Hydrocodone has a significant risk of misuse, overdose, and addiction. One of its most serious risks is its ability to cause respiratory depression. In severe cases, this can lead to coma, brain damage, or even death.
Additional dangers of hydrocodone misuse include hallucinations, heartbeat changes, difficulty swallowing, hives, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and weakness.
What Are the Risks & Dangers of Hydrocodone?
Hydrocodone misuse use can lead to addiction, overdose, and death.[1]
People should not use hydrocodone in any way other than as prescribed since this increases their addiction risk and will cause more severe side effects. Hydrocodone misuse can potentially cause an overdose due to respiratory depression-related complications.
Serious consequences might result from carelessness with hydrocodone use, ranging from organ damage to the development of an opioid use disorder (OUD). Some of the most common issues hydrocodone can cause include the following:
- Nausea
- Dizzy spells
- Constipation and other gastrointestinal problems[2]
- Changes to the ways a person thinks
- Shifts in their personality
- Insomnia and other sleep issues
Hydrocodone misuse will eventually lead to increased tolerance for the medication, meaning more will be needed to produce the same effect.[3] Tolerance can also develop from regular, prescribed use, but it will generally develop more slowly than if the drug is misused.
Over time, repeated misuse can lead to organ damage, including kidney and liver damage.[4]
Risk of Overdose
A hydrocodone overdose can result in death.
If naloxone (Narcan) is administered in time, an opioid overdose can usually be reversed.[5] Naloxone attaches to opioid receptors in the brain, pushing off other opioids like hydrocodone. This reverses an opioid overdose and immediately pushes the person into withdrawal.
Despite naloxone’s life-saving potential, about 44 people die every day from opioid overdose, including overdose due to hydrocodone.[6] If anyone you know regularly uses hydrocodone or any other opioid, make sure to always have naloxone on hand.
Getting Help for a Hydrocodone Addiction
Fundamentally, hydrocodone is a drug that is dangerous enough that it should only ever be used as prescribed and for as short a time as needed for a given issue to be treated appropriately.
When someone is addicted to hydrocodone, it’s important to seek professional help to start the recovery process.[7] Experts typically recommend Medication for Addiction Treatment (MAT) as the primary treatment for opioid use disorder.[8] Medications like Suboxone suppress withdrawal symptoms and opioid cravings, so people can effectively stop misusing hydrocodone and begin to build a new life in recovery.[9]
Suboxone and MAT are life-saving measures. People who have repeatedly relapsed and been unable to maintain recovery find that they finally can because of MAT.
Thanks to telehealth services, like the care we provide at Bicycle Health, it’s easier than ever before to receive MAT and change your life. You can meet with an addiction treatment specialist virtually and receive a prescription for Suboxone, which you can pick up at your local pharmacy. You can also receive therapy and counseling from the comfort of your own home. With this kind of guidance and support, you can leave hydrocodone misuse in your past and build a balanced and fulfilling life in recovery.
Reviewed By Peter Manza, PhD
Peter Manza, PhD received his BA in Psychology and Biology from the University of Rochester and his PhD in Integrative Neuroscience at Stony Brook University. He is currently working as a research scientist in Washington, DC. His research focuses on the role ... Read More
- Hydrocodone. U.S. National Library of Medicine. https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a614045.html. January 2021. Accessed March 2023.
- Opioid-Induced Constipation: A Narrative Review of Therapeutic Options in Clinical Management. The Korean Journal of Pain. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6549585/. April 2019. Accessed March 2023.
- Preclinical and Clinical Pharmacology of Hydrocodone for Chronic Pain: A Mini Review. Frontiers in Pharmacology. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2018.01122/full. October 2018. Accessed March 2023.
- Liver and Kidney Toxicity in Chronic Use of Opioids: An Experimental Long Term Treatment Model. Journal of Biosciences. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15886461/. March 2005. Accessed March 2023.
- Lifesaving Naloxone. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/stopoverdose/naloxone/index.html. March 2023. Accessed March 2023.
- Prescription Opioid Overdose Death Maps. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/deaths/prescription/maps.html. June 2022. Accessed March 2023.
- Opioid Misuse and Addiction Treatment. U.S. National Library of Medicine. https://medlineplus.gov/opioidmisuseandaddictiontreatment.html. October 2019. Accessed March 2023.
- Effects of Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Opioid Use Disorder on Functional Outcomes: A Systematic Review. Rand Health Quarterly. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7302321/. June 2020. Accessed March 2023.
- Suboxone: Rationale, Science, Misconceptions. The Ochsner Journal. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5855417/. Spring 2018. Accessed March 2023.
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