Vicodin

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support AutomaticWasher.org:

frigilux

frigilux

Well-known member
Platinum Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2007
Messages
12,663
Location
The Minnesota Prairie
Hey, anyone out there have experience with the painkiller Vicodin?

I've been dealing with a substantial amount of pain from a bad left knee, and a friend of mine (who recently had knee surgery) gave me a few of her Vicodin when she was visiting a few weeks ago.

I finally broke down and took one this morning, and.....I feel goofy! I sort of feel like it's the 70's and my friend Todd broke out the horse tranquilizers and I should be listening to Black Sabbath's 'Master of Reality' turned up to 11.

I'm doing a lot of food prep, and will have to be extra, EXTRA careful with the chef's knife, LOL.
 
I would reccomend you not to take them, especially if you are going to be driving or working. Go see your doctor who will give you something that wont have such an effect on you. Save taking vicodin until you are recovering from knee surgery
 
I was prescribed Vicodin when I had a kidney stone. For me I would get very emotional. I would cry at cat food commercials. Dont ask me why I dunno. It did kill the pain but one side effect that was horrible that i will never forget. They tell you to drink plenty of fluids. Well there is a reason why...if you dont you will get bound up. When I couldnt take a dump and everything just seemed to stop I was throwing up water and food.
I had to get off it and it took 2 days to pass out what felt like concrete. For the life of me I cant imagine being addicted to this drug. Now give me demerol and gawd that is one drug thats like truth serum to me. Scary....
 
What A drag It Is Getting Old! Doctor Please Some More Of Th

*LOL*

Hydrocodone (Vicodin) can make one VERY sleepy, and or as you say "loopy". Not some thing I would take if handling sharp knives and or cooking. Indeed the drug makes most people (including myself), more sleepy and actually working on serious pain. However DO NOT take with or if one has ingested alcohol. You can at best make yourself very/more sleepy, at worse go to sleep and never wake up again.

Being as the above may, it is about the strongest pain killer most doctors and dentists will give out these days, unless one has a very serious problem.
 
Have a read on Wikipedia....

...it does mention the specific side effects you experienced...

...and as someone who has worked for the Pharmacy Guild of Australia....please please please....DON"T take anymore of these until you have been to see your doctor or, at the very least, spoken to a pharmacist....

It is also a schedule III drug in the US....along with anabolic steroids and ketamine to name a couple of others....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicodin
 
Both Vicodin and Percocet made me wanna throw up when I had to take them after surgery. Percocet was good when I had my wisdom teeth pulled only if I took them and slept right after. I can only imagine what they would do to me if I took them with booze!
 
It should go with out saying but one should NEVER take someone elses prescriptions!! I have seen some horrific results such as severe allergic reactions that have stopped a persons breathing!

Let your doctor prescribe something for you :-)

Good luck and I hope you feel better soon!!!

Rich
 
I just got through taking Vicodin

and it is an effective pain killer, but I do nothing except lie in bed when I take it. It did cause constipation (so next time I take it, I would take a stool softener at the same time), and I had disturbing dreams. It made me so loopy that twice I forgot to take my antibiotic. My fingers were numb, which the doctor said was from all the analgesics (Vicodin among them) I was taking. It works, but there are side effects.
 
"NEVER take someone elses prescriptions"

Oh honey, if one did that would keep having to call doctor for refills! *LOL*

Really good things are no longer available,or so hard to obtain.The modern replacements leave much to be desired.

Seconal, Numbutal, Valium,Miltown, I mean when one simply cannot cope or needs to sleep but cannot, one wants something that will do the job and go. Ambien may be all very well because it is non-narcotic, but then one has to cope with drug induced sleepwalking and eating. So one will be well rested but gain 20 pounds! *LOL*

OTHO take a Seconal and you aren't going anywhere for a good eight hours! Not even if there is Sara Lee cheesecake in the fridge.

