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We can enjoy life as it is, follow our usual ways, develop our creativity and skills endlessly with only one condition - we are not in pain! Consider it closely! Can you cook yummy foods when your have a toothache? Can you party hearty with your ankle sprained? Can you fulfill any routine task with pleasure when your brain is clouded with pain? The answer is certain - no, you cannot! Pain is the nightmare we all have to pass from time to time. We hate pain and try to avoid it but we seldom think that pain is the best advisor we have, too. Shocked to hear that? Well, don’t be, because pain is what makes all living beings fight for life and take good care of their health!

As the antagonist of Hugh Laurie’s novel “The gun seller” stated, “pain is something you cause to yourself”. It is true, when something is wrong with our organism, either inside or outside, our brain creates strong throbbing signals that we perceive as pain or chronic ache. This way our body cries for help and begs us to take care of the problem as soon as possible.

When patients develop severe chronic health problems pain can exhaust them round the clock, turning their lives into a negative nightmare. certainly, the major task of present-day medicine is to help those humans decrease the pain and lead normal lives. Today narcotic drugs, both synthetic and natural, are the most trusted pain killers available.

Vicodin belongs to the class of synthetic opioid analgesics, too. Consisting of Hydrocodone (synthetic opiate) and Acetaminophen (Paracetamol or Tylenol), Vicodin causes double pain relieving effect bringing you rapid relief. This glorious compound of two pain relievers goes under numerous brand names depending on the concentrations of Hydrocodone and Acetaminophen in them. So:

- Vicodin has 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Vicodin HP comprises 750 mg Paracetamol and 7.5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Vicodin ES is 660 mg Paracetamol and 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Anexsia is made up of 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone or 650 mg Paracetamol and 7.5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Dolorex Forte; Hycet; Liquicet; Lorcet consists of 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone; 650 Paracetamol mg / 10 mg Hydrocodone; or 650 mg Paracetamol and 7.5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Lortab is 500 mg Paracetamol and 2.5, 5, 7.5 or 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Maxidone is made up of 750 mg Paracetamol and 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Norco comprises 325 mg Paracetamol and 5, 7.5, or 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Polygesic is 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Stagesic comprises 500 mg Paracetamol and 5 mg Hydrocodone;
- Xodol comprises 300 mg Paracetamol and 5, 7.5, or 10 mg Hydrocodone;
- Zamicet; Zydone comprises 400 mg Paracetamol and 5, 7.5, or 10 mg Hydrocodone.

Other non-active components included in each pill of Vicodin are: colloidal silicon dioxide, starch, croscarmellose sodium, dibasic calcium phosphate, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, povidone and stearic acid. If you are allergic to any main or non-active ingredients of the medicine, please, consult your medical man before you get cheapest Vicodin and start taking it.

Vicodin, like any other opioid analgesic, is recommended to resist moderate to moderately severe pain. This medicine is most usually recommended for acute, chronic and/or post-operative conditions. Sometimes it can also be prescribed to overcome severe cough.

Semi-synthetic narcotic analgesic Vicodin is available in different medical forms: tablets, capsules and liquid solutions. The safe dose for adults is 1-2 tablets of Vicodin with every meal 4 times a day. Actually you may take this drug with or without food but the majority of GPs state that full stomach protects gastrointestinal tract. For example, if you have nausea after taking Vicodin, it may help you to take this medication with food. Likewise, if you follow Vicodin therapy, drinking plenty of water during a day can help in preventing constipation usual for Vicodin takers.

Please, realize that each sort of brand or generic pill contains different quantities of Vicodin. That is why you should be very cautious how many tablets you take. The maximum safe amount of Acetaminophen for grownups is only 1 gram (1000 mg) per dose or 4 grams (4000 mg) per day. If you take Vicodin, 1-2 tablets each time is needed, the max number of tablets a day is 8 tablets. If you take Vicodin ES, 1 tablet each time is needed, i.e. max 5 tablets a day. If you take Vicodin HP, 1 tablet each time is needed, i.e. max 6 tablets a day. Pain killing capsules can contain 2.5 to 10 mg Hydrocodone and 300 to 750 mg Acetaminophen. You should take Vicodin every 4 to 6 hours or 15 ml of liquid solution every 4 to 6 hours as needed. If possible, take minimal dosage of Vicodin and keep to the time span of 6 hours to avoid numerous side effects and addiction to this medication.

If you miss a regular dose of Vicodin, take it as soon as you can. If it is almost time for your next dose, take only that dose skipping the previous one. Never take double or extra doses to avoid dangerous ovedose! The distressing thing is that
Vicodin overdose can be ultimate.

Talking about Vicodin side effects, note that this med can make you feel dizzy or drowsy. That is why you should be careful participating in activities requiring alertness and quick reaction (driving, using complicated machinery ect).

Avoid alcoholic beverages because they increase the risk of Vicodin adverse reactions. Remember that Vicodin contains Acetaminophen in it, and this substance is able of causing liver damage. If in addition to it you use alcohol every day, it interacts with Acetaminophen and increases the risk of bad liver damage.

