Hydrocodone (related to codeine) is in a class of drugs called narcotic analgesics. It relieves pain.
What kind of medicine is OxyContin?
OxyContin contains oxycodone, a very strong narcotic pain reliever similar to morphine. OxyContin is designed so that the oxycodone is slowly released over time, allowing it to be used twice daily. You should never break, chew, or crush the OxyContin tablet since this causes a large amount of oxycodone to be released from the tablet all at once, potentially resulting in a dangerous or fatal drug overdose.
Will I become addicted to OxyContin if I take it every day?
OxyContin is only intended for moderate to severe pain that is present on a daily basis and that requires a very strong pain reliever. Patients with this type of severe pain condition require daily pain treatment. Taking OxyContin daily can result in physical dependence, a condition in which the body shows signs of narcotic withdrawal if the OxyContin is stopped suddenly. This is not the same thing as addiction, which represents a situation in which people obtain and take narcotics because of a psychological need, and not just to treat a legitimate painful condition. Physical dependence can be treated by slowly under the advice of a physician by slowing decreasing the OxyContin dose when it is no longer needed for the treatment of pain. Concerns of addiction should not prevent patients with appropriate pain conditions from using OxyContin or other narcotics for pain relief.
Also::
OxyContin (oxycodone), a controlled drug approved in 1995 to treat chronic, moderate-to-severe pain, has received considerable attention because of deaths and crimes associated with its abuse. (For more on the classes--or schedule--of drugs, see "Controlled Substances".) OxyContin is a morphine-like narcotic that contains a high dose of oxycodone. Manufactured by Purdue Pharma, Stamford, Conn., the drug was originally believed to pose a lower risk for abuse because it is a controlled-release drug designed to be taken orally and swallowed whole. The drug's active ingredient, oxycodone, is slowly released over a 12-hour period. But the safety of the drug is based on taking the drug exactly as intended.
Abusers sometimes disrupt the time-release formula of the drug to speed up absorption, often chewing the tablets, crushing them and snorting the powder, or dissolving them in water and injecting the drug to get a fast high. Abusers have also used OxyContin with other painkillers, alcohol, and marijuana. Several deaths have resulted, mostly in rural areas of the Eastern United States, especially in Virginia and West Virginia.
Other products containing oxycodone such as Percodan and Percocet have also been abused over the years. Abuse of opiates is not new; what's new is the recent surge in local epidemics of opiate abuse
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