Can you tell me the difference between these two pain meds? Is one stronger than the other?

Question

My wife was on Endocet 10/325 MG Tablet. For a refill, she was given Oxycodone w/ APAP 5/325 Tablet (Generic for Percocet).

Could you tell me the difference between these? Is one stronger than another?

Thanks in advance!!

The script for both medicines were the same, 1 every 6 hours. I asked because the relief from the first medicine was pretty good, but this second medicine is ineffective. I appreciate the addiction concerns, but w/o that medication, the pain is unbearable. Thank you all for your help.

Answer 1

Endocet is another generic name for Percocet.

The 325 is the amount of acetaminophen in the compound, while the first figure is the amount of oxycodone. So the 10/325 has twice the amount of narcotic as does the 5/325.

Was your wife given directions that were slightly different as well? Fore example, since she was taking 10 mg oxycodone, and has now been given a scrip for 5 mg, was she instructed to take 2 instead of one? If so, then this is actually slightly stronger, as it has double the amount of acetaminophen. You may wonder what that would be important, but acetaminophen with a narcotic has a synergistic effect on pain management - the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Just as a reminder (and some people here seem to desperately need this reminder) an addiction is when taking a drug causes your lifestyle to down the drain. Legitimate medical need means that taking that same drug actually improves your lifestyle by allowing you to be able to function at some level. Please folks, get your facts straight before you start scaring people out of taking what they actually need.

Answer 2

Reva gave a very complete answer. The only thing I would add is that the only person who can change your prescription is your doctor. If the pharmacy REDUCED your medication from 10/325 to 5/325 w/o physician approval the pharmacist has (at least in every state I have lived in) violated the law....even if you were told to take 2 of the 5/325mg pills. If your doctor didn't change the perception on the refill...which would actually be a NEW prescription with a new prescription number (you can check the numbers on the bottles) he or she needs to be informed.

Answer 3

Endocet is a brand of oxycodone w/APAP. The oxycodone is the pain med part. Therefore, the 10mg of oxycodone in each Endocet gives you the same as 2 of the generic Percocet (5mg x2).

Answer 4

I never knew of anyone who gave pain meds to a newborn after a circumcision. My boys cried for a few minutes during a circ and my youngest for about 2 minutes afterward. My oldest stopped crying before he even came out of the room. I fed them both after their circ and they never showed any signs of being in pain again. Not even during diaper changes. They were pretty content babies. If you decide to use Infant Tylenol then be careful to give correct dosage. Overdosing can harm the liver. BTW, I did a poll on another website asking about pain and newborn circumcision. Dozens of mothers responded and most said the same thing... a few minutes of crying and that was it. A couple of mothers even said their baby remained sleeping during the circ. ETA: I agree with Little Man's Mom. If he is crying for a long time then contact a doctor. ETA: If you baby is long past the newborn (less than 1 month old) then I have no idea how your baby will react to circumcision. My answer only applied to newborn circumcision.

Answer 5

Oxycodone is a VERY addictive pain medication sweety.I know a few people that are addicted to them.try and see if there is an alternative medication she can take because you DON"T want your wife addicted to those Nasty pills.they are also called perks and it makes my friend sleepy,sometimes passing out in mid sentence and he is addicted to those pills.Alot of doctors are not dealing with that pain killer cause it is highly addictive.Some people will pay up to 20$ per pill thats how high in demand they can be for people addicted to those pills.Good luck

Answer 6

Same medication with a different strength. Could have been as simple as the pharmacy ran out of the stronger pill. Be careful with these as they can be very addicting.