Just got back from the dentist. Had two wisdom teeth pulled.
Doc gave me a script for Hydrocodone. While my teeth don’t hurt, I still feel basically normal. I thought people got buzzed from this stuff.
Is the reason I’m not “buzzed” because I actually need the medication?
I’m a little disappointed. 
There are people who are genetically resistant to opioids. I’m one of them. They make me a little foggy, but that’s it–for surgical pain they’re practically useless. I get a lot more benefit from ibuprofen.
Is there a way to find out if a person is? I wrenched my back one time [del]moving a bookcase because I was too lazy to remove the books[/del] playing a super X-games related acrobatic sport, and they gave me some type of oxy something or other. Didn’t seem to do anything for me.
When I had angiography and stent placement, I was given some fentanyl intravenously. I was all excited about trying the drug, but I felt absolutely nothing. I even (jokingly) accused the anesthesiologist of giving me saline so he could use the fentanyl later.
If I understand it correctly, the drug that resulted in a lot of abuse was OxyContin, a time-release pill whose active ingredient is Oxycodone, which is stronger than hydrocodone. Street users would remove the coating from the pills, crush the active ingredient, and snort it. This resulted in the delivery of a whole day’s dose in seconds. That’s where the buzz came from.
I also have read that one doesn’t need to get a buzz to get addicted, so you could end up feeling withdrawal symptoms without ever having gotten high.
Is it oxycodone, or Oxycontin? The stuff they give me is a big dose of acetaminophen with 5 mg of hydrocodone. As I understand it, the NSAID is for the pain, and the oxycodone is so you don’t care how well the NSAID works. Opiates don’t work all that well against pain per se, but they affect your reaction to pain.
I can’t speak to your experience otherwise - oxy makes me loopy and weepy, so I don’t take it during the day. It also gives me very vivid dreams when I take it at night. Not necessarily nightmares or bad dreams, but very vivid. But at least I can sleep.
My back went out, and my wife took me to the emergency room. They shot me up with (I think) Demerol, and I became maudlin and sentimental and was tearfully telling my wife how much I loved her, and how much I appreciated her taking care of me, etc. Fine, they sent me home, I got better more or less.
Fast forward about a year. My back went out again. My wife got me to the emergency room. She asks the doctor “Can you give him a shot of that stuff that turns him into a nice guy?”
They gave me Percocet instead - I had to stop taking it after a day or two because I was getting too emotionally involved watching The People’s Court.
Regards,
Shodan
Hydrocodone has never affected me in any way. Oxycodone (I.e. Percocet) zonks me out something awful. Maybe you’re the same way?
Pro tip: if you are whacked out of your mind on pain meds, to the point of not being able to close your tags, pick the right forum, or spell “Google”, don’t start a thread.
Regards,
Shodan
Okay, so I guess I was confusing Oxy for Hydrocodone. Well darn.
I’m not in pain though, so I at least got that going for me.
Thanks guys.
Same for me. When I told my doctor that Hydrocodone has no affect on me, he told me that it happens with some people and switched me. Even on Percocet, when I am in severe pain, it helps, but doesn’t make me loopy or tired until the pain subsides. This works out for me. When I take a pain pill and it puts me to sleep or makes me loopy, I switch to OTC meds.
Try taking 3-4 of them and see if you get a buzz. (Note: No, please don’t.)
Some of the people who get addicted take crazy amounts of them. Kurt Angle (Olympic gold medalist and professional wrestler) claimed he was taking 65 extra strength Vicodin per day (which would be fatal for you or me) at the peak or his addiction and pain issues.
I’ve been given hyrdocodone prescriptions several times, when I’ve had kidney stones. The last such occurrence was 19 years ago, thank gawd.
The first time, after getting home from the hospital (and the pharmacy), I was in a lot of pain, so I took one pill – and it knocked me out for several hours. That was the only time I needed to take one during that kidney stone episode.
A couple of years later, I had stone #2. When I took a hydrocodone that time, while it helped with the pain, I stayed conscious, if a little muzzy-headed (and I knew that I shouldn’t go drive or anything silly).
Then, when I had stone #3, and an episode of intense pain hit, I took a hydrocodone. Not only did it not seem to affect my consciousness much, but it also didn’t do much of anything for the pain. I took a look at the prescription bottle, and it said, “Take 1 or 2 for pain.” I thought to myself, “It’s Saturday morning, I don’t need to be anywhere for a few hours, and this hurts like hell…I’ll take a second one.” Pill #2 managed to take the edge off the pain, but I didn’t feel sleepy at all. I suspected, at that point, that I’d developed a tolerance for the drug. This was not too long after Brett Favre had gone to rehab for an addiction to hydrocodone, and I finally understood how he was managing to take so much of it at once.
