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Hydrocodone , Shakopee Minnesota

Hydrocodone is a semi-synthetic opioid produced from codeine, an opioid found in opium poppy plant. The drug falls under the narcotic analgesics or pain killer medicines. Commonly comes in a liquid form, doctors prescribed the drug to relieve pain, stops and even prevents a cough.  The drug is considered as an opioid which affects the nervous system and used as a pain medication to alleviate moderate to severe pain.

The drug proved as more helpful than codeine for suppressing cough but more deadly that morphine.

History of Hydrocodone

In 1920 Carl Mannich and Helene Lowenheim first synthesized hydrocodone in Germany.  The Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the drug on March 23, 1943. The Health Canada also approved hydrocodone under the brand name, hycodan.

The two added oxygen to codeine to solve the common side effect of it such as stomach discomfort and high level of toxicity.

Knoll first marketed hydrocodone as Dicodid in Germany on February 1924. Within a few years, several drugs came out in the market such as Dilaudid, Dihydrin, Dinarkon and Dimorphan.

Reports of addiction from the drug did not become apparent until 1961, more than 30 years since it first marketed.

How it is abused

As a painkiller, hydrocodone acts in the thousands of opioid receptors on the body. It does not cure the pain through its source, it only changes the patient’s perception of the pain. The feeling can be habit-forming particularly to people who seek the sensation. Some of the sought after sensation includes, numbness, sleepiness, reduced stress even increased the sense of one’s self.


According to the International Narcotics Control Board, hydrocodone is prescribed mainly in the United States. Reports stated that the US consumed about 99% of the international supply in 2007. The prescribed name of Hydrocodone includes Vicodin, Norco, and Lortab.


In a study of the National Institute of Health or NIH, it estimated that 20% of Americans consumed the drug such as Vicodin for non-medical reasons. An increasing number of people abused the drug. A more alarming report came from the Drug Enforcement Administration or DEA in 2013. The report shows that in the US alone, 24 million over the 21 years of age used hydrocodone for no apparent reasons.


One key factor that made hydrocodone as one highly addictive drug is its availability. The DEA reported that 136 hydrocodone dispensed prescription were made in 2013. Numbers continues to rise with an added increase of 20 million of prescription each year since 2006.


Hydrocodone use resulted to an estimated 100,000 abuse-related hospital emergency related in the US for the year 2011. To decrease the numbers, the US government created stricter prescribing rules for the drug in 2014.

Signs and symptoms

Addiction to hydrocodone usually starts with a prescription which leads to its dependence. It then gradually rises for the need to consume hydrocodone in spite of its side effects. The effects of hydrocodone can be deadly like that of morphine and heroin.

The drug works in the reward system of the brain which fortifies for its dependence. Prolonged abuse of the drug can result in the short and long term damage in both physical and mental state.

Mild Side Effects

Patients taking hydrocodone may experience some mild effects which gradually wears off. These may include:

  •    Dizziness
  •    Drowsiness
  •    Headache
  •    Nausea
  •    Muscle weakness
  •    Itchiness
  •    Trouble sleeping

Severe Side Effects of Hydrocodone

Long-term exposure to hydrocodone can lead to irreversible outcomes. The drug can affect the normal function of the brain reward system, thus making it hard to find pleasure in most activities.

Hydrocodone contains depressant quality and can result to some of the serious side effects listed. The drug can slow down the heart rate which may stop the beating of the heart. It is important to seek immediate medical attention when these symptoms are noticed or felt:

  •    Trouble urinating
  •    Slowed or erratic heartbeat
  •    breathing problems
  •    bowel obstruction
  •    severe itching, hives or swelling
  •    vomiting

Problem with Hydrocodone Addiction

The most difficult about hydrocodone addiction will be the intervention. The drug’s availability made it impossible to stop a user since their perception is that they are following a legitimate doctor’s order. It is important to consider the options for the overall treatment of the patient. RehabNear.Me is dedicated to providing insightful articles and the best addiction treatment centers near you!

