Oxycodone 20 mg

Overview

Oxycodone is a pain reliever (opioid agonist) drug, that is medically used to treat moderate to severe pain in individuals. Oxycodone 20 mg can manage both, acute and chronic pain conditions. Also, a doctor may recommend it for use when a pain reliever medicine is required to manage continuous, long-term pain.

Notably, Oxycodone is usually prescribed when other opioids do not work well or when an individual can’t tolerate the effects of other opioids. However, Oxycodone 20 mg is a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medicine, but it belongs to the Schedule II controlled substance class. It indicates that Oxycodone drug has a high potential for drug abuse, misuse, and addiction.

Oxycodone is a generic variant for several brand-name drugs, such as OxyContin, OxyContin CR, Roxicodone, Roxybond, etc.  20 mg oxycodone medication is available only under the Opioid Analgesic REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy) program. This program was developed to manage known risk factors associated with a pharmaceutical product.

Mechanism of Action of Oxycodone 20 mg:

There are 4 major steps in the functioning of Oxycodone drug, including binding to a receptor, inhibition of Adenylyl-Cyclase and hyper-polarization of neurons, and decreased excitability.

The main mode of action of Oxycodone is analgesia. Oxycodone belongs to the Narcotic analgesics or Opioids drug class. It is designed to bind the selective Mu, Kappa, and Delta opioid receptors. However, it has a strong efficacy for Mu-receptors.

It inhibits the Adenylyl-Cyclase (AC), which is a membrane-bound enzyme. This results in activating the opioid receptors. Oxycodone 20 mg can cause hyper-polarization (a process to change the potential of a cell’s membrane, to make it more negative) in neurons. It helps to reduce the excitability of neurons in the Central Nervous System (CNS). This process is called CNS depression.

Uses:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the immediate-release and extended-release variants of this pain relief drug for specific uses. Immediate-release (IR) formulations are used to manage short-term pain in patients with opioid tolerance.

The immediate-release variants are approved by the FDA for the management of several types of pain conditions that require continuous, long-term opioid treatment.

Oxycodone 20 mg can be used for several purposes, including:

• Acute pain
• Chronic pain
• Cancer pain

Dose and Effectiveness:

Dose of  ABG 20 pill

Oxycodone is available in the form of tablets, capsules, and oral solutions. A doctor may recommend taking a single dose of Oxycodone 20 mg drug every 4 to 6 hours as needed for enough analgesia. ER tablets must be taken every 12 hours. Notably, one should take Oxycodone regularly at scheduled intervals to manage chronic or severe pain conditions. A dose of Oxycodone can be taken with or without food.

Effectiveness

Immediate-release Oxycodone 20 mg starts working in 10 to 30 minutes. While the extended-release formulation takes time, it can take approximately 1 hour to start working properly.

Side Effects of 20 mg Oxycodone:

Oxycodone 20 mg is a prescription-only medication. There are various mild to severe aftereffects associated with Oxycodone. However, the severity of the side effects depends on one’s ability to tolerate the concentration effects of the drug. To avoid any mishaps, one should not take it without a medical consultation.

A few aftereffects of Oxycodone 20 mg are listed below:

• Photosensitivity
• Hypotension
• Headache
• Nausea
• Somnolence
• Glossitis
• Stomach pain
• Hallucinations
• Fever
• Anorexia
• Vomiting
• Constipation
• Palpitations
• Vomiting
• Rash
• Seizures
• Cough
• Drowsiness
• Diarrhea
• Sedation
• Lightheadedness
• Loss of appetite
• Severe weakness
• Hives

If an individual experiences any of the above-mentioned side effects, one must seek medical attention quickly.

Precautions

• Misuse of Oxycodone can cause overdose symptoms, which may lead an individual to death. Drug addiction is also a serious issue associated with this drug.
• One may experience slower breathing after consuming a dose, mostly in elderly or ill patients.
• Alcohol consumption is not advised while taking Oxycodone 20 mg medication.
• Avoid taking Oxycodone oral drugs without a medical consultation or a doctor’s prescription. Oxycodone 20 mg is a prescription-only drug.