Oxy vs. vicoden

I fell on New Year's Eve and really did a number on my back again. The Dr's offices were closed of course, and right now I don't have an extra $700 for an ER visit, so I doubled up on my vicoprofen (I took 2 instead of 1)

Tuesday I went and saw the Nurse Practioner. She jumped all over me for taking more. She said there was nothing she could do for me that I would have to see the Dr. I left feeling defeated, embarrassed and in pain.

I called to make an appt. for the Dr. and they said he couldn't see me until next week. I'm embarrassed to say I started crying on the phone (I hate that I cry when I'm mad or frustrated!). They got me in this morning. My blood pressure was through the roof. It's normally about 110/70, this morning it was 156/98. But, the nurse said not to worry about it, pain will do that.

The Dr. came in and couldn't have been nicer. I just switched GP's so it was my first time seeing him. We talked about injections and I agreed that I have to get past my phobia of needles in my back.

He then asked if there was anything else, and I said yes, "what can we do about pain control". He looked at my record and said that the vicoprofen wouldn't be strong enough for what I'm dealing with. After having such a bad taste in my mouth from the day before I was stunned. He prescribed percocet.

Here's what I'm wondering. I can take up to 6 vicoprofen a day and never have it bother me. I took the oxy, and while it helped tremendously with the pain, it made me a little headachy and my tummy felt icky.

Now the headache could be because we have a bad winter storm hitting us right now, and it could be that without the oxy I would've had a doozy of a M, but I'm wondering about the upset stomach. Would the oxy do that? It's 5 mg.

Charlotte

Yes!

Weren't you taking the vicoprofen because the vicodin upset your tums a bit?
Percocet has acetaminophen(sp?) in it just like hydrocodone does so it might upset your tummy.
I think.

No, I've never been prescribed vicodin. My neuro likes vicoprofen because of the anti-inflammatory in it rather than the acetominophen. The anti-inflammatories in it have also been beneficial for my back.

Charlotte

Oh oh.
I believe that ibuprofen is a little nicer on your stomach so that might be why you are
having a bit of an issue there. I would try to eat two tums before taking your medication
just to coat your stomach, it might help.

The headache though I have no clue. I've never gotten a headache from percocet, although
I've only ever taken 5 of em. Actually, funny. I found the other one hidden away in my purse
just a week ago and my husband took it for tooth problems. His tooth literally broke in half!!!
Ouch!

I have a friend who took percocet a lot though, I'll ask her if she ever had any issues with it.
I'll let you know.

All narcotics have the potential to cause upset stomach. I would try to take something to settle your stomach with it (such as a motion sickness medication or even ginger if you don't have any prescriptions). Discuss this with your doctor to see if you want to try a different narcotic as they are all different (for example I get disabling nausea with some while others I feel fine on), or maybe a prescription nausea medication.

If you ever get in an emergency and feel the need to take extra medication again (I would not because you can overdose on the analgesic part of combination medications), I would leave that part out when discussing it with a doctor. They lose trust in you when you don't use medications as directed.

Another idea it to look into an urgent care clinic. You may have a lower copay than the ER (but more than a doctor visit), or even the same as a doctor visit.

Best wishes.

As mentioned earlier narcotics can definitely upset your stomach. I tried on two occasions years ago to take my vicodin for an early morning migraine when I had a day off and could stay at home, what a mistake. I became violently ill with an upset stomach even after eating breakfast. It's very advisable to never take narcotics on an empty stomach. This was a contributing factor in the death of a very close friend of mine last year.

The difference between vicodin and oxycodone is basically the strength and the classification. Vicodin is a class 3 narcotic while oxycodone is a class 2, meaning the government has deemed it more likely to be addictive. The oxycodone also can only be filled with a physical prescription while the vicodin can be called in by your doctor, all due to the classification. They are both semi-synthetic opioids, with the oxycodone being the stronger of the two.

I have been given oxycodone a few times, usually for surgery,broken arm etc and as recently as two weeks ago for hernia surgery. For someone who takes vicodin for migraines I could tell a difference between the two. I must say each time I was prescribed oxycodone it was a relief to not need them anymore. Mainly due to not needing them meant the pain was gone and the digestive problems that came with the drug would go away.

I'm very lucky as I have a cast iron stomach. My pain meds are much stronger than what you're discussing here and they never bother me. It's all dependent upon the patient.

I do have Phenergan (antiemetic/anti-nausea med) which is an antihistamine. You could use Benadryl in place of it, to help your stomach tolerate the narcotic. Make sure you have something on your stomach first, though.

My sister used Benadryl for the nausea while on chemotherapy. Just make sure to be aware of the drowsiness, which often accompanies it.

I love zofran for nausea. I have some extra from morning sickness during pregnancy.
Maybe ask your doctor to try it if nothing else works and you'd like to stick with the
percocets. They melt under your tongue so no need to worry about holding them down
if your that bad either. It saved my life a couple of times Hope your feeling better.
Lots of hugs!

I'm sorry the NP made you feel bad. Did you discuss that with the dr.? You shouldn't be made to feel like that, esp. when your in pain.