L.
 
they make me buzz!.....when i have a kidney stone attack these are given to me to ease the pain until it passes and to help me sleep....are you kidding, I'm up all night buzzing around the house, cleaning, scrubbing, washing my windows at 3 in the morning, laundry, pulling the fridge out to clean under it, its just non stop....my buddy knows when I've taken one, he just asks, how many did you take?....I'm going to bed, see you in the morning, and yes I'm waking him up to breakfast in bed at 6AM!....it's just GO,GO,GO!.....hate to see me at age 70...a walker and SPEEDY orthopedic shoes racing thru the stores....zzzzooooooooooommmmmmmmmm!
 
I had a case of "pink eye" in 2004. I had to wear my sunglasses into work, as glare from lights and computers were knocking the crap out of me and making my eye hurt like there was no tomorrow. I went to an urgent care center at one of the hospitals after work. They gave me drops to clear up my eye and Vicodin for the pain (this was on a Friday afternoon).

The next day, all I wanted to do was SLEEP! I think by this time I had taken only two pills, but I had stuff to do, so I tried taking Advil for the pain. It didn't even phase it, so I took another Vicodin and slept some more.

POWERFUL STUFF, MAN!
 
Thats normal its a opiod all of them have that.Vicodin (Hydrocodone) is on the weaker end of the spectrum.You might feel some itching,drymouth,and have a buzz.I have been on every painkiller out there due to my Sezures and the accidents they cauzed broken back and leg Ampuation.The most DANGEROUS one is a Pain Patch called Durgesic which the drug fentanyl in it is over 10,000 times stronger than morphine.Trust me dont live in pain it raises your blood pressure.
 
I don't have any problem with Vicodin. I think it depends on what you're doing after you take it (this would include recreational activities). If you're keeping busy, it'll provide a buzz and, if you're busy with another man, endurance where it matters most. On the other hand, if you just want to sleep, it will let you. Ditto, however on the stopped up effects. Don't take it on a continuing basis without having some blasting caps handy.

Personally, I find the anti-inflamation properties of ibuprofen more effective than the pain killing ones of Vicodin for my occassional muscle aches.

Ralph
 
One of the side effects of opioids is impotence. They're like alcohol in this regard: taking them once in a while will not affect your sex drive, and may even enhance it, but there's a near 100% chance that heavy or long-term usage will cause some degree of impotence (and constipation).
 
Yes, with vicoden, you have great stamina during sex, the bigger, the better, the curls your toes and scream, but you can't reach CLIMAX, it cancels out pain as well as pleasure, the more you do the better it feels, but you can't get to the TOP!
 
Launderess, I fully concur with your view on prescription-sharing, LOL!

Six hours after ingestion, and all is well, save for being a little tipsy and groggy. All kitchen prep work is finished, three loads of clothes are on the line and I'm going to settle in on the couch to watch Bringing Up Baby on Turner Classic Movies.

Dollars-to-doughnuts I'll be asleep well before the scene where Cary Grant, dressed in a woman's robe, exclaims, "I just went gay all of a sudden!"

Hasta la pizza, everyone.
 
Sorry for the advice ?

I was just trying to save someone from the possible reactions that I have encountered in my field of work. I've witnessed seizures, intense itching/rashes, anxiety/sleeplessness, suicidal thoughts, cardiac arrhythmias etc... and this, many times, was for people who had the medication prescribed!! Many people find out about alergic reactions by taking some one elses meds and many times they are alone when it happens. This is very scary and sometimes fatal.

Just my two cents! Proceed as you wish :-)

R
 
Vicodin for knee surgery? I've had arthroscopy 3x in my right knee and was given Percocet each time. It did well to take the edge off (2 every 3-4 hours for a day or two) and give me some level of comfort. Leaving some minor, and I mean minor, pain there did well to stop me from using it too much too soon. You might want to consider that.

If you're having a TKR, maybe that's a different story. I'm ready for one physically, but too young, so I can't say what the pain level would be there.

Needless to say, I agree fully with Rich that prescriptions should not be shared, especially when one hasn't had a history with the drug to be shared.

