How long does it take for hydrocodone 7.5/500 tabs to start to work? I've had 3 and nothing yet? Gout attack?

Question

I'll take 3 more if it will help.

Answer 1

That's a lot, if you're an average size person.  Typical onset of relief is about 20-30 minutes.

Personally, I get better results with ibuprofen.

Answer 2

This greatly depends on the person taking the medication.  Some people start to feel relief in 20 minutes and some people do not feel it until 2 hours have passed.  There are many factors at work here.  It depends on if you have taken the medication before, how much you have taken before, whether you took them on an empty stomach or not, what your personal metabolism is, if there were other medications taken with it or recently, if today is Thursday, etc.  The "average" time is given as 30 minutes to one hour.  We (nurses) generally check the effectiveness on our patients after one hour has elapsed.

Chances are pretty good that you did not overdose.  You want to be careful with the amount of acetaminophen, though.  You generally do not want to take more than 1000mg at a time (you took 1500mg) and you don't want to exceed 4000mg in a 24 hour period.  You also want to be careful of the CNS (Central Nervous System) depression caused by the opiate hydrocodone.  If you are opiate naive (meaning you are not used to taking narcotics) this can severely slow your breathing.  It can slow it to the point of stopping it.  As we know, breathing is conducive to life.

P.S. - the "Thursday" comment simply meant that things can change from one day to the next.  It was meant to evoke a smile on some readers' faces.

Answer 3

They should have already started working.  They should approx. 30 minutes after you take them.  Do not take anymore.  If you took them very close together timewise, please call your pharmacy and ask them if you could have overdosed.