vicodin dosage

May 19, 2008 7:43 PM

My dad's passing a kidney stone tonight....he already took two 5/500 vicodin within the last hour and he's still in a lot of pain....can he take another?
posted by pilibeen to health & fitness (10 answers total)

Call his doctor, or take him to the emergency room. I would definitely not rely on anonymous strangers on the Internet who have no information on your father's medical history for advice on dosing opiates.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 7:51 PM on May 19, 2008

No he cannot. Vicodin contains a lot of Tylenol, which is toxic for his liver in doses that exceed the recommended dose. He's already at the limit for this.

He absolutely should go to the ER for an alternative pain medication that does not contain Tylenol. There are plenty of these available.
posted by Capri at 7:54 PM on May 19, 2008 [1 favorite]

Only the dose required makes the difference between a cure and a poison.

Take him to the doc, or at least call the prescribing doc's after hours line if he is not up to moving around enough to go in.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 7:57 PM on May 19, 2008

I second the Emergency Room. Pain that severe needs immediate medical attention.
posted by wv kay in ga at 8:30 PM on May 19, 2008

Two 5/500 Vicodins contain 1 gram of acetaminophen: the amount in a regular adult dose of extra strength Tylenol, which should only be taken at least 4 hours apart up to 4 grams in 24 hours. Codeine aside, exceeding that much acetaminophen has been strongly cautioned against many times. Go to the ER, and you're probably better off if he takes no other medications until he gets seen so the ER doctors will have the maximum flexibility in what they can prescribe (avoiding drug interactions).
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 8:37 PM on May 19, 2008

Codeine aside

Hydrocodone rather.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 8:38 PM on May 19, 2008

Pain medication works best if it's given *before* the pain starts. If your father has taken his prescribed dose, and he's now in kidney-stone level pain, a double dose probably won't help that much, and there are all the issues that posters above me have described.

Rush him to the quietest ER in your area; a little more drivetime trumps waiting time in a busy ER. Take his pain meds, and redose him there if they recommend it.
posted by freshwater_pr0n at 8:40 PM on May 19, 2008

As somebody who has had a kidney stone, I really recommend the Emergency room. There they will give him Morphone, Dilatid (sp?), etc. He'll still be in pain, but so stoned he won't care. Never mess with the dosing on 'codones!
posted by Raichle at 9:08 PM on May 19, 2008

I wouldn't recommend it. What he can potentially do if he has no other contraindication (like advanced kidney disease, ulcer disease or prior allergy) is add an NSAID like ibuprofen, indomethacin or naproxen. This class of drugs actually may have particular additive benefit when it comes to ureteral stones as they relax the smooth muscle around the ureters and may ease the passage of stones in addition to their usual analgesic properies.

I assume he has already sought medical care given the fact that he's taking Vicodin. If not, he certainly should for two reasons: 1) to make sure that the stone is small enough to likely pass without surgery; 2) seek additional treatment for symptomatic pain control if Vicodin and OTCs don't cut it.
posted by drpynchon at 9:10 PM on May 19, 2008

Thanks for all the help....he was at the emergency room earlier which is where he got the Vicodin. He's uncomfortable but I think that's to be expected....if it's too much, we'll def head back to the ER again.

thanks again
posted by pilibeen at 10:09 PM on May 19, 2008