$0.02

Chuck
 
Rich & Chuck---Your advice is, of course, sound! Please don't apologize, and I would never recommend any one else take meds not prescribed to them.

Having sampled many, many prescription drugs when I was younger (and even more foolish), I've been lucky not to have serious reactions to any of them. I was hesitant to try the Vicodin, as I've heard it's pretty strong, but this morning my knee was killing me. I don't have to go anywhere, today, so I thought it would be a good time to give one a try.

As predicted, I slept through Bringing Up Baby. I set a kitchen timer to wake me in order to check the clothes out on the line, and when that lurched me back to consciousness, I was quite chilled. As soon as I went out to bring clothes in, I warmed up, but I almost felt refrigerated when I woke up, LOL.
 
Yogi, LOL, speak for yourself buddy! I've not known a Vicodin experience that didn't make my "life on the edge" much more manageable and enjoyable. I agree with you partially though, as getting over the edge can require a little extra effort, but how is that a bad thing?

Hopeful my choice of words has managed to accommodate the ladies and minors in the room.

If you're gonna reply to this one Yogi, you better e-mail me directly. LOL!

Ralph
 
On A Serious Note Here,

I have had chronic back pain for over 10 years, even after two hellious operations. I have been taking Vicodin off and on for two year under the watchful eye of a pain management physician. It has made the difference between holding down a job and going on disability. Thank God I have not gone on to take Oxycodan or be on a Fenanyl patch. I am now taking cordisone injections as well (my first injection was two weeks ago) with a little relief. I guess my point here is this; no one really wants to be taking an addictive drug along with wanting to have a degenerative disk and etc. But I believe as adults here, especially anyone here who has chronic pain can appreciate the benefits of this meds, especially if you have tried all the other OTC meds.
 
My Two Cents:

Vicodin is one of those things that should be taken only short-term, prescribed by a doctor who is committed to seeing that you don't get it for long enough for its addiction potential to kick in.

I have recently been through the death of someone very close to me, a death that was partly caused by careless administration of Restoril (temazepam). The manufacturer and the FDA recommend that the drug be prescribed for short-term (7-10 days) use only, but this person had been getting it for more than five years, and in higher doses than recommended, too.

The drug caused this person to lose his ability to remember to "slow down" when his end-stage heart failure was causing him problems. Although it was prescribed primarily for sleep, he began abusing the drug, and relied on Restoril to make himself feel "good", and so he did. He felt so good he burned himself out far earlier than should have been the case, running around and doing things he didn't really have the heart reserve to be doing. I tried everything I knew to bring his addiction to the attention of his hospice doctor and the hospice company nurses, but by the time I was able to convince them that Mr. Nice Guy was abusing Restoril prescribed by a careless, ignorant doctor, it was too late; he'd pulled the wool over everyone's eyes.

There are a whole lot of doctors out there who don't know anything like what they need to know about the meds they prescribe. The best doctors are the ones who are stingy with the high-powered stuff, in my opinion. There is a place for serious painkillers, don't misunderstand me. But if you're in the place where you need them, close and critical supervision is essential, I think.
 
Sandy, my take is pretty much the opposite of yours. Chronic pain is, by far, the most undertreated disease in the U.S. and in much of the Western world. Thanks to a 40 year "war on drugs", which thankfully President Obama finally declared an end to just last week, our government and physicians have become hysterical over most pain medications, and in particular the opiate class of medications.

The simple fact is, nature has provided these chemicals for the specific treatment of human pain (we have receptors in both our brain and gut specifically for opiates). Another simple fact is that addiction to opiates is a relative rare phenomenon, and even when it does occur, withdrawal symptoms are mild compared even to non-prescription drugs (such as alcohol), and are not life-threatening.

I'm very sorry to hear about your friend. However, benzodiazepines (like temazepam) are an entirely different class of drug than opiates, with far more severe consequences when they're misused.
 
Jeff:

I'm all for chronic and acute pain management, don't misunderstand me. Unfortunately, a lot of doctors don't do the management part. The same close friend was being handed oxycodone for mild to moderate pain, which is absurd - and he got it for well over a year before I was able to intervene.

