The True Nature of Norco as an Opioid Painkiller
Experiencing pain on any level is always an unpleasant experience. Whether it’s physical or emotional pain, any person would wish for all of it to just go away. But when physical pain becomes too much that even over-the-counter medication can no longer resolve, you’ll need something a little more potent just to help ease the pain.
One of the best-known painkillers is the combination known as hydrocodone and acetaminophen. You may know them better with their brand names as Vicodin or Norco. While these drugs are considered a much more effective pain medication, they have their own drawbacks. Like any prescription medication, they can also be prone to abuse. Let’s explore what Norco is and how it can become both a blessing and curse to those who take it.
What is Norco?
Norco is the brand name of a particular pain medication made from hydrocodone and acetaminophen. They are mainly used to relieve pain that’s so severe that it needs opioid treatment. If a patient is suffering from extreme pain that not even the most common medicines could handle, a combination drug like Norco is usually prescribed by doctors. In order to understand what Norco does to the human body, we must first look at how the drug was first discovered.
The Origins of Hydrocodone
Hydrocodone was first created way back in the 1920s by the German pharmaceutical company Knoll. The drug was formulated by attaching a hydrogen atom to opium-based codeine molecules, which was a popular pain and cough reliever that proved to be too extreme in its effects. Knoll believed that this new process could actually make the codeine a lot easier on the stomach and less toxic to the user.
Back then, the US was already coping with addiction problems from older and more popular opioid painkillers and cough syrups in the market. As a way to curb the problem, the US Bureau of Social Hygiene funded a study by the National Research Council to examine which drug compounds act as a better alternative to those highly addictive cough syrups.
Hydrocodone turned out to be one of the most effective out of all the drugs surveyed. However, the study’s methodology was questionable and led to some findings where hydrocodone could still be addicting due to its opiate ingredients. Despite all that, hydrocodone became quite a hit in the US market and resulted in some of the popular brands you know today, like Vicodin HP, Norco, and Maxidone.
Is Norco an Opioid?
Norco contains an opioid analgesic used to treat moderate to fairly severe pain. It’s composed of a combination of drugs, namely hydrocodone and acetaminophen. You might know acetaminophen as the generic name of Tylenol and is a known pain reliever and fever reducer. The other compound in Norco is hydrocodone, which is a known opioid substance. The combination of the two makes it a potent pain reliever. However, the fact still remains that the drug is capable of causing a relaxing or euphoric feeling that, when misused, can cause a slew of side effects to the body.
The Side Effects of Norco
Like any other pain medication with opioid properties in it, Norco can cause some side effects on the body that range from mild to extreme. Some of the known and common side effects of taking hydrocodone and acetaminophen are:
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Constipation
- Lightheadedness
- Vomiting
- Upset Stomach
- Headache
- Mood Changes
- Blurred Vision
- Dry Mouth
- Ringing in Your Ears
While those are still considered common and have milder side effects. Other, more severe side effects could result from the misuse and abuse of Norco. If you ever experience the following symptoms while taking Norco, it’s best to call your doctor as soon as you can.
- Apnea
- Hypotension
- Respiratory Arrest
- Shock
- Respiratory Depression
Short Term Effects of Hydrocodone
In the short term, the effects of hydrocodone are primarily to modify pain signaling in the central nervous system through interaction with your body’s numerous opioid receptors. The drug isn’t actually decreasing the amount of pain you’re feeling but instead changes how your brain and your body perceive the pain. Hydrocodone works by making dopamine more available in the brain, which is what produces a pleasurable or positive feeling.
This is how opiates work and deal with the pain that’s too intense or long in duration. Other short-term desirable effects of the drug include:
- Numbness
- Drowsiness
- Increased Sense of Well-Being
- Reduced Worry and Stress
All those effects often lead to a “pleasurable high” that’s considered desirable by some people who use Norco. This is often what leads them to misuse the drug or become too dependent on it.
Long-Term Effects Of Hydrocodone
Perhaps the most well-known and dangerous long-term effect of hydrocodone is drug addiction. Because of the desirable effects mentioned above, people seek out and use Norco to induce that feel-good effect they get from it.
At its very core, hydrocodone is an opiate or even a narcotic, similar to codeine, heroin, and morphine. Acetaminophen by itself isn’t as dangerous as hydrocodone. But when they are combined and used repeatedly, it leads to tolerance, which compels people to take more of the drug until they develop a dependence on it. This is how people’s addiction to hydrocodone is developed as it entails a problematic, compulsive need to use the drug.
Frequent and long-term use of hydrocodone can cause a broad range of physical problems, from acetaminophen toxicity and liver damage to sensorineural hearing loss. However, the addiction itself can cause a lot more damage physically, mentally, and even emotionally.
Hydrocodone Dependency
Hydrocodone dependency happens when a person cannot function normally without taking the drug. They believe it sustains them and lets them function well. Without it, they cannot function like an average person. Older adults are actually at a higher risk of accidental misuse or abuse as they receive multiple prescriptions about chronic diseases, increasing the risk of drug-drug and drug-disease interactions.
When you know someone who is suspected of hydrocodone dependency, they may exhibit the following behavior:
- Taking too much of the drug at one time.
- Disobeying the doctor’s instructions on the proper use of the medication.
- Faking injury or pain to obtain more painkiller medication.
- Continuing to take the substance when it is no longer medically necessary.
- Mixing hydrocodone with alcohol or other drugs.
- Purchasing or using hydrocodone without a prescription.
Opiate addiction is a serious illness, and hydrocodone is no different from other opioid painkillers. It requires addiction treatment, therapy, and a lot of support to help someone overcome theirs.
Hydrocodone Overdose
Due to the habit-forming nature of opiates like Norco, overdose can become a common occurrence to individuals who abuse it. An opioid overdose occurs when a person uses enough of the drug to produce life-threatening symptoms or death. When people overdose on an opioid medication such as Norco, their breathing often slows or stops. This can effectively decrease the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain, which can result in any number of irreversible effects such as coma, brain damage, or even death.
Some of the common symptoms of hydrocodone overdose include sweating, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, dark urine, and nausea. If left unchecked, an overdose in Norco could easily lead to death.
Final Thoughts
Norco is one of the most commonly used pain medications in the US. Thousands of people rely on it for pain relief. However, recreational or prolonged use of it can result in dependence, overdose, and even death.