lortab question again?

Question

Hello, i went to hospital for my hurt leg and the doctor thought it was just a sprain so he prescribed me some lortab 5/500 mg well they called me back and said they found a facture well i went back and they wrapped the leg and i guess he forgot to prescribe me with something little bit more to help avoid pain, so about how many of these lortabs can i take around 4? to help the pain and i am 5,9 height andi weigh 165 pounds

also would like advice from someone that knows medical good like doctor or nurse or pharmacy person

Answer 1

Hello:
This answer is in response to your question posted on yahoo concerning pain medications. Since you are not my patient and there is no patient-doctor relationship established I cannot give you advice, however I can tell you what I would do with one of my own patients.
Lortab 5/500 is brand name for hydrocodone 5 mg plus tylenol (acetomenophen aka APAP) 500 mg. For a fracture this might not be enough to control the pain. Generally, with lortab, you can take up to 4000 mg per day of the APAP which limits your intake of the Lortab to 8 tablets per day or 2 tablets every 6 hours with your height and weight. However, be careful because taking that much hydrocodone can cause sedation and depression of your respiratory system. Call your personal doctor and ask if it is OK. Don't drive or do anything that requires mental capacity.
As a physician, if someone had a fracture I would have prescribed Percocet 5/325 (oxycodone 5 mg plus 325 mg APAP). It is stronger than hydrocodone so you have to be even more careful about sedation, respiratory depression especially if you are on any other medications that could interact with the narcotic, and driving. It can also cause more itching and constipation than hydrocodone. I usually prescribe percocet 5/325- one tablet every 4-6 hours as needed. If that doesnt help control the pain (nothing will get rid of all the pain but it will take the edge off where you can deal with the pain) then you could take 2 tablets (10 mg oxycodone plus 650 mg APAP) every six hours (Again clear this with your personal physician). You really have to be careful with these narcotic controlled substances because they have a potential of causing respiratory depression, tolerance, dependence and addiction especially percocet. Like I said the limiting factor in these combo drugs is the amount of tylenol in them. You cannot take more than 4000 mg per 24 hour period due to the potential of liver damage.
I would ask your doctor for oxycodone rather than hydrocodone or ask about taking two of the lortabs first. 10 mg of hydrocodone may do the trick. Just make sure to discuss this with your personal physician before increasing the dose or ask for something stronger like percocet.
I hope this helped answer your question and alleviated some of your concerns.
Regards,
Warren Shaffer, M.D.

Answer 2

Call the ER back and tell them you are still in pain. DO NOT take advice on dosing this narcotic from anyone on the web as their advice could kill you.

Answer 3

I would strongly suggest listening to "doctordad"'s response