What is the difference between hydrocodone and codeine?

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Answer

all of these answers on this page so far, thought well meant, have errors, some worse than others.

Hydrocodone and codeine are NOT the same chemical compound, they're two different drugs.

Codeine is the 3-methylether of morphine. It's almost inactive on it's own, and needs to be converted into morphine via the enzyme CYP2D6 in the liver to cause opioid effects, hence it's a prodrug. It's still a pretty weak opioid painkiller and severe pain will typically require something stronger.

Hydrocodone's chemical structure is similar to codeine's but NOT the same, hence it is a different compound altogether. It differs in a few places. First, the 6-hydroxy group of codeine is changed to a ketone group. Also, the double bond between carbons 7 and 8 is hydrogenated to a single bond by the addition of two hydrogen molecules. Hydrocodone is not a prodrug. It's a great deal stronger than codeine and is hence more effective in reducing severe pain. Hydrocodone also has less severe side effects, such as itching and nausea, than codeine. They may still be present but to a lesser degree. Hydrocodone, because it is not a prodrug, has no ceiling dosage above which the effects will not increase - in other words the dosage of hydrocodone could theoretically be increased indefinitely to gain greater effect, unlike codeine. All of these reasons make hydrocodone a preferred opiate painkiller over codeine. This is why vicodin prescriptions are FAR more common for post op and another pain than tylenol w/ codeine prescriptions.

One note unrelated to the question but VERY important: When taking narcotic pain pills that ALSO contain an NSAID like tylenol/APAP, it's VERY important to limit your dose of APAP, since APAP is severely liver toxic in high doses and mildly liver toxic even in high end therapeutic doses. Don't exceed 4000 mg of APAP in a single 24 hour period!!! If you have painkillers (such as vicodin, which contains APAP in addition to hydrocodone) that have APAP in them in addition to the narcotic, and your desired dose of narcotic would result in exceeding a safe dose of APAP, you MUST do a cold water extraction (CWE ... google it for instructions) to protect your liver health!!! This is important!

Hope this helped!

Answer

Hydrocodone is a mixture of drugs one being codine It is a fairly low dose a little more thna you find in some cough syrup Never take too many for the more you taje the more codine is in your system.

Answer

They are exactly the same except one is the generic brand and that is a fact call your local pharmicist and they will tell you the same thing.

Answer

THE first two answers meant well, but unfortunlately they are both incorrect. The only reason I know is because I have to be re-certified every year, for my job, which deals with dispensing medication. What I'll do to make it easier to read and absorb, is I'll list all the strong pain medication that I know of, then list the most common ones and some brief information like other names it's known by; approximate strength; and anything else important. NARCOTIC AND OPIOID ANALGESICS: 1] alfentanil hydrochloride..2]buprenorphine hydrochloride..3] butorphanol tartrate..4] codeine phosphate..5]codeine sulfate. ..6] fentanyl citrate..7] hydromorphone hydrochloride..8] morphine hydrochloride..9] morphine sulfate..10] oxycodone hydrhchloride..11] hydrocodone bitartrate..12] tramadol hydrochloride..to name a few. HYDROCODONE a.k.a. hydrocodone bitartrate and Tylenol; class II (or schedule II) controlled substance>>> CODEINE a.k.a. --usually mixed with Tylenol; class II controlled; NOT THE SAME AS HYDROCODONE>>> OXYCODONE a.k.a. --oxycodone hydrochloride, mixed with Tylenol, class II controlled>>> HYDROMORPHONE HYDROCHLORIDE a.k.a. --hydromorphone hydrochloride, class II controlled>>> MORPHINE a.k.a. --morphine sulfate, class II controlled

Each and evey one of these painkillers is a different chemical composition and acts slightly differently. I hope this helps!!

As far as the pharmacist saying that hydrocodone and codeine being the same, they are wrong...or maybe they said ACTS the same..or maybe you spoke to a pharmacy technician and THEY were wrong. ALWAYS ask to speak to a registered pharmacict (Rph) and ask for a computer printout that will tell you EVERTHING about the medication you ever wanted to know and then some!! GOOD LUCK!

Answer

Hydrocodone (aka Vicodin) is awesome.

Codeine (aka Tylenol 3) is not as awesome cause you have to take like 8 to really feel anything.

ADDED INFO

IF YOU take 8 Tylenol #3, you are ingesting 2,600 mg of tylenol, which is more than half of a safe dose in 24 hours. NOT GOOD for the liver! <<>>

Hydrocodone and codeine are two seperate medications. However, they have many similarities and are often confused as being the same:

Similarities: each are opiate agonists (occupy opiate receptors in the human body), both possess analgesic (painkilling) and antitussive (cough suppressant) properties, both are controlled substances ranging from Schedule II-V, each is often combined with another medication such as another painkiller or antihistmine, each has a high addictive potential, both have the side effects of euphoria, drowsiness, and respiratory depression (in high doses) among others

Differences: chemical structure is different, mechanism of action in the body is not exactly the same, codeine is actually a prodrug (inactive drug which is converted to an active drug in the body) of morphine - people with a deficiency of the enzyme in the liver which does this will not feel any therapeutic effects of codeine because it will not be converted to morphine in the body, hydrocodone is a slightly superior cough suppressant than codeine and a much more potent painkiller than codeine, hydrocodone is more sedating than codeine, codeine can be given by mouth or IV while hydrocodone is most often given via the oral route

May be more information than you were looking for, but I hope this last bit helps!

Mostly good information here (maybe more technical than required), but a simple answer is: Hydrocodone and Codiene are different versions of the same drug. Basically, Codiene occurs in nature while Hydrocodone is man-made (in a lab) and has an extra Hydrogen molecule added. The important point is that they both work the same (at the same dosage) and your body doesn't know the difference.

Also related are Morphine and Hydromorphone. Whatever the name or composition of the medication is doesn't matter, since the body converts mosts opiates into Morphine (including heroin), to be used by the brain.

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