Oxycontin what is it prescribed for

Do not store the mixture for future use. If you have a feeding tube, the extended-release capsule contents can be poured into the tube. Ask your doctor how you should take the medication and follow these directions carefully. If you are taking the concentrated solution, your doctor may tell you to mix the medication in a small amount of juice or semisolid food such as pudding or applesauce. Follow these directions carefully.

Swallow the mixture right away; do not store it for later use. Your doctor will likely start you on a low dose of oxycodone and may increase this dose over time if your pain is not controlled. After you take oxycodone for a period of time, your body may become used to the medication. If this happens, your doctor may need to increase your dose to control your pain. Your doctor may decrease your dose if you experience side effects.

Talk to your doctor about how you are feeling during your treatment with oxycodone. Do not stop taking oxycodone without talking to your doctor. If you stop taking this medication suddenly, you may experience withdrawal symptoms such as restlessness, watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, yawning, sweating, chills, muscle or joint aches or pains, weakness, irritability, anxiety, depression, difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, fast heartbeat, and fast breathing.

Your doctor will probably decrease your dose gradually. This medication may be prescribed for other uses; ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information. If you are taking oxycodone on a regular schedule, take the missed dose as soon as you remember it.

However, if it is almost time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and continue your regular dosing schedule. Do not take a double dose to make up for a missed one. Do not take more than one dose of the extended-release tablets or capsules in 12 hours. Oxycodone may cause other side effects. Call your doctor if you have any unusual problems while you are taking this medication.

Keep this medication in the container it came in, tightly closed, and out of reach of children. Store it at room temperature and away from light and excess heat and moisture not in the bathroom. You must immediately dispose of any medication that is outdated or no longer needed through a medicine take-back program. If you do not have a take-back program nearby or one that you can access promptly, flush any medication that is outdated or no longer needed down the toilet so that others will not take it.

Talk to your pharmacist about the proper disposal of your medication. It is important to keep all medication out of sight and reach of children as many containers such as weekly pill minders and those for eye drops, creams, patches, and inhalers are not child-resistant and young children can open them easily.

To protect young children from poisoning, always lock safety caps and immediately place the medication in a safe location — one that is up and away and out of their sight and reach. In case of overdose, call the poison control helpline at If the victim has collapsed, had a seizure, has trouble breathing, or can't be awakened, immediately call emergency services at While taking oxycodone, you should talk to your doctor about having a rescue medication called naloxone readily available e.

Naloxone is used to reverse the life-threatening effects of an overdose. It works by blocking the effects of opiates to relieve dangerous symptoms caused by high levels of opiates in the blood.

Your doctor may also prescribe you naloxone if you are living in a household where there are small children or someone who has abused street or prescription drugs. You should make sure that you and your family members, caregivers, or the people who spend time with you know how to recognize an overdose, how to use naloxone, and what to do until emergency medical help arrives. Your doctor or pharmacist will show you and your family members how to use the medication.

Ask your pharmacist for the instructions or visit the manufacturer's website to get the instructions. If symptoms of an overdose occur, a caregiver or family member should give the first dose of naloxone, call immediately, and stay with you and watch you closely until emergency medical help arrives. Your symptoms may return within a few minutes after you receive naloxone.

If your symptoms return, the person should give you another dose of naloxone. Additional doses may be given every 2 to 3 minutes, if symptoms return before medical help arrives. Keep all appointments with your doctor. Your doctor may order certain lab tests to check your body's response to oxycodone. Before having any laboratory test especially those that involve methylene blue , tell your doctor and the laboratory personnel that you are taking oxycodone.

This prescription is not refillable. If you continue to have pain after you finish the oxycodone, call your doctor. It is important for you to keep a written list of all of the prescription and nonprescription over-the-counter medicines you are taking, as well as any products such as vitamins, minerals, or other dietary supplements. You should bring this list with you each time you visit a doctor or if you are admitted to a hospital.

An opioid overdose can be reversed with the drug naloxone when given right away. However, from until , overdose deaths involving heroin increased dramatically. Fortunately, effective medications exist to treat opioid use disorders, including methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone.

However, naltrexone requires full detoxification, so initiating treatment among active users was more difficult. These medications help many people recover from opioid addiction. Naloxone can quickly restore normal breathing to a person during an opioid overdose. Explore the different types of medications prescribed for opioid overdose, withdrawal, and addiction. Discusses effective medications used to treat opioid use disorders: methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone.