Just as all synthetic narcotic medications Vicodin can cause severe side effects, which are rather seldom. If you face a severe sign seek medical help immediately! Serious Vicodin side effects include:

- bad drowsiness,
- bad abdominal pain and constipation,
- slow heart rate,
- hyperventilation, troubled or slow breathing,
- hallucinations and altered mental status,
- confusion, anxiety or fear,
- unusual fatigue,
- hearing loss,
- decreased urination,
- cold and clammy skin,
- bluish tinge on the skin,
- blood disorders,
- low blood pressure,
- seizures,
- kidney and liver problems including failure.

Liver failure causes jaundice and a number of symptoms like pain in the upper right side of the abdomen, yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes and dark urine.

What is more, humans allergic to Vicodin can experience strong allergic reaction:

- itching, skin rash or hives,
- unusual swelling of the mouth, tongue and throat, wheezing and breathing difficulty.

If you follow the course of Vicodin therapy and feel uncomfortable when you have to get up or go to bed you can minimize dizziness and lightheadedness doing it slowly.

If you are over 70 great caution is required when using this med - you may be more sensitive to the adverse effects of the medication, especially decreased breathing and drowsiness. It is forbidden to prescribe Vicodin to persons under 18! Children should never be given Vicodin, as its safety and effectiveness in children has not been established till now.

If you have to undergo any type of surgery, tell your surgeon that you are using Vicodin ahead of time. This medicine weakens the action of narcosis that is why you may need to stop using Vicodin for a short time.

The topic of Vicodin, pregnancy and lactation is significant, too. The effects of Vicodin during pregnancy and breastfeeding are not properly investigated. To be on the safe side, do not take Vicodin if you are pregnant to keep your unborn baby safe. Discuss with your medical man all pros and cons before purchasing discount Vicodin online without prescription and starting it. Although some medical reports state that this med is safe for pregnant women, you should take it only if obvious positive effects outweigh the possible risks. Bear in mind that if Vicodin is regularly taken in the time before delivery, it may cause respiratory depression and withdrawal symptoms in the newborn baby because the fetus becomes Vicodin addicted within the mother’s womb! Nursing mothers should not use Vicodin because Paracetamol and Hydrocodone easily gets into breast milk effecting your baby.

Vicodin is sometimes applied in veterinary for dogs if they are allergic to Carprofen (Rimadyl Rx) or Etodolac (Etogesic Rx). But frankly speaking it is not the best choice of a pain reliever. The point is that although Hydrocodone that relieves pain is well tolerated but Tylenol is toxic to dogs and it causes numerous liver problems. All the same, Vicodin is sometimes the only option for chronic arthritis problems in older dogs.

Contemporary medicine is rather careless about Vicodin addiction now - addiction to illicit street drugs and/or alcohol is considered to be a far more dangerous condition. Frankly speaking, Vicodin is not really viewed as a drug able of causing the same negative problems as other drugs! No wonder that this attitude of medical people often leads Vicodin addicts and their close people to the idea that everything is OK and they do not require the withdrawal treatment. What a shame!

If you feel any withdrawal symptoms after you stop taking Vicodin, seek drug abuse treatment immediately! Patients who have a problem with drugs or alcohol must be particularly careful and make an appointment with their practitioner regularly. If you have to undergo Vicodin addictin treatment, be ready for the initial phase - the detoxification process. It cleanses the physical body of a personality and prepares him or her for further treatment.

Why is Vicodin so addictive? The matter is that the regular use of Hydrocodone causes certain changes you brain - in the way it handles opiates. The longer you take Vicodine and the higher is the dosage you take daily, the sooner you develop an opiate tolerance. Consequently you require increasingly greater doses of the med to reach the same pain controlling effects.

If an opiate-tolerant patient tries to drop taking Vicodine, he or she will experience bad opiate withdrawal symptoms. Vicodin addicts experience the first withdrawal symptoms within 6-24 hours following their last dose. They experience:

- runny nose, muscle aches and other flu-like symptoms;
- nausea;
- diarrhea;
- anxiety;
- depression;
- insomnia;
- irritability;
- chills;
- drug cravings;
- increased pain of the disease that forced them to take Vicodin.

Secondary Vicodin withdrawal symptoms that can last for months with varying degrees of intensity are:

- insomnia,
- lethargy,
- depression.

The withdrawal peak is located within 72 hours of the last Vicodin dose and it lasts for 4-5 days. Pain patients who are taking Vicodin for its analgesic effects experience increased sensitivity to pain during the withdrawal period.

Probably the best and the most realistic illustration of severe Vicodin withdrawal nightmare is the episode from the “House M.D” serial where the main character Greg House survives the most horrible Vicodin withdrawal symptoms. The best way to avoid Vicodin addiction is taking 1 tablet of Vicodin 3 times a day after meals and never prolonging the period of Vicodin therapy, then you will get back to normal painless life and will be able to enjoy every delightful moment of it with the people you love and care for.