Hydrocodone Side Effects

Constipation, dizziness, and nausea are some of the most common side effects that have been reported with hydrocodone. Typically, the medication's side effects are minor and do not require medical attention, but some problems are potentially serious and should be reported to your healthcare provider. Contact your healthcare provider immediately if you experience serious side effects of hydrocodone, such as severe drowsiness, difficulty passing urine, or slow or irregular breathing.

Hydrocodone Medication Information

An Introduction to Hydrocodone Side Effects

As with any medicine, hydrocodone can cause side effects. However, not everyone who takes the medication will have problems. In fact, most people tolerate it quite well. If side effects do occur, in most cases, they are minor and either require no treatment or can easily be treated by you or your healthcare provider.

(This article covers many, but not all, of the possible side effects with hydrocodone. Your healthcare provider can discuss a more complete list of hydrocodone side effects with you.)

Possible Side Effects of Hydrocodone

For many medications, the prescribing information carefully explains the exact percentage of side effects that were seen in clinical trials. However, the prescribing information for almost all older medications (including most hydrocodone medications) include only vague side effect information, with no percentages provided. Therefore, it can be difficult to know exactly how common (or how rare) the side effects of such medications may be.

Additionally, hydrocodone is not available by itself; it only comes in combination with one or more other active ingredients, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol^®) or ibuprofen (Advil^®, Motrin^®). Of course, these other active ingredients may also cause side effects.

The most common side effects of hydrocodone include:

Lightheadedness
Dizziness
Drowsiness
Nausea
Vomiting
Constipation (see Hydrocodone and Constipation).

(Hydrocodone Side Effects Continued: Page 2)