Type of medication: Prescription, narcotic analgesic
Precautions:
- overdoses of acetaminophen are very toxic and dangerous
- daily use is highly likely to cause medication overuse headaches (rebound), and lead to chronic daily headaches
- daily use over extended periods has been show to cause liver damage
- hydrocodone is habit forming and should only be used under close supervision if you have an alcohol or drug addiction.
Pregnancy and Breastfeeding:
- FDA pregnancy category C. This means that its effects on an unborn baby are not known. Do not take this medication without first talking to your doctor if you are pregnant.
- This drug combination passes into breast milk and may harm a nursing infant. Do not take this medication without first talking to your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.
Other medical
conditions:
The presence of other medical problems
may affect the use of narcotic analgesic and acetaminophen combinations.
Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems,
especially:
- Alcohol and/or other drug abuse, or history of
- Brain disease or head injury
- Colitis
- Convulsions (seizures), history of
- Emotional problems or mental illness
- Emphysema, asthma, or other chronic lung disease
- Hepatitis or other liver disease
- Kidney disease
- Underactive thyroid-The chance of serious side effects may be increased
- Enlarged prostate or problems with urination
- Gallbladder disease or gallstones-Some of the effects of narcotic analgesics may be especially serious in people with these medical problems
- Heart disease-Caffeine (present in some of these combination medicines) can make some kinds of heart disease worse
Other
medications:
Be sure to tell your doctor about all medications you are taking, both
prescription and over-the-counter.
- Before taking this medication, be
especially sure to tell your doctor if you are taking any of the
following drugs:
- a barbiturate such as amobarbital (Amytal), secobarbital (Seconal), pentobarbital (Nembutal), or phenobarbital (Luminal, Solfoton)
- carbamazepine (Tegretol)
- phenytoin (Dilantin)
- isoniazid (Nydrazid)
- rifampin (Rifadin)
- sulfinpyrazone (Anturane)
