How much dilaudid can you take

Your doctor may start you on a lowered dosage or a different schedule. This can help keep levels of this drug from building up too much in your body. People with kidney disease: Your doctor may start you at a dose that is 25 percent to 50 percent lower than the typical starting dose. People with liver disease: Your doctor may start you at a dose that is 25 percent to 50 percent lower than the typical starting dose.

If you have severe liver problems, your doctor may use another drug for pain relief instead of the extended-release tablet, or they may give you a lower dosage of another form of this drug. Hydromorphone oral tablet is generally used for short-term treatment. For this drug to work well, a certain amount needs to be in your body at all times. If you take too much: You could have dangerous levels of the drug in your body.

Symptoms of an overdose of this drug can include:. But if your symptoms are severe, call or go to the nearest emergency room right away. What to do if you miss a dose: Take your dose as soon as you remember. If you remember just a few hours before your next scheduled dose, take only one.

Never try to catch up by taking two doses at once. This could result in dangerous side effects. This drug may cause a sudden drop in blood pressure. This may cause lightheadedness, dizziness, and even fainting. Your risk may be higher if you have a low blood volume and have trouble keeping a normal blood pressure. Your risk may also be higher if you take certain medications. These include drugs called phenothiazines or general anesthetics.

If you have an allergic reaction, call your doctor or local poison control center right away. If your symptoms are severe, call or go to the nearest emergency room.

Taking it again could be fatal cause death. Drinking alcohol can increase your risk of side effects from this drug. These can include breathing problems, low blood pressure, extreme drowsiness, and coma.

If you drink alcohol, talk to your doctor. For people with head injury and increased head pressure: This drug can increase intracranial pressure blood pressure in your brain. This can make your condition worse. Ask your doctor if this drug is safe for you. For people with liver problems: If you have liver problems or a history of liver disease, you may not be able to process this drug well. This may increase the levels of the drug in your body and cause more side effects.

If you have severe liver problems, your doctor may give you a lower dosage. For people with kidney problems: If you have kidney problems or a history of kidney disease, you may not be able to clear this drug from your body well.

This may increase the levels of it in your body and cause more side effects. This drug should only be used if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the pregnancy. If a woman takes this drug for a long time during pregnancy, it can lead to opioid withdrawal syndrome in a newborn. This can be life threatening for the baby. Call your doctor right away if you become pregnant while taking this drug.

For women who are breastfeeding: This drug may pass into breast milk and cause side effects in a child who is breastfed. Talk to your doctor if you breastfeed your child. You may need to decide whether to stop breastfeeding or stop taking this medication.

For seniors: The kidneys of older adults may not work as well as they used to. For children: This medication has not been studied in children.

If a child accidentally swallows this drug, it can lead to overdose. This can be fatal cause death. Hydromorphone oral tablet can interact with other medications, vitamins, or herbs you may be taking.

An interaction is when a substance changes the way a drug works. This can be harmful or prevent the drug from working well. To help avoid interactions, your doctor should manage all of your medications carefully. The average household teaspoon may not hold the right amount of liquid. Do not switch from the extended-release tablets to the immediate-release tablets unless your doctor tells you to. Be careful not to handle crushed or broken tablets.

If you have contact with broken or crushed tablets or spilled oral liquid, wash your skin or the affected areas with soap and water right away. The dose of this medicine will be different for different patients. Follow your doctor's orders or the directions on the label. The following information includes only the average doses of this medicine. If your dose is different, do not change it unless your doctor tells you to do so.

The amount of medicine that you take depends on the strength of the medicine. Also, the number of doses you take each day, the time allowed between doses, and the length of time you take the medicine depend on the medical problem for which you are using the medicine.

If you miss a dose of this medicine, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Do not double doses. Store the medicine in a closed container at room temperature, away from heat, moisture, and direct light.