A few years ago, I had my wisdom teeth removed. The surgeon said, “I’m going to give you a prescription for hyrdocodone, for the pain.” I told him about my previous experiences with it, and he prescribed a different painkiller.
Due to numerous eye surgeries, I’ve had, at various times, Vicodin, Hydrocodone, oxy, and Percocet. Hate 'em all. Yes, they help with the pain, but they make me nauseated, and throwing up is no more fun while on pain pills. Vicodin also gives me nightmares. I can’t figure out why anyone would WANT to take them.
One time a doc put me on extended-release Oxy. It didn’t upset my stomach or give me that icky groggy feeling. My first day back at work, someone broke into my house: big hole in my solid-core wooden back door, wood shrapnel down the basement steps, door frame broken and sticking out. The only thing missing were the Oxy. I told the cops the joke was on whoever stole them, as they don’t make you feel high. They said those are the ones most in demand. Apparently, if you mash them up, you get a huge hit at once.
Yeah, I was that naive.
Well, I just took a Hydrocodone and I don’t see what the big fuss is about.
You’re doing it wrong.
When I had mouth surgery a few years ago, the doctor gave me Vicodin. I took 2 and 1/2 pills over the course of 2 days, and it just made me nauseous. No “high” and no particular pain relief. After I threw back up a nice, hot bowl of tomato soup, I switched to OTC Tylenol and that worked better. But I haven’t had tomato soup again since.
My mom tells me that my father, brother, and niece have had the same reaction to prescription pain meds, so it seems to run in our family.
Yes people that are getting torn up on opiates aren’t taking 1-2 pills as prescribed, they are taking 5, 10, 20 and up and up and on as tolerance grows in the user. The OP is like saying I drank one beer what’s the big deal about alcohol?
My own experience with opioids was not like what you describe at all.
I had a horrible cough at age 14, and my mom, having grown tired of listening to me cough nonstop, gave me a teaspoon of some codeine cough syrup we had in the house (such a thing was commonly available then, and no big deal. The stuff was probably two years old, or more.)
I had no previous experience with the stuff, had no expectations other than I hoped I would cough less. But 20 minutes later when it kicked in, my first thought was “so this is what’s been missing from my life”.
I didn’t immediately consume all the codeine in the house, or turn into a Junior High junkie. But I never forgot that first experience. And eventually went on to have a lengthy, miserable history of opioid abuse from circa age 23 to age 32 when I got clean.
I don’t think that’s the whole story though; I get plenty of pain relief from opioids, but nothing in the way of buzz or euphoria from the vast majority of them that I’ve had.
That list includes Vicodin, Tylox, Norco and Percocet for the tablet/capsule kind, and Dilaudid, morphine and Demerol for the IV/injectable kind. (had a couple of pretty serious business knee surgeries).
The ONLY two that had any kind of side effects beyond drowsiness in varying degrees were morphine and Demerol. Morphine made me projectile vomit, which was no fun whatsoever. Demerol had a pretty crazy rush, but it was for seconds.
While I can totally see how someone could get addicted if they got that kind of rush from vicodin, I don’t get anything like that. Just a little bit drowsy, and good pain relief, and that’s it. I kind of think that the majority of people are probably like me, and only a small percentage have anything more enjoyable. Some unfortunate souls are how you say, and get no pain relief from them either.
Also… i’d imagine if someone was taking tens of vicodin a day, the big worry would be for their liver, due to the acetaminophen content.
Ok so I gather what the OP was describing was that they didn’t feel that “magic moment” from that (first?) experience with opiates. I get what you’re saying, the first time I was prescribed opiates I did feel a moment like that and I probably abused them by most people’s definition. I always felt like I could stop anytime I wanted though but I did do some immoral things at times to get my hands on them. Maybe I don’t know the real meaning of addict. I think you can obviously abuse something at times and not necessarily be an addict, is it only if you continue your use as your life is imploding around you?
My kids are genetically prone to be addictive. Everyone one in my family is on alcohol or other, in many stages of addiction. So I preach.beg. talk til I’m blue. About this issue. Funny though it looks like the lil’wrekker may be the one who might have a problem someday. She had her wisdom teeth out and other dental work last summer. She had 30 pills of vicodin, and begged for every one I would give her. It was obvious they made her high. She has no pain tolerence, at all. I have had the big talk with her about fun drinking at college. And showed her examples in our own family of the ugly results of years of abuse. I hope she’s getting it. I know I come off like Debbie downer about it. I have to do it though. I feel like a flimsy piece of paper between her and addiction, at this point. So far, no issues yet. I am watching.