Difference btw hydrocodone and oxycodone?

[SHELLBELL79]

What is the exact difference between hydrocodone/Vicodin/ loratab and oxycodone/ Percocet? I know Percocet is supposed to be lil stronger but what is the real difference? Does one work better on other pains? What's the difference btw hydro and oxy? Thanks!!

[philnoir]

acetaminophen , in daily doses greater than 4 g / day can cause irreversible toxicity to the liver. and once the liver goes, you're only hope for survival is a transplant -- a proocedure with limited success.

Opioid pain medications combined with acetaminophen ha e changed recently -- these medications, like Vicodin and Norco, Percocet, and others now have 50% less acetaminophen than they once contained.

Still, anyone requiring large amounts of opioid pain releiver should be prescribed medications w/o acetaminophen (called paracetamol in Europe).

If you are requiring more than 10 pain pills per day containing this known liver poison, talk to your doctor about hepatotoxicity or liver damage caused by acetaminophen/paracetamol.

[RunningMom]

Percocet works better for pain and it lasts longer in the body.

[LadyPam912]

There is a hydrocodone without acetaminophen in it.  I've been on & off it for years.  It's called Vicoprofen (with ibuprofen), so it's not nearly as hard on the liver.

[tsat]

Thank You.  Finally someone gave me the answer I was looking for.  Much appreciation for your knowledge and time.

[Tuckamore]

Tsat,

I'll glad this thread has given you a better understand of these two drugs. As with all old threads some of this information is old and no longer correct.

Hydrocodone for example is now the same Schedule as Oxycodone - or maybe better put it's considered "equal" by the DEA.

There are also some statements that are a bit off - remember we all have our own opinion and are entitled to it. There are no "experts" on this forum.

If you have a specific question I encourage you to begin a new thread - "question" - and obtain answers that are current and correct.

Take Care,
~Tuck

[Wolfie2t]

Another chronic pain patient - severe degenerative disc disease - 4 fusions, L2-S1 and both SI joints. And access to narcotic pain relief to those who need it to at least have some quality of life is ridiculous! I've just had DNA testing for
Drug interactions due to cytochrome P450, which tells how you metabolize certain drugs, including opioids. It's been around for quite some time and neither pain clinic told me about it. I have defects on 3 and am a rapid metabolizer, which means for some drugs I've metabolized them out before I've gotten the effects - why some people need higher doses to work or why some pain meds work better than others. Hydrocodone 10/325 works great for me, hydromorphon, nothing, oxycontin, little. I just had to have bone shave in my shoulder and they gave me percocet, not really helping. Today they had to give me quite a bit of fentynal to get pain under control and I could tell nurse was concerned - but they obviously didn't look at the test results I gave them. Have to call doc tomorrow to let him know I need something different.