Keep from freezing. Hydromorphone can cause serious unwanted effects or fatal overdose if taken by children, pets, or adults who are not used to strong narcotic pain medicines. Make sure you store the medicine in a safe and secure place to prevent others from getting it. Drop off any unused narcotic medicine at a drug take-back location right away. If you do not have a drug take-back location near you, flush any unused narcotic medicine down the toilet.

Drinking alcohol, taking prescription or nonprescription medications that contain alcohol, or using street drugs during your treatment with hydromorphone increases the risk that you will experience serious, life-threatening side effects. Do not drink alcohol, take prescription or nonprescription medications that contain alcohol, or use street drugs during your treatment. Swallow the extended-release tablets whole. Do not split, chew, dissolve, or crush them. If you swallow broken, chewed, crushed, or dissolved tablets you may receive too much hydromorphone at once instead of receiving the medication slowly over time.

This may cause serious breathing problems or death. Do not allow anyone else to take your medication. Hydromorphone may harm or cause death to other people who take your medication, especially children. Keep hydromorphone in a safe place so that no one else can take it accidentally or on purpose. Be especially careful to keep hydromorphone out of the reach of children. Keep track of how many tablets or how much liquid is left so you will know if any medication is missing. Dispose of unwanted or no longer needed tablets, extended-release tablets, and liquid by flushing the medication down the toilet.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. If you take hydromorphone regularly during your pregnancy, your baby may experience life-threatening withdrawal symptoms after birth. Tell your baby's doctor right away if your baby experiences any of the following symptoms: irritability, hyperactivity, abnormal sleep, high-pitched cry, uncontrollable shaking of a part of the body, vomiting, diarrhea, or failure to gain weight.

Your doctor or pharmacist will give you the manufacturer's patient information sheet Medication Guide when you begin your treatment with hydromorphone and each time you fill your prescription. Read the information carefully and ask your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions.

Hydromorphone is used to relieve pain. Hydromorphone extended-release tablets are used to relieve severe pain in people who are expected to need pain medication around the clock for a long time and who cannot be treated with other medications.

Hydromorphone extended-release tablets should only be used to treat people who are tolerant used to the effects of the medication to opioid medications because they have taken this type of medication for at least one week and should not be used to treat mild or moderate pain, short-term pain, pain after an operation or medical or dental procedure, or pain that can be controlled by medication that is taken as needed. Hydromorphone is in a class of medications called opiate narcotic analgesics.

It works by changing the way the brain and nervous system respond to pain. Hydromorphone comes as a liquid, a tablet, and an extended-release long-acting tablet to take by mouth.

The liquid is usually taken every 3 to 6 hours and the tablets are usually taken every 4 to 6 hours. The extended-release tablets are taken once daily with or without food. Take hydromorphone at around the same time s every day. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand.

Do not allow the hydromorphone liquid to touch your skin or clothing. If such contact occurs, remove any clothes exposed to the oral liquid and wash your skin thoroughly with cool water. Your doctor may start you on a low dose of hydromorphone and gradually increase your dose, not more often than once every 3 to 4 days. Your doctor may decrease your dose if you experience side effects. Tell your doctor if you feel that your pain is not controlled or if you experience side effects during your treatment with hydromorphone.

Do not change the dose of your medication without talking to your doctor. Do not stop taking hydromorphone without talking to your doctor. Your doctor will probably decrease your dose gradually. If you suddenly stop taking hydromorphone, you may experience withdrawal symptoms including restlessness, teary eyes, runny nose, yawning, sweating, chills, hair standing on end, muscle or joint pain, widening of the pupils black circles in the middle of the eyes , irritability, anxiety, backache, weakness, stomach cramps, difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, fast breathing, or fast heartbeat.

If you do not take hydromorphone extended-release tablets for longer than 3 days for any reason, talk to your doctor before you start taking the medication again.

This medication may be prescribed for other uses; ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information. If you are taking the tablets or solution, take the missed dose as soon as you remember it. However, if it is almost time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and continue your regular dosing schedule. Do not take a double dose to make up for a missed one.

If you are taking the extended-release tablets, skip the missed dose and continue your regular dosing schedule.