They are the same drugs, with the exception of Norco having lower amount of Tylenol.
I was going to say the same thing. Both have hydrocodone and tylenol, but norco contains less tylenol than vicodin. 325 vs 500. Did your dr prescribe these to be taken together? The main concern is tylenol and your liver.
Welcome! The new recommended max for acetaminophen is 3,000 mg/day...less for folks such as the elderly or those taking it daily. Unless the same doctor prescribed both of these meds recently and told you to take them together, I would not. That wouldn't be the intent. It would be bizarre for the same doctor to prescribe two meds which have the same ingredients but in different doses. I can see how your pharmacist said not to take them together as then you would be taking an extra large dose, up to double.
I'm not sure how you ended up with both of these prescriptions, and by no means am I accusing you of having ill intentions, but I think its prudent that I point out a couple things you may not be aware of. Doctors frown upon patients getting prescriptions for pain meds from more than one doctor at a time or taking them not as prescribed (which can include combing a med they prescribed with one they are not aware of, or taking more than prescribed).
It would be recommend to tell the prescribing doctor you already had a prescription for X pain medication. Getting pain medications from more than one doctor can be considered doctor shopping, something that doctors and pharmacists are on alert for as its a behavior common in abusers/addicts. Some states even have systems linking pharmacies to detect this. Best wishes.
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Kate
constant head pain, fibro, and other fun!
chronic pain established in 2006
The Following User Says Thank You to tortoisegirl For This Useful Post: waters04 (08-16-2012)
I was going to say the same thing - they are basically the same drug, so what's the point? I can't imagine the same doctor prescribing them both unless he forgot what he gave you. In this day and age, that's certainly a possibility. But to knowingly do so, I just don't see it.
Thnks, I just today emailed my MS Dr. letting her know whats going on..the more knowledge the better..LOL Its so true though, we can't get too much knowledge as long as its good anyway.
Re: Norco & Vicodin 
