very much a habit-forming drug but that usually only happens after you've taken it for an "extended period of time." I want to go back to my PCP and just continue taking my regular dosage. If I go another two weeks (eight total,) am I entering the stage when withdrawal is going to be painful?
I have a very demanding job. I have to work these things around that. There really is no such thing as a day off. Therefore, I need to successfully manage this pain and successfully manage the withdrawal symptoms. I'm trying to formulate how exactly we pull that off.
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Avatar universal
I would not take the hydrocodone that you are taking anymore.  Liver damage is serious.  Your pain med has Tylenol in it and that is causing the liver damage, not the opiate.  Ask you Dr. for a pain med without the Tylenol in it.  I am surprised that your Dr. did not suggest this.
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6007588 tn?1378289591
How are you feeling now?
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Avatar universal
The thing about that though, Gizmo, is that those are people with substance abuse problems. They should have told the doctor in advance that they have problems with alcohol and/or drugs. I'm not passing judgment on your stepson, but I'm sure going in he knew that he could have a serious problem with them. I don't have any kind of special knowledge but my experience has taught me that people with addiction problems have them across the board, no matter the substance. By the age of 35 (my age,) I know that I can very much abstain from such things. I wish your stepson the best.
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Avatar universal
Well, I went in to see the doc today and the concern now is that I may have done a little liver damage. The sharp "stabbing" pain is an indication of possible liver damage. Now, of course, if it was severe, I'd be dead by now. Once she noticed that I fit some of the symptoms for liver damage, she insisted on staying on the pain meds as her experience indicated to her that I would be in debilitating pain without them. I think she's right. My attitude is: this makes sense to me. She said "maybe you'll experience a little w/d but we'll deal with that when we'll deal with that. In the meantime, let's keep you out of bed and functional." I guess, despite my concerns about w/d, I can certainly appreciate that point of view.
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Avatar universal
Good news is, this hopefully is not chronic pain, and this to shall pass, meaning should not be any problem taking meds as long as dr feels you need them.

So many people, my stepson being one, have a little injury, dental work, or surgery, they take the meds while heeling, but realize they don't want to stop. Drs will not keep prescribing them, so they have to get them different ways, and it is a long sad road.  Of taking more, stronger med to feel the good or high they are trying to achieve. I know what does that have to do with You, Unfortunately it has to do with everyone. People , like me, with chronic pain, have to deal with it all the time, we have to live with a lot of pain, cause if we took the meds that help, made us numb, sleep without pain, we would be on some of the strongest pain meds they make before long, and build a tolerance and dependence, and nothing would help.  So we take the lowest dose that will work and stay in more pain then we would like.

I wish you a speedy recovery, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to be pain free, just be careful, the longer you take them, the less effective they become!
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6007588 tn?1378289591
I know about broken ribs. They hurt. Wow do they ever. I have to be down and dirty on my advice, Beatle m'dear. Take it when your meds are gone. Be really really happy it is not your neck and you can walk. I disagree with the other posts re wrapping...it worked for me. Take the bandages off at night though to allow deep breathing. Find a position that's most comfortable in allowing your lungs to inflate the most without excruciating pain, and to open possible rem sleep to come into play as often as possible. The pain you are experiencing now will eventually abate into no pain I promise - until you're old and gray, and then? Well, I will leave that to your imagination. And on the pain meds? Take them as long as your doctor will allow it. I do not ascribe to that silly and deadly no-pain-meds group. Phooey!
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Avatar universal
Someone said something pretty smart which is: you have to look at it as a cost/benefit analysis. Truly, I wouldn't even have posed this conversation if I didn't have a job that required me to be in top form everyday. Now, some of you will say: what's a job compared to your health? True, and I agree. That said, managing your pain is not a crime and not even bad for you if it helps you sleep better and allows you to continue to function well. I guess what I'm getting at is: to people who are anti-anti-pain medications, that's your call, but there are some of us who feel like using them for a short duration actually improves our life. I'm just wondering if I need to cut it off now or if I could go a bit longer. When I don't take one, it feels like someone is stabbing me in the rib cage. That's not a pleasant feeling.
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Avatar universal
My son who had many broken bones on his left side body due to an accident was only on hydro 2 weeks after leaving ICU. 5 story fall from a parking garage onto concrete...