About Shakopee

Shakopee ( SHAH-kə-pee) is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Minnesota, United States. It is located southwest of Minneapolis. Sited on the south bank bend of the Minnesota River, Shakopee and nearby suburbs comprise the southwest portion of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, the sixteenth-largest metropolitan area in the United States, with 3.7 million people. The population was 43,698 at the 2020 census.The river bank's Shakopee Historic District contains burial mounds built by prehistoric cultures. In the 18th century, Chief Shakopee of the Mdewakanton Dakota established his village on the east end of this area near the water. Trading led to the city's establishment in the 19th century. Shakopee boomed as a commerce exchange site between river and rail at Murphy's Landing. Once an isolated city in the Minnesota River Valley, by the 1960s the economy of Shakopee was tied to that of the expanding metropolitan area. Significant growth as a bedroom community occurred after U.S. Highway 169 was realigned in 1996 toward the new Bloomington Ferry Bridge. The city is known for the Valleyfair amusement park and the Canterbury Park racetrack.

About Minnesota

Minnesota ( MIN-ə-SOH-tə) is a state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" for having more than 14,000 bodies of fresh water covering at least ten acres each; roughly a third of the state is forested; much of the remainder is prairie and farmland. More than 60% of Minnesotans (about 3.7 million) live in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, known as the "Twin Cities", the state's main political, economic, and cultural hub and the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Other minor metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas include Duluth, Mankato, Moorhead, Rochester, and St. Cloud.Minnesota, which gets its name from the Dakota language, has been inhabited by various Indigenous peoples since the Woodland period of the 11th century BCE. Between roughly 200 and 500 CE, two areas of the indigenous Hopewell tradition emerged: the Laurel complex in the north, and Trempealeau Hopewell in the Mississippi River Valley in the south. The Upper Mississippian culture, consisting of the Oneota people and other Siouan speakers, emerged around 1000 CE and lasted through the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century. French explorers and missionaries were the earliest Europeans to enter the region, encountering the Dakota, Ojibwe, and various Anishinaabe tribes. Much of what is now Minnesota formed part of the vast French holding of Louisiana, which the United States purchased in 1803. After several territorial reorganizations, the Minnesota Territory was admitted to the Union as the 32nd state in 1858. Minnesota's official motto, L'Étoile du Nord ("The Star of the North") is the only state motto in French; this phrase was adopted shortly after statehood and reflects both the state's early French explorers and its position as the northernmost state in the contiguous U.S. As part of the American frontier, Minnesota attracted settlers and homesteaders from across the country. Its growth was initially based on timber, agriculture, and railroad construction. Into the early 20th century, European immigrants arrived in significant numbers, particularly from Scandinavia, Germany, and Central Europe; many were linked to the failed revolutions of 1848, which partly influenced the state's development as a center of labor and social activism. Minnesota's rapid industrialization and urbanization precipitated major social, economic, and political changes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; the state was at the forefront of labor rights, women's suffrage, and political reform. Consequently, Minnesota is unique among Midwestern states in being a relative stronghold of the Democratic Party, having voted for every Democratic presidential nominee since 1976, longer than any other U.S. state.Since the late 20th century, Minnesota's economy has diversified away from traditional industries such as agriculture and resource extraction to services, finance, and health care; it is consequently one of the richest states in terms of GDP and per capita income. Minnesota is home to 11 federally recognized Native American reservations (seven Ojibwe, four Dakota), and its culture, demographics, and religious landscape reflect Scandinavian and German influence. In more recent decades, the state has become more multicultural, driven by both larger domestic migration and immigration from Latin America, Asia, the Horn of Africa, and the Middle East; the state has the nation's largest population of Somali Americans and second-largest Hmong community. Minnesota's standard of living and level of education are among the highest in the U.S., and it is ranked among the best states in metrics such as employment, median income, safety, and governance.
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