I don't know about the pharmacy you use, but all of our labels are clearly marked. For example if a patient receives some Norco 5, their label will read: Hydrocodone/APAP 5-325. The first number (5) is the hydrocodone and the second number (325) is the tylenol.

And if there is any question, please just ask! Your pharmacist should be glad to help you.

Heck, if you aren't a pharmacy-hopper, you can even skip reading the sheet, just take the opportunity when picking up your medicine to tlak to your pharmacist about interactions, things to avoid, signs of overdose, or whatever you desire. Most any pharmacist should be glad to help you (that's what they went to school for afterall. They didn't pay those thousands of dollars just to learn to count by 5's!).

Tylenol with codeine (percocet?)

That would be Tylenol #3

Percocet is Tyenol + Oxycodone.

Darvon is still around, but it is NOT aspirin+codeine. It is propoxyphene (which is of questionable use for anything besides becoming addicted).

The only drug I can think of offhand that has aspirin and codeine is "Fiorinal with Codeine" which combines the bartituate Butalbital with caffeine, aspirin and codeine.

Tylenol has its place in medicine. The major benefit of it in my book is that it doesn't act as a blood-thinner, so not only is it a great choice for pain relief for pre/post-surgery patients, but it is safe for those who are on blood pressure medicine as well. It's also a good choice for pain relief where open wounds are involved (aspirin would prolong bleedin, just like with surgery). It's also safe for children whereas aspirin is not.

In fact, aspirin is not recommended for fever relief for those under 19 due to the potential for Reye's Syndrome. Aspirin is also very hard on the stomach, though that can be eased with an enteric coating.

Moral of the story: drugs are not something to be taken lightly. Follow the directions, read the warnings, and only take prescribed meds as your doctor tells you to. Do all that, and you likely will be ok. :)

(And while I'm on my soapbox, if your doctor changes your directions and doesn't gve you a new script, ask him for one! Trust me, it will save a lot of PITA down the road when you try to get your refill 15 days early.)

Wedge, CPhT

Well, on the bright side, at least we aren't stealing the money from our childrens' piggy banks (eg, borrow it from places like China) like the Republicans do, right?

Sigh, why we can't just cut spending AND taxes, I don't know.

That's funny, I don't recall hearing that Brian Moore won?

Many people thought we were getting the lesser of two evils when Bush was elected over Gore.

Not trying to say McCain would be better.

Just saying that when you choose between two evils, you still end up with evil.

Exactly! This is what I've been trying to tell people the whole election - Republicans AREN'T Republican anymore. They have as a group become very Authoritarian/Centrist.

I would have voted Republican this year if there had been one running. The last candidate to run on a real Republican platform was Bush. The trouble with that was it was all a lie. He ran on a platform mostly opposite of what he did. Twice. I still can't believe people believed him the second time around.