Talking pain medication 5mg vs 10mg hydrocodone.

[xxsicknessxx]

Simple question. I take pain medication. I started taking 3 Norcos 10 mg a day. Down from one but now I split my pills into half's so I take 5mg every four hours. Instead 10mg every six hours. I've only been playing with my pills for a week I get four a day but I enjoy taking less so I can save up pills.

I feel like taking less pain meds is better for me as long as I can manage my pain.

I just wondered doesn't this make way more sense because the pain medication only lasts four hours until half of is it is out of your system so just checking am I doing ok? I wish there were more choices.

 

[Nurse Ratched]

I know this isn't really the best answer but just take whatever mg. dose is required to deal with your pain. If 5 mgs is good......take 5. When your pain is bad.......take 10 mgs.

Trying to save up pills sounds like you might have other issues going on. Maybe you are afraid of getting cut off or maybe your pain isn't really that bad anymore but you want to have a stash just in case. There's really nothing wrong with saving up your pills per se........but you should probably just take them " as needed " as opposed to taking them on a schedule. Whether you take a whole pill every 6 hours or a half of a pill every 4 hours is your personal choice.

Whatever handles your pain is what you should do.

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

If you can manage your pain better with 5mg every 4 hours than with 10mg every 6 hours then yes it'll be better since you'll be able to save up pills for emergencies.

Only recently did I have to use hydrocodone for pain management and I understand how taking less sooner can be a lot more helpful. Hydrocodone, even though it's said to last up to 5-6 hours, seems to only provide decent pain relief for 3-4 hours. So taking 5mg every 4 hours is a completely valid use of them.

That being said, if you're rationing pills to take larger doses later because your pain isn't adequately managed by your current regimen, you should let your doctor know. Or, if you're rationing pills to take a larger dose for a high, then you should be aware that this will jack your tolerance up and make it harder to get pain relief.

 

[Azed]

What you are doing is absolutely fine and is exactly why the tablets come scored. If you need less than what comes in a full pill then absolutely split it. Ultimately, taking 10 mg every six hours equates to 40 mg a day compared to 5 mg every four hours which equates to 30 mg a day. If you don't need more then don't feel pressured into taking the full amount prescribed. Take what you need for your pain.

Best wishes