As you know, Percocet combines oxycodone and acetaminophen (which is Tylenol) in the same pill. So you were switched to taking them individually. You had oxycodone pills and Tylenol pills, which you took together. It's the exact same thing, either way. You shouldn't be experiencing any difference whatsoever. The only way I could see you feeling a difference would be, if the oxycodone pills were some kind of delayed-release formulation. I doubt that's the case. Sounds like your doctor prescribed you plain oxycodone, exactly the same as what was in the Percocet. If you add the Tylenol to it, you're back to exactly the same as what you were getting in the Percocet. Your question sounds like: "What's the difference between 6 and half a dozen?" There is no difference! But I do understand that any kind of a change in the delivery package can make a person apprehensive. Having some such anxiety can cause your mind to play tricks on you, which I think is what happened. Onset of action should be the same. "Initial little high" should be same-same.
I'm not a pharmacist, and it would be perfectly fine for you to run this by your pharmacist. I think you'ld be told the same as I just explained. I happen to be a nurse, and I take Vicodin, which is not much different from Percocet. (Supposedly, Percocet is stronger than Vicodin, but the difference is not as much as they used to think, from what I've read. Vicodin contains hydrocodone with Tylenol. Hydrocodone and oxycodone are not all that far apart. I've taken both. It depends on who you ask.) Next I'ld like to speak to something else your post brings to my mind.
That Tylenol (also called acetaminophen) is really just going along for the ride and not really doing anything for you. In nursing school, they told us that the only reason they added it to the oxycodone, when they created Percocet, was to discourage hard-core users from pulverizing the pill, putting it in water and shooting it into a vein - I/V style. You see: Tylenol is actually quite toxic, and saavy I/V drug users are afraid of it. Tylenol is hard on the liver. Users who get used to oxycodone and can tolerate a lot of it are more likely to get poisoned by the Tylenol in their pills than by the actual opioid, the oxycodone. The Tylenol can bring down a fever (if you need that) but it doesn't really add anything else to the oxycodone. It doesn't truly *potentiate* it.
Here's my point. If I were you, I would prefer to get the plain oxycodone, instead of the Percocet. Then I would just take the oxycodone, and I wouldn't bother with the Tylenol at all. Why aggravate your liver with a drug that really isn't enhancing the oxycodone? Once you've put 20 mg of oxy into your blood stream, throwing some Tylenol on top of it really won't make you feel any better (unless you've got a fever.) If you are convinced the Tylenol makes your experience better, go easy on it. Never take more than 4000 mg of Tylenol in a 24 hour period. Personally, I wouldn't get anywhere near that limit on a daily basis. You're just poisoning your liver for zero pay-off. Maybe just take 2 regular Tylenol (650 mg) or one extra-strength pill (500 mg.) We think of opioids as being dangerous, but they are actually less toxic than Tylenol, aspirin and Motrin (ibuprofen.) Aspirin and Motrin can cause bleeding ulcers and kidney damage. Daily aspirin can lead to a stroke, by causing a blood vessel in the brain to hemmorhage. The main worry with opioids is that too much can stop you from breathing. That risk increases, if you add alcohol or a benzodiazepine. That risk goes way down, if you stick to a dosage you're used to taking. Conclusion: if I were you, I wouldn't even bother with any Tylenol. I'ld be happy to get pure oxycodone, unmixed with any OTC drug. I wish I could get pure, unmixed hydrocodone, but I don't think they're allowed to sell that . . . because the feds fear that some users will main-line it.
