Many medicines also contain alcohol, which can cause someone to mix hydrocodone with alcohol unknowingly. When a person combines alcohol with hydrocodone — whether purposely or unintentionally — they may be putting themselves in danger. This medicine will add to the effects of alcohol and other CNS depressants.

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Hydrocodone can be found in popular painkiller brands such as Vicodin, Lortab and Lorcet. Do not drink alcohol while using these medications, and ask your doctor about other substances that may interact with hydrocodone. No matter how long you’ve been taking hydrocodone and alcohol, you’re never far from hope. Call The Recovery Village today to talk with a representative about your options for treatment and start on the path to drug-free living. If you or a loved one have been abusing hydrocodone and alcohol, know that you are not alone and that recovery is achievable. However, attempting to detox on your own can be calamitous and will likely land you right back where you started.

Effects and Dangers of Mixing Alcohol and Opioids

A person caring for you can give the naloxone if you stop breathing or don’t wake up. Your caregiver must still get emergency medical help and may need to perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) on you while waiting for help to arrive. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, mixing alcohol with prescription opioids, such as hydrocodone, can also result in overdose. An overdose occurs when someone experiences harmful reactions caused by taking too much of a substance. There is no specific limit to how much this could be because it depends on how large the dose is per pill or how the drug is consumed.

Within 5 minutes, you’ll receive an email with these details – free of charge. To prevent this, your doctor may direct you to take laxatives, drink a lot of fluids, or increase the amount of fiber in your diet. Be sure to follow the directions carefully, because continuing constipation can lead to more serious problems. The amount of medicine that you take depends on the strength of the medicine. The dose of this medicine will be different for different patients. The following information includes only the average doses of this medicine.

Effects of Hydrocodone and Alcohol?

The effects of opioid drugs on a person’s neurochemistry are extremely powerful. People can unwittingly become dependent or addicted to painkillers very quickly. With Vicodin or hydrocodone, the opioid depresses or slows the brain’s functioning which duloxetine and alcohol results in slower breathing and heart rate. But, when the CNS slows too much, overdose and other dangerous health consequences can result. This is especially true when opioids are mixed with alcohol, another CNS depressant. Ultimately, Vicodin or other hydrocodone-based medications should only be treated as short-term solutions.

When two drugs both cause these as side effects, mixing them increases the likelihood that a person will pass out, stop breathing, or suffer heart failure and die. But combining the prescription opioid hydrocodone with alcohol can produce a range of health effects, from drowsiness to severe liver problems. In some cases, drinking while using the medication can lead to death. Opioid medicine can slow or stop your breathing, and death may occur. A person caring for you should give naloxone and/or seek emergency medical attention if you have slow breathing with long pauses, blue colored lips, or if liquor storage you are hard to wake up.

1. They found that many individuals who combined opioids and alcohol felt like they were in a dreamlike trance or not in control of their thoughts.
2. Immediate-release hydrocodone treats pain very quickly, typically lasting between four and six hours.
3. Consuming a single Vicodin pill with a small amount of alcohol can result in respiratory depression.
4. Do not take other medicines unless they have been discussed with your doctor.

If any warning signs are present, loved ones should reach out to professionals for help. Licensed addiction specialists can address your specific concerns and identify options. Professionals goodbye letter to addiction can also arrange treatment and continuing care to pursue a healthy recovery from addiction to Vicodin, alcohol, opioids or opiates, or any other drug.

When you are taking this medicine, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive. Hydrocodone is used to relieve pain in opioid-tolerant patients severe enough to require around-the-clock pain relief for a long period of time. It should not be used if you need pain medicine for just a short time, such as when recovering from surgery. This medicine should not be used to treat pain that you only have once in a while or “as needed”. It is also used to manage severe and persistent pain that requires an extended opioid treatment and when other pain medicines did not work well or cannot be tolerated.