I personally don't think taking a hydrocodone pill with more apap (tylenol) will offer any more pain relief than a pill with a lower apap and the same amount of hydrocodone. In addition, increasing your apap intake will greatly increase your chances of long term liver damage that can be very serious. If you truely want more pain relief, you will have to increase your hydrocodone intake. For example, if you are taking vicodin 5/325, and it is inadequate, increase to vicodin 7.5/325 or to 10/325, rather than changing to vicodin 5/500. I hope that example helps you to understand what i mean. Percocet fits into the picture in that it is a preparation much like vicodin with tylenol and a narcotic. The difference being that the narcotic is oxycodone instead of hydrocodone. Oxycodone is generally somewhat stronger than hydrocodone, between 20-40% stronger milligram for milligram (however the difference can vary greatly from person to person). Oxycodone is also a schedule II narcotic, while hydrocodone is a schedule III narcotic (in most states) This means that for products containing oxycodone, including percocet, you are not allowed refills without a written perscription, the doctor cannot call the script in, you must fill the script within seven days of the date it was written, but not within 30 days of a prior prescription for the same product, or it is invalid; and it is just generally more regulated. Percocet comes in generic, and it comes in preparations similiar to vicodin including, 2.5/325, 2.5/500, 5/325, 5/550, 7.5/325, 7.5/650, 10/325, 10/650. Don't let the schedule II status of the drug scare you, it is more of a minor inconvenience than anything else, and many people find percocet to be more effective than vicodin. In fact percocet is the next logical step, once vicodin has failed. Take care.

Actually you were on oxycodone extended release, which IS in fact known as Oxycontin. With the strongest dose of oxycodone in a Percocet tablet being 10 mg, you can see why oxycontin is so appealing to addicts. Oxycontin has no apap to od on, and the weakest oxycontin tablet is 10 mg! It ranges in strengths of 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg tablets, which is mighty potent- one 80 mg tab is equal to eight of the strongest percocets available. They used to make a 160 mg tablet, but the government forced them (purdue pharma) to pull it off the market. Take care.

Hi all; wirry1422 explained it very well. Hydrocodone and Oxycodone are the "killers" in the painkiller. The number after the slash is merely the amount of tylenol.

My pharmacist recommended a med to me when I was wondering about taking the tylenol,I only take 10/325 4x daily of Perc for bt pain, but was still wondering. He told me about a med called "Vicoprofen" which is like Vicodin but with Ibuprofen in it instead. So that may be something you may want to inquire about.

Don't we have some "smart sallies" on this board? Oh, and not to leave out the guys: "smart sam's" !!!!! :)

Pain stinks, but for most of us here, it seems to have made itself at home in our bodies!

tk