Author: Gary Jackson

Oxycodone and Alcohol: Is There a Safe Way to Mix Them? Delphi

These programs are best for individuals who have very serious substance use disorders who need additional support to get and stay sober. The potential for harm is not limited to the direct effects of the drugs themselves. Combining them regularly may lead to an individual being more apt to commit a crime, become the victim of a crime, or have potentially serious accidents.

• Keep this medication in the container it came in, tightly closed, and out of reach of children.
• Alcohol is a CNS depressant, meaning that it depresses or suppresses the actions of the neurons (nerves) in the CNS.
• Detox, medication, and therapy at a rehab facility are some great ways to start a successful recovery from alcohol and oxycodone addiction.
• The United States saw 43 opioid prescriptions for every 100 people in 2020.

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. If you are taking the oxycodone extended-release tablets, swallow them whole; do not chew, break, divide, crush, or dissolve them.

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The solution, concentrated solution, tablet, and capsule are taken usually with or without food every 4 to 6 hours, either as needed for pain or as regularly scheduled medications. The extended-release tablets (Oxycontin) are taken every 12 hours with or without food. The extended-release capsules (Xtampza ER) are taken every 12 hours with food; eat the same amount of food with each dose. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Oxycodone extended-release tablets and extended-release capsules should not be used to treat pain that can be controlled by medication that is taken as needed. Oxycodone is in a class of medications called opiate (narcotic) analgesics.

The easiest way to lookup drug information, identify pills, check interactions and set up your own personal medication records. Always consult your healthcare provider to ensure the information displayed on this page applies to your personal circumstances. This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Always check the brand and strength of oxycodone you get from the pharmacy. Anyone can buy naloxone from a pharmacy or local health department. Make sure any person caring for you knows where you keep naloxone and how to use it.

Why is this medication prescribed?

Anyone who obtains, sells, or possesses such a product without a written prescription from a physician violates state and federal laws. Oxycodone is the primary active ingredient in several medications, including Percocet and OxyContin. It is primarily prescribed in pill form, and it is most often prescribed to treat chronic or postoperative pain. It also indicates oxycodone can only be used for specific purposes and according to a physician’s instructions. Opioids like oxycodone are technically not central nervous system depressants like alcohol, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines. Depressants work with gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), a chemical that’s important for sleep, relaxation, and anxiety relief.

Combining alcohol with some medicines can lead to falls and serious injuries, especially among older people. 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 more than one dose of the extended-release tablets or capsules in 12 hours.

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If there is no take-back program, flush the unused medicine down the toilet. Stop taking all other around-the-clock opioid pain medicines when you start taking extended-release oxycodone. Never share opioid medicine with another person, especially someone with a history of drug abuse or addiction. Keep the medication in a place where others cannot get to it. Older people are at particularly high risk for harmful alcohol–medication interactions. Aging slows the body’s ability to break down alcohol, so alcohol remains in a person’s system longer.

• Extended-release tablets last longer and will require you to wait longer to drink after taking them.
• The extended-release capsules (Xtampza ER) are taken every 12 hours with food; eat the same amount of food with each dose.
• This may cause serious problems, including overdose and death.
• This is because women’s bodies generally have less water than men’s bodies.

Taking opioids, such as oxycodone or morphine, in combination with alcohol can have severe consequences and be fatal. Because opioids and alcohol are both depressants, combining them can have a synergistic effect. This means the effect of each substance is stronger when taken together than when taken separately. The problem is that the brain’s reward center becomes less and less responsive to alcohol and oxycodone over time (referred to as drug tolerance). The requires you to take higher and higher doses to get the same effects.

Taking alcohol and oxycodone together can amplify these effects, making you “drunker” than you might be drinking alcohol alone or “higher” than you might be taking oxycodone alone. The combination can be deadly, increasing the risk of injury, particularly if behind the wheel of a car. Combining oxycodone with alcohol can have unwanted, unpredictable, and dangerous consequences. Both drugs can both make you drowsy, light-headed, and impair judgment. Drinking alcohol while taking oxy can intensify these effects.

When taken together, they can increase the risk of addiction, overdose, or liver damage. They can also amplify the intoxicating effects of both, leading to impaired coordination and judgment and, in turn, an increased risk of injury to yourself and others. This can lead to bradypnea (abnormally slowed breathing) and respiratory depression (where carbon dioxide levels increase in the body while oxygen levels fall). Among the possible consequences of this are fainting, bradycardia (slowed heart rate), respiratory failure, heart attack, coma, and death. Some may mix the substances because they don’t believe the consequences will affect them, they don’t see the harm in it, or to achieve a unique high.