It took about 6-8 weeks (with PT 3 times weekly) for him to just be able to move around ...He broke his pelvis in 3 places, left ribs, shoulder scapula, bruised lungs, lacerated liver, broken nose.

I however would have him take Ibuprofen 800- in between his pain medication just so he would not get used to the pain pills. He slowly only started needing it at bed time & one pill before PT & one pill after PT.

We also used a Tens unit we purchased on line that really helped him with his pain. I

He is back at work and college...It does take time to heal...I guess I am trying to say have you tried Tens Unit or Ibuprofen 800 ? I was very concerned for my son (19yr) and pain pills, but he never asked for anymore after his 2 weeks were up, his doctor would have given him more, but he was okay on the ibuprofen 800.

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Avatar universal
I took lortab 7/500 for about 8 weeks 3 times a day, before and after my hysterectomy, one day after my surgery I didn't feel pain, I was heeling and great, so no more pain pills, all of the sudden I came down with a stomach flu, so I thought, the next day still a little under the weather, thank God still on leave from work, talked to one of my friends and she told me to take 1/2 of one of my pills, I told her I wasn't in pain, she said to trust her, in an hr no more flu, so I did a 1/2 a pill for a couple of days, and all was good! You might Just have to taper, wished I had found this site back then I wouldn't have spent those 2 days sick.
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Avatar universal
Thank you so much for the information! They do seem to work quite well still. I mean, they still work well enough to mask *most* of the pain (at first they masked all of it.) Masking most of it is much better than masking none of it. :-)
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Avatar universal
Actually, they don't treat fractured rips with wraps anymore. That's the first thing I learned when I got to the ER. The shallow breathing caused by the wraps leads to an increased risk of pneumonia. They just treat the pain. One of the main reasons treating the pain is so important is that the pain can lead to the same kind of shallow breathing. I didn't know all that.
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Avatar universal
Hello,  I just read your post and I will tell you 6 wks of being on a narcotic of any sort is generally long enough you will most likely notice it when you are no longer getting the medication. .will it be severe withdraw probably not being as you are on a very mild narcotic and a very low dose that is the good thing however you may notice having less energy than normal, yawning, some sweating along with having chills you probably wont feel good for a week or two but it will subside. If you are worried about having withdrawls and having to work talk to your Dr about it and see what he says u can also ask your Dr to taper your dose meaning instead of taking you right off of your current dose cold turkey see if he would be willing to maybe cut your current dose down to half and then keep you on half for a week or so and then taper down again, then competely off. Doing a taper on that small of a dose you would be fine and not have any withdrawal symptoms after that. And if your having any pain after going off the medications take ibuprofen it will help with mild pain and works great for swelling. If I were you though I would say if you can take something non narcotic now for pain like a couple ibprofen every 6 hrs I would taper off the hydrocodone and start on the non narcotic over the counter pain meds. If you continue taking the hydrocodone at some point it will no longer work for pain at your current dose and your Dr will have to increase it which they generally do not like it when you start asking to have the dose increased and if that happens your only going to get in worse with the withdrawl symptoms.  Good luck to you!
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Avatar universal
This type of pain from broken ribs will be with you for some time. Even after they have healed. It might be helpful to wrap your ribs especially when you have a grueling day at work. You may or may not feel symptoms of withdrawal going off the opiates. I think the important thing is to stay focused on your recovery and only take the meds on an "as needed"  schedule. I don't think that you will feel withdrawal symptoms after 6 weeks of pain meds. But a lot of it has to do with you as a person; if you have that type of personality that is addictive then I would say that you might feel withdrawal symptoms.
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