A responsible doctor will do his or her best to match the drug, dosage and duration of any prescription to the patient's needs, and will review the situation at prudent intervals, which is exactly what did not happen with my friend. If someone actually needs heavy doses of morphine, then they should get them, no question. If they can manage well enough on Tylenol, then they should get that, is my take on it. And with either drug, the dosage should be stopped when the pain ceases, with proper medical support for any withdrawal issues for opiates or benzos or whatever.

I don't think we're that far apart - I want people to have whatever they need. I just want that need assessed properly and the actual use of the drug monitored responsibly. Since that's not even close to being a given, I prefer to remain very concerned about the potential for addiction, abuse and toxicity, that's all.
 
Nursing 101

Pain is a pure subjective symptom. One can examine, and try to determine if the person has pain and where it is coming from, but unlike say a fever or heart attack there isn't a certian clinical test to say "yes", this person is in pain.

Thus medications are dosed based upon assessement and reactions. However someone keen to get their hands on medication for pain for other reasons can often "fool" the most trained health care professional. It does not help that for years pain meds, even before such substances as morphine, and other powerful, but highly addictive durgs could be obtained without a doctor's consent.

To crack down on what the United States government felt was too many drugs being misused and diverted, there has been a concentrated effort to charge and prosecute doctors and others who "abuse" script writing. Every doctor, nurse and such knows the classes of addictive pain medications, and work to strike a balance between treating pain, but not allowing the patient to become "hooked", however again it is hard to tell when a person is truly in pain or just looking for a fix. I could whack your hand with a mallet, and you could not utter a sound, much less flich, but does that mean you are not in pain?

What has resulted from all the legal and judical prosecutions of doctors and nurses, is that many are loathe to give out anything stronger than Vicodin (Schedule II version) or similar mild pain medication. You can forget getting Percodan or any of the other real powerful pain meds unless one is terminally ill, and even then.

Problems with OxyContin diversion is the most recent of a long list of problems of good pain meds going to bad purposes. The result of which means those really in need of the medication have a very difficult time obtaining it if at all.

Despite my post above, when you have 70 year old grannies filling their scripts for OxyContin, then selling the pills, things are bad.

The other problem is today far more home care goes on than in years past, well say since modern hospitals began replacing being cared for at home. Today one has persons suffering from all manner and sundry of illnesses and diseases being cared for either in their own homes or in a home like setting. This means all their perscriptions, including any Scheduled II,III or higher drugs are not locked in a cabinet at the nurse's station, and subject to counts and verfication. Anyone in that household, or access to it can get at those drugs, this includes the home help.
 
I have had it prescribed in the past and did experience, "loopiness" on the first dose, the following doses eliminated the pain but the loopiness factor was gone.
 
I think it all depends on the person taking the drug. Besides the intended dulling sensation Vicodin provides, I feel no other serious side effects so it's difficult for me to even consider it addictive. Any sort of "feel good" effect on people likely stems from the pain relief. Wouldn't anybody be in a better mood if their pain level was significantly decreased or masked over completely?

I don't think pain killer addicts consider Vicodin much of a thrill. I would think they're more into muscle relaxers like Flexeril, which I only took once. I was a zombie for the better part of the next day and swore I'd never take it again.

Ralph

P.S. Yogi, thanks for the e-mail. I guess we didn't kill off Jeff's thread after all!
 

Similar threads

Q
Speed Queen / Huebsch - 5 year verdict
Replies
5
Views
519
qualin
Q
A
Maytag Wringers... All You Need to Know!
Replies
16
Views
1K
wayupnorth
wayupnorth
frigilux
Bad Knees, Anyone?
Replies
20
Views
37
mixfinder
M
M
The Inside Scoop
Replies
10
Views
178
stan
stan
M
Need some advice dealing with elderly parent...
Replies
25
Views
60
panthera
panthera

Latest posts

Back
Top