Gabapentin and Hydrocodone both are typical painkiller medicines. And it is very common for doctors to mix Gabapentin with other pain medicines for effective results. In this situation, a common question arises in mind, can you take Gabapentin with Hydrocodone, as both medicines are powerful? Along with this a lot of questions like, will it be dangerous, or very effective to treat pain? Well, we will discuss these topics in detail here in this article.
Before getting the answers to all of these questions, let’s get a brief overview of Gabapentin and Hydrocodone.
How Gabapentin is Different from Hydrocodone?
Gabapentin, and Hydrocodone both are different medicines, mainly used to treat pain. But they have different dosages, drug classes, and active ingredients.
What Is Gabapentin?
Gabapentin is the best medicine for severe pain. These are diabetic neuropathy pain, Postherpetic neuralgia, nerve pain, RLS, and other severe pain. This medicine has different forms like tablets, syrup, and oral solutions. The brand name of Gabapentin is Anticonvulsants. It belongs to a class of drugs called Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid Analogs.
Mechanism
It regulates the action of the GABA synthetic enzyme, glutamate-synthesizing enzyme, glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), and branched-chain amino acid transaminase. That’s why the human and rat brain Nuclear Magnetic Resonance ( NMR ) spectroscopy informs that Gabapentin increases GABA synthesis. It works to relieve pain and also, in the brain to prevent seizures for certain conditions in the nervous system. Gabapentin is not used for regular pain caused by arthritis or minor injuries. It is an anticonvulsant.
Dosages
It has available different types of variants. These are Gabapentin 100 mg, 1600 mg, 1200 mg, 300 mg, 400 mg, 600 mg, and 800 mg.
What is Hydrocodone?
Hydrocodone is a painkiller medicine used to treat severe pain, surgery pain, and pain related to any accident. Acetaminophen is the generic name of Hydrocodone. It is a short-term treatment only for moderate to severe pain.
Mechanism
Hydrocodone primarily works on the CNS (Central Nervous System ) to relieve pain. It binds and activates the mu-opioid receptor in the brain. It operates kappa and delta-opioid receptors as the plasma drug concentration increase beyond typical starting doses. Hydrocodone relieves cough by reducing activity in the part of the brain that causes coughing.
Dosages
It has different types of variants available. Those are- Hydrocodone 10-500 mg, 10-325 mg, 10-650 mg, 10-660 mg, and 5-325 mg.
How Does Gabapentin React With Hydrocodone?
Can you take Gabapentin with Hydrocodone? Is it safe or not, and acts described below the paragraph?
Gabapentin is also used together with opioids (Hydrocodone ) to treat chronic pain. And they are often used to show defeat breathing, which can be fatal. When combining these two drugs causes very dangerous side effects. Some examples of these drugs include Oxycodone and Morphine. Here, the question can you take Gabapentin and Oxycodone together? While the doctor recommends it. Taking Gabapentin with the above medicine increases your risk for respiratory depression, coma, severe sleepiness, and even death. During the same time, opioids can also be used to increase the amount of potential leading, absorbed by the body to higher risks when these drugs are used together.
Gabapentin Reacts With Other Medicine:
Gabapentin also has harmful side effects to use other medicine. Hence, describe all the information below the paragraph-
Reacts With OTC ( Non-Prescription ) Medications
Most of the time Gabapentin taken with OTC ( over-the-counter ) medicine has to bad impact. However it is always important to check with your doctor or pharmacist about the specific OTC product. Because both medicines can be sedating, mixing them can cause additive side effects that can be dangerous in severe cases like drowsiness.
Reacts With Antacids
Antacids contain Aluminum Hydroxide or Magnesium Hydroxide. When Gabapentin and Antacids mix together for some reason pain the concentration level of Gabapentin has to be reduced in the body. so it does not work well. There is some medicines available in the market or online pharmacies that have increased the side effects of mixing them. But Maalox is one type of antacid medicine, recommended to take Gabapentin at least two hours after taking the Antacid.
Reacts With Benzodiazepines
Gabapentin or Neurontin interacts with Benzodiazepine and substances that make you sleepy. Benzodiazepine contains magnesium or aluminum. A vital risk of mixing these two drugs is slowed breathing, which can be fatal in some cases.
Risk Factor After Combining Gabapentin With Hydrocodone:
Can you mix Gabapentin with Hydrocodone? Generally, Physicians study the combination of these two drugs having some risk. Especially misuse.
Some severe side effects:
- Drowsiness
- Fever
- Memory loss
- Heartburn
- Nausea
- Swelling
- Elevated blood pressure
- Lack of stability
- Speaking difficulty
Some rare but equally serious adverse effects:
- Substance use disorder
- Depression
- Allergic reactions
- Severe skin reactions
- Suicidal thoughts
- Muscle tissue breakdown
- Panic attacks
Precautions When Taking Gabapentin With Hydrocodone
However, to control the potential interactions and side effects of Gabapentin with Hydrocodone. It is important to follow these precautions:
- Alcohol.
- Specific medicines for depression, such as fluoxetine, sertraline, and amitriptyline.
- Medicines for sleep or anxiety.
- Seizures medicine, such as primidone and phenobarbital.
- General anesthetics or muscle relaxants are given before surgery.
- Narcotic pain medicines.
- For stomach problems. (Wait a minimum of two hours after taking magnesium and aluminum-containing antacids before taking gabapentin.)
- Also Antihistamine-containing cough, cold, and allergy products.
How To Take Gabapentin With Hydrocodone?
Basically, you take these two tablets on a schedule, depending on the prescription. While you take Hydrocodone as needed, says the doctor’s Rx. so it is fine to clear that the Gabapentin dose falls at the same time as you want to take your next dose of Hydrocodone.
In some cases, Gabapentin can cause nausea or vomiting in some patients. If that case, intake Gabapentin with some food, suggests Dr. Gilbert. Otherwise eating before taking a dose of either medication (or both) isn’t necessary.
Conclusion:
The above information to clear that the combination of Gabapentin with Hydrocodone causes death. Also, interaction with other medicine has the same effects. Gabapentin 1600 mg is effective in reducing some of the withdrawal symptoms in patients addicted to opiates. People know before if they can mix prescription medications with over-the-counter ones. What are the benefits, side effects, and precautions? But they can use it with the guidance of a doctor’s prescription. Gabapentin has partially proven to be a safe and well-tolerated medication with low abuse liability.