Chronic Pain Support Group

The FDA and the DEA have always been trying to get into people's business, this is nothing new! And for the longest time, everyone in the medical community knew that Acetaminophen/Tylenol is bad for your liver, worst that any other pills in the market, so that is why they are deciding now to take some of the Acetaminophen out of the medications that we take.
Anyone on Vicodin should not worry that much, there is always Oxycodone IR that is pretty compatible and doesn't have the Acetaminophen on it, so your liver will be happier and healthier.
Anyone on Percocets, there is a Percocet in the market right now that contains NO Acetaminophen, so your Doc can switch you to that. So I don't think that anyone should panic yet or loose any sleep. This will get resolved and things will go back to normal. Amen for that!

Would you please stop sending people into a panic?! You title your post "Opiates HAVE been banned" but that was not what the vote was about. It had everything to do with the acet. in the drug not the opiates. Please be a little more responsible in the way you present your information.

someone said: "Vicodin is a mix of hydrocodone and tylenol, yet millions already take straight hydrocodone."

Unfortunately, they don't. Not in the USA. There is NO straight Hydrocodone, if there was, I'd be on it. There is ONLY hydro with APA (acetaminophen) and Hydro with ibuprofen. You may be able to get hydro at a compounding pharmacy, but when my doctor was willing to prescribe this, I couldn't get a pharmacy to make what I need for less than $350.00 a month, and my insurance wouldn't pay for most of it.

IF there was straight hydro, I'd be so happy. The Oxy IR is working for the pain, but the change over from Vicodin was really hard on me, and now I am having side effects from the Oxy, but don't want to go through the pain of switching again.

Tipper is right about the acetaminophen. It was originally compounded with narcotics as 1) to potentiate the narcotics pain effects and 2) to make it harder for drug abusers to OD on the narcotic as it is quite hard to break the bond between the narcotic and the acetaminophen. Talk about a back-arsed way of try to prevent drug abuse, this has to be inspired by a beaurocrat. It prevents drug abuse by killing the abuser with Tylenol.

Straight hydrocodone can be had but it is a schedule II drug as opposed to Vicodin, Lorcet, etc. which is a schedule III. Practically speaking, the big difference is Vicodin, etc., can be refilled off the original script, where all schedule II drugs require a new script for each fill (no refills). The whole scheduling thing is based on abuse potential. The lower the number, the more it is felt it could be abused. Schedule I are available for research only (LSD, heroin,etc), Schedule II tighter controlled (Oxycodone and anything with oxycodone in it, morphine, fentanyl etc.), Then schedule III's like Vicodin, Then schedule IV like codiene with tylenol, the benzodiaspines like valium, Ativan, then schedule V like low codiene cough syrup. Oxycodone, Percocet, Endocet, etc. is already a schedule II drug and can't be refilled.

The narcotic component is already available compounded with aspirin, and ibuprophen instead of acetaminophen.


I doubt acetaminophen will be totally banned. It is just to good an OTC pain reliever.