Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Proper Use
Take this medicine only as directed by your medical doctor or dentist. Do not take more of it, do not take it more often, and do not take it for a longer time than your medical doctor or dentist ordered. This is especially important for young children and elderly patients, who may be more sensitive than other people to the effects of narcotic analgesics. If too much of a narcotic analgesic is taken, it may become habit-forming (causing mental or physical dependence) or lead to medical problems because of an overdose. Taking too much acetaminophen may cause liver damage.
If you think that this medicine is not working properly after you have been taking it for a few weeks, do not increase the dose. Instead, check with your medical doctor or dentist.
Dosing
The dose medicines in this class will be different for different patients. Follow your doctor's orders or the directions on the label. The following information includes only the average doses of these medicines. If your dose is different, do not change it unless your doctor tells you to do so.
The amount of medicine that you take depends on the strength of the medicine. Also, the number of doses you take each day, the time allowed between doses, and the length of time you take the medicine depend on the medical problem for which you are using the medicine.
- For acetaminophen and codeine
- For oral dosage forms (capsules or tablets):
- For pain:
- Adults—1 or 2 capsules or tablets containing acetaminophen with 15 or 30 milligrams (mg) of codeine, or 1 capsule or tablet containing acetaminophen with 60 mg of codeine, every four hours as needed.
- Children—Dose must be determined by the doctor, depending on the age of the child. Most young children will receive the oral solution or suspension, rather than tablets or capsules.
- For pain:
- For oral dosage forms (solution or suspension):
- For pain:
- Adults—1 tablespoonful (3 teaspoonfuls) every four hours as needed.
- Children 7 to 12 years of age—2 teaspoonfuls three or four times a day as needed.
- Children 3 to 7 years of age—1 teaspoonful three or four times a day as needed.
- Children younger than 3 years of age—Dose must be determined by your doctor.
- For pain:
- For acetaminophen, codeine, and caffeine
- For oral dosage form (tablets):
- For pain:
- Adults—1 or 2 tablets every four hours as needed.
- Children—Dose must be determined by your doctor.
- For pain:
- For dihydrocodeine, acetaminophen, and caffeine
- For oral dosage form (capsules):
- For pain:
- Adults—2 capsules every four hours.
- Children—Dose must be determined by your doctor.
- For pain:
- For hydrocodone and acetaminophen
- For oral dosage form (capsules):
- For pain:
- Adults—1 capsule every four to six hours as needed.
- Children—Dose must be determined by your doctor.
- For pain:
- For oral dosage form (oral solution):
- For pain:
- Adults—1 to 3 teaspoonfuls every four to six hours as needed.
- Children—Dose must be determined by your doctor.
- For pain:
- For oral dosage form (tablets):
- For pain:
- Adults—1 or 2 tablets containing acetaminophen with 2.5 milligrams (mg) of hydrocodone, or 1 tablet containing acetaminophen with 5, 7.5, or 10 mg of hydrocodone, every four to six hours as needed.
- Children—Dose must be determined by your doctor.
- For pain:
- For oxycodone and acetaminophen
- For oral dosage form (solution):
- For pain:
- Adults—1 teaspoonful every four to six hours as needed.
- Children—Dose must be determined by your doctor.
- For pain:
- For pentazocine and acetaminophen
- For oral dosage form (tablets):
- For pain:
- Adults—1 tablet every four hours.
- Children—Dose must be determined by your doctor.
- For pain:
- For propoxyphene and acetaminophen
- For oral dosage form (tablets):
- For pain:
- Adults—1 or 2 tablets, depending on the strength, every four hours as needed.
- Children—Dose must be determined by your doctor.
- For pain:
Missed Dose
If you miss a dose of this medicine, take it as soon as possible. However, if it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Do not double doses.
Storage
Keep out of the reach of children.
Store the medicine in a closed container at room temperature, away from heat, moisture, and direct light. Keep from freezing.
Do not keep outdated medicine or medicine no longer needed.
