Is 50 Mg of hydrocodone per day ok?

Answer 1

I took that much hydrocodone or more, in addition to other longer acting opiates, daily for pain management for nearly 6 months. Medically speaking, it is safe to take 50mg of hydrocodone per day if you have a tolerance to opiates. Tolerance develops when one takes significant amounts of opiates (hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine, heroin) frequently for an extended period of time. However, that much hydrocodone could cause side effects such as constipation, drowsiness, itchyness, sleep disturbance, irritability, decreased libido, and more. If you take that dose every day for an extended period you may also become physically dependent on hydrocodone. That means that if you suddenly stop or significantly decrease your dose you may experience uncomfortable flu like withdrawal symptoms. This commonly includes runny nose, body pain, sweats, chills, hot flashes, nausea, diarrhea, restlessness and more. So long as you avoid acute overdose there is no danger in taking 50mg of hydrocodone on a daily basis. However, to my knowledge, there is no preparation of hydrocodone that has hydrocodone as the only active ingredient. The vast majority of pills containing hydrocodone also contain APAP (acetaminophen, paracetamol, & Tylenol are also names for this same chemical), which can be very toxic to the liver. Pills like Vicodin, Lortab, Norco, and all of their generics contain APAP in varying amounts. For example a 5/500 Vicodin contains 5mg of hydrocodone and 500mg of APAP, while a 10/325 Norco contains 10mg of hydrocodone and 325mg of APAP. There are dozens of different preparations available with doses ranging from 5mg - 10mg of hydrocodone combined with 325mg - 1000mg of APAP. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the maximum safe acute dose of APAP is 6g (6000mg) in one day. The FDA has also stated that if APAP is to be taken every day for an extended period, then the maximum safe daily dose is 4g (4000mg) per day. However, recent research has shown that even 4g of APAP per day has a negative effect on the liver. So, even though the hydrocodone itself is not dangerous, the other active ingredients in the pill syou are taking may be. If you are taking this medication to treat chronic pain then talk to your doctor about trying different, longer acting, pain medications that contain no APAP and will require you to dose less frequently while providing better control over your pain. -Aces N 8s