Low nightly dose of Hydrocodone-Ibuprofen harmful?

[OldFrank]

I have chronic Restless Leg Syndrome. My naturopath prescribed me hydrocodone/ibuprofen at night. The pill is 7.5mg of hydrocodone and 200mg ibuprofen. I break it in half and take only half the above dose once/day. It takes the edge off the Restless Leg Syndrome. I have been taking it daily for nearly two years and haven't noticed any side effects. Does this seem safe? I know there are RLS medicines but they have side effects, too. Advice welcome.

 

[MrRoot]

I am more worried of long term use of ibuprofen than that of small amount of a opiate especially when the ibuprofen won't help at all for the RLS and is known to cause GI tract problems for example.

What is a naturopathy? Some kind of holistic approach to medicine or something like that?

 

[Wants2Nod]

I honestly wouldn't worry about it- that's a minuscule amount of opiod, and I wouldn't stress about 100mg of ibuprofen a day either. There are chronic pain patients who take 800+ mg of ibuprofen every day.

If the current dose is working for you, I'd stick with it for the immediately future. If it stops, there are other options for restless legs- benzos, muscle relaxers, even l-dopa.

 

[OldFrank]

Thank you both. That is comforting.

 

[Invisible Helper]

Old frank I have a question , have you ever skipped taking the hydrocodone like 2-3 days without it ever? If you have how did you feel ?

 

[OldFrank]

Good question. I have and I don't have withdrawals. I just get worse RLS

 

[Blueteva]

Is it vicoprofen? My doctor actually put me on that for my back because he says with this type of pain there is going to be times where your going to be in that much pin where you will have to take more and the Tylenol is not something that you want to take in excess

The only downside of the medication is that it only comes in 7.5

 

[Blueteva]

Old frank I have a question , have you ever skipped taking the hydrocodone like 2-3 days without it ever? If you have how did you feel ?

I actually get like a runny nose when I haven't taken Vicodin but the times they switch me to Percocet when I'm having a rough time with no pain I get no wd's when I'm done with the script, only issue is now when I go back to Vicodin it works less then normal for a bit

 

[paranoid android]

The only worry here would be GI damage from the Ibuprofen as Hydrocodone doesn't cause any long term damage. Well except addiction that is. My GP told me he has 1 patient who he gives 5-10mg's of Morphine to be taken at night for severe RLS that is unresponsive to everything else so apparently giving opiates for severe treatment resistant RLS is not that uncommon. He is fairly conservative in his prescribing practices so it's not like some pill pushers who will give you a script for 60 30mg Temazepam caps for insomnia and one for 60 20mg Oxy IR's because you have back pain. I miss that doctor though

If your worried about the long term damage from Ibuprofen you should talk to your doctor about trying a Hydrocodone only medication like Hycodan. That only has 5mg's of Hydrocodone per pill but seeing as you only take half your pill that would be enough for you.

 

[MrRoot]

After a first slipped disc surgery I had been using Oxycontin for three months and after tapering out of it I got Tramadols again for my RLS which was diagnosed before any back problems.

They didn't anything for RLS because the oxycodone I had been using and I was prescribed 5mg/2,5mg Targiniq (ER oxycodone with naloxene) instead.

 

[Alex000]

OldFrank, I don't have much personal information to go on, and every case IS different, however if half of a Vicoprofen per night is helping you considerably and has been for some two years, just try to keep at that dose or as low as possible through the future should you continue to need it. I think after two years, if you had a great affinity toward opioid addiction, you would have been drawn in, already - although, opiates are VERY addictive and you should never forget that.

In short, it sounds pretty fine to me, if it feels pretty fine to you.

FYI - If it should cause nausea or upset stomach or reflux, Pepcid (famotidine) is OTC and is a very good antacid.