You know, it's funny - I have no visual effects from Vicodin. In fact, according to folks who know me, there doesn't seem to be any coordination or other effect - it just mostly takes pain away (disclaimer - IF I take too strong a dose for the amount of pain I'm in I get sleepy)

You may remember that early this year, I spend 14 days in the hospital, and the first 12 or so of them I was on 6ml of Morphine every 4hrs. No visual effects there either, but it did tend to make me want to nap, which was a GOOD thing, as when I was alseep, I wasn't hurting

No Gnomes or colors with me either

Hey Sue,
I think Blast needs a get well cat!
Stu

In my profession, the term "hitting the pharmacy" will get you 20 years in a fed pen.

Mallinckrodt, the manufacturer of several strengths of generic Lortab (Vicodin), has been on backorder for about a week now.

My guess is the doc ordered you a Vicodin 5 and those will be shipping out to wholesalers beginning March 6th. If the pharmacy was smart and had a decent inventory of high-volume product they wouldn't even feel the shortage.

And, no, it's not a sign of the times. Backorders happen all the time. A sign of the times right now is doctors' closets being empty of samples. Those eeeeeevil pharmaceutical companies have taken a beating, and are pulling back on their marketing. Now I get people complaining they can't get free meds anymore. I thought they grew on trees!

Agree with all you stated except a caveat to your last statement. Just because there are fewer addicts who know about Norco doesn't mean it isn't a red flag drug. We busted an addict doctor shopping based on my suspicions when he specifically requested Norco from the doc. Addicts like to think they are sneaky, but they stick out (usually) like a sore thumb.

Addicts who think they are smart like the Norco more due to the lower acetaminophen levels, so their livers won't konk out so fast.

Someone specifically asking for Norco can be perceived as suspicious, even if they are totally innocent. But if Blast were to tell the doc he can't get Vicoden d/t the backorder, I don't think anyone would have a problem with it.

Sorry, Mike, but Norco is equally as addicting as Vicodin. The hydrocodone component is what is addicting, not the tylenol.

Blast, you are insane for posting pics for cat-fodder. That pic will be in the Hall of Fame forever!

Ah, yes, samples! I've never gotten free samples of anything myself, but I'll occasionally see stats on them and I'm always amazed at just how many doses of various drugs are given out free every year.

Besides pharma companies cutting back on giving out free samples, I've been reading articles about more and more people really cutting back on their meds--pill splitting, skipping days, etc.--and for some, free samples from their physician help some patients get through a month so I'm not surprised that physician offices would be cleaned out of free samples.

I wonder how much all of those the free samples raise the price for paying customers. Free just means that someone other than the recipient pays for it.

The incremental cost of producing all those free samples is a pittance compared to the profit generated by your typical blockbuster prescription drug. Don't think of pharmaceuticals like a manufactured product like a car, where there's a cost of raw materials plus production plus a percentage for profit. Think of pharmaceuticals more like intellectual property, like software. Once you've paid a bunch of people to develop a computer program, there isn't much difference between making 1,000 copies or a million copies.

Generics are a different situation, but physicians aren't generally given tons of free samples of generics.

Seeing things while taking vicodin... hmmm you may have other problems

All kidding aside... if you don't have addictive tendencies you`ll be fine. I had to take it for a couple months after an ATV accident. My biggest piece of advice is don't just take more and more if it stops working 'good' ease OFF of it for a couple days then it will work better. Obviously if you are in such serious pain that you can't ease off for relief in a couple days then you need to take more or up your dosage. Try to get them to get you something with only 375mg of Tylenol instead of the standard 500. It's stupid that in the USA they require it to be mixed.