What are the doses for hydrocodone?

Answer 1

Technically, there is no maximum (ceiling) dose for any of the pure opioid agonists - the dose depends on the opioid tolerance of the person taking the drug. remember that all opioids are NOT cross-tolerant... for example, oxycodone and morphine do not produce complete tolerance to each other...

however, hydrocodone presents an interesting situation among the opioid analgesics since it is RARELY (if at all in certain countries, like the US) encountered without acetaminophen (Hydrocodone/APAP, major brand name Vicodin) or another simple, non-opioid analegesic (Hydrocodone/ibuprofen is another, major brand name Vicoprofen)... ibuprofen rarely causes overdose problems (in order to have a serious problem, you're looking at a dose of 400mg per kilogram of body weight).

acetaminophen (called paracetamol outside North America - APAP as a generic term everywhere), on the other hand, happens to not only cause overdose at relatively small doses (6000mg - 6g in a day - that's 12 vicodin... each vicodin contains 5mg hydrocodone and 500mg APAP... each vicodin es contains 7.5mg hydrocodone/750mg APAP - that's EIGHT pills in a day to cause an acetaminophen overdose that will cause liver toxicity - not enough for death, but after enough time, no liver = no living... as far as single doses go, it's about 9000mg/9g - 18 vicodin/12 vicodin es), but results in a horrible, excruciatingly painful death by hepatic (liver) failure. when your liver fails...

(as it will with an untreated acetaminophen overdose - IV infusion of N-Acetylcysteine within 8 hours of ingestion is pretty much the cutoff point for saving your liver completely - and symptoms of the overdose usually don't show up until 24 hours after the drugs are ingested... so if you THINK you've taken too much - and you don't feel any symptoms of opioid overdose - like breathing problems, GO TO THE ER AND TELL THEM YOU TOOK TOO MUCH TYLENOL - after that, it's pretty much dependent on your own body's handling of the overdose... if you've taken too much and it's the opioid that's causing the overdose, you'll know right away and you need to have a few IV injections of naloxone - brand name narcan... until all of the hydrocodone and hydromorphone - hydrocodone metabolizes into hydromorphone, among other things - are out of your system completely. naloxone has a very short half-life... shorter than any opioid that it can reverse. it MUST be given repeatedly.) ...the only treatment is a transplant.

in short, if you have no tolerance... don't go above 10mg in a single dose if you want to be perfectly safe from the opioid effects... if your opioid tolerance is through the roof - but not with hydrocodone, do some research to find out the level of cross-tolerance and dosage equivalencies between the other opioids. if your hydrocodone tolerance is through the roof - and that's why you're asking this... just remember to do one of two things - don't go above 9000mg/9g of APAP (check the APAP content of the pills) in one dosing, or learn to do cold water extraction of the hydrocodone from the pills... you can find the methods for this online using Google, but unless you have a decent knowledge of chemistry, i wouldn't try it... because you will not remove the majority of the APAP correctly and/or you will end up with zero hydrocodone. I'm not going to try to talk you out of taking it - do what you want. just be safe.

Answer 2

The safe dosage of hydrocodone is strongly dependent upon tolerance and to a lesser extent individual biochemistry. A common starting dose of hydrocodone for pain management is 5mg every six hours. Individuals who have taken opioids for long periods of time can take hundreds of milligrams per day and still be completely functional, although these doses could easily kill an opioid naive person. The general rule of opioid dosing is start low and gradually titrate the dose upwards.

According to the prescribing guidelines, 40mg is the maximum dose for hydrocodone in an opioid-naive person evenly distributed over a 24hr period, though this maximum dose would only be administered in the hospital under supervision (and thus should certainly not be taken at home unless explicitly directed by a doctor). A common dose for outpatient use is 5mg 4 times a day (20mg). Finally, it is very important that this medication is not mixed with other opioids or depressants, as these combinations can vastly lower the safe dose and increase the risk of overdose.

Please be aware that hydrocodone is nearly always combined with some other ingredient. A common secondary ingredient is acetaminophen, also known as APAP. APAP should not be taken in doses of over 4000mg a day; a tolerance to these toxic effects dose not build up over time to any significant extent. Do not confuse the dose of hydrocodone with the dose of the secondary ingredient. Though it may be occasionally stated that 1000mg is a "safe dose" of hydrocodone tablets, this is absolutely incorrect. 1000mg is a safe dose of APAP, not hydrocodone!

Answer 3

The amount of hydrocodone needed to result in a dangerous, though not necessarily deadly overdose is highly dependent on tolerance: opioid naive individuals may only need one higher strength (40mg) pill to overdose, whereas a very opioid-tolerant person may need hundreds of milligrams. This can also vary based on other factors of individual physiology.

Abusing painkillers in lower doses also can be highly dangerous and thus strongly discouraged. Risks include addiction, and liver damage from the acetaminophen (500mg) in the pills. The maximum recommended daily dose of acetaminophen is 4000mg, with toxicity manifesting around double that. While this may not be significant for a person with low tolerance (the hydrocodone itself being the major overdose concern in this case) one with a high tolerance may easily exceed the toxic dose of acetaminophen and risk severe health complications.

Answer 4

It depends on alot of diffrent factors in the equastion....one being if you are a regular user or a first timer...also weight and for that matter everyone reacts diffrently to drugs of all types...im a recovering addict and i have done lots of research on this subject

Answer 5

The amount of hydrocodone needed to induce euphoria is highly dependent on tolerance: opioid naive individuals may very well need only one or two 5mg pills, whereas a very opioid-tolerant person may need hundreds of milligrams. This can also vary to a lesser extent based on other factors of individual physiology.

However, abusing painkillers can be highly dangerous and thus strongly discouraged. Risks include addiction, overdose (especially in new users who take too much), and liver damage from the acetaminophen (500mg) in the pills. The maximum daily recommended dose of acetaminophen is 4000mg, with toxicity manifesting around double that. While this may not be significant for a person with low tolerance (the hydrocodone itself being the major overdose concern in this case) one with a high tolerance may easily exceed the toxic dose of acetaminophen and risk severe health complications.

Answer 6

The standard doses of Hydrocodone are as follows. 5mg, 7.5mg and 10mg. There are some specially made capsules that are rarely prescribed that contain 15mg. But these must be specially prepared by a pharmacist on specific compounding instructions given by the doctor in the Rx.