Available data is currently from with data usually being Provides information and resources to seek treatment. Clinical trials are research studies in human volunteers conducted to answer specific health questions. Learn about the NIH-sponsored clinical trials available to you.

National Institutes of Health. It's sometimes given as a tablet which also has a medicine called naloxone in it Targinact. This is used to prevent certain side effects, such as constipation.

Take our survey. Babies, young children and older people are more likely to get side effects. Oxycodone is not suitable for some people. Tell your doctor before starting this medicine if you:. Follow your doctor's instructions about how to use this medicine. This is particularly important because oxycodone can be addictive. Take oxycodone with, or just after, a meal or snack as it's less likely to make you feel sick.

It's important to swallow slow-release oxycodone tablets whole with a drink of water. Oxycodone liquid, capsules and injections work faster fast acting. They're used for pain which is expected to last for a short time and often used when you start taking oxycodone, to help find the right dose.

Oxycodone tablets are slow release. This means the oxycodone is gradually released into your body over either 12 or 24 hours. This type of oxycodone takes longer to start working but lasts longer. It's used for long-term pain. Sometimes your doctor may prescribe both fast-acting and slow-release oxycodone to manage long-term pain.

Do not break, crush, chew or suck oxycodone slow-release tablets. If you do, the slow-release system will not work and the whole dose might get into your body in one go. This could cause an overdose. How often you take it depends on the type of oxycodone that you've been prescribed:.

You can take oxycodone at any time of day, but try to take it at the same time every day and space your doses evenly. For example, if you take oxycodone twice a day and have your first dose at 8am, take your second dose at 8pm. Usually, you start on a low dose of oxycodone and this is increased gradually until your pain is well controlled. Once your pain is under control, your doctor may prescribe slow-release tablets.

This may cut down the number of doses you have to take each day. When you stop taking oxycodone your doctor will gradually reduce your dose, especially if you've been taking it for a long time. If you forget to take a dose, check the information that comes with the medicine or ask your pharmacist or doctor for advice.

If you often forget doses, it may help to set an alarm to remind you. You could also ask a pharmacist for advice on other ways to remember to take your medicine. It's important not to take more than your prescribed dose, even if you think it's not enough to relieve your pain.

Speak to your doctor first, if you think you need a different dose. If you take too much oxycodone you may feel very sleepy, sick or dizzy, find it difficult to breathe or become unconscious. Take the oxycodone box or leaflet inside the packet plus any remaining medicine with you. It's safe to take oxycodone with paracetamol , ibuprofen or aspirin do not give aspirin to children under 16 years of age. Do not take oxycodone with painkillers that contain codeine.

You will be more likely to get side effects. Painkillers that contain codeine include co-codamol codeine and paracetamol , Nurofen Plus codeine and ibuprofen , co-codaprin codeine and aspirin and Solpadeine codeine, paracetamol, ibuprofen and caffeine.

Like all medicines, oxycodone can cause side effects in some people, but many people have no side effects or only minor ones. The higher the dose of oxycodone the more chance that you will get side effects. Common side effects happen in more than 1 in people.

Talk to a doctor or pharmacist if these side effects bother you or do not go away:. Serious side effects happen in less than 1 in people. Call a doctor if you have:. In rare cases, it's possible to have a serious allergic reaction anaphylaxis to oxycodone. These are not all the side effects of oxycodone. For a full list, see the leaflet inside your medicine packet.

Do not take any other medicines to treat the side effects of oxycodone without speaking to a pharmacist or doctor first. Oxycodone is generally not recommended during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. In early pregnancy, it's been linked to some problems for your baby.

If you take oxycodone at the end of pregnancy there's a risk that your baby may get withdrawal symptoms or be addicted to oxycodone when they're born. However, it's important to treat pain in pregnancy. For some pregnant women with severe pain, oxycodone might be the right medicine. Your doctor is the best person to help you decide what's right for you and your baby.

Oxycodone is not usually recommended if you're breastfeeding. Small amounts of oxycodone pass into breast milk and may cause breathing problems for your baby. Tell a doctor if you are breastfeeding. They may be able to recommend a different painkiller. Some medicines and oxycodone interfere with each other and increase the chance that you will have side effects.

Tell a doctor before you start taking oxycodone if you are taking any medicines:. It's not possible to say that oxycodone is safe to take with herbal remedies and supplements. They're not tested for the effect they have on other medicines in the same way pharmacy and prescription medicines are.

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you're taking any other medicines, including herbal medicines, vitamins or supplements.