Safety Healthcare

What is OxyContin?

OxyContin is used to manage severe and persistent pain that requires an extended treatment period with a daily opioid pain medicine when other pain medicines do not treat your pain well enough, or you cannot tolerate them. It is a long-acting (extended-release) opioid pain medication that can put you at risk for overdose and death. Even if you take your dose correctly as prescribed, you are at risk for opioid addiction, abuse, and misuse that can lead to death.

OxyContin is not for "as-needed" use and is approved for adults and opioid-tolerant children aged 11+ already taking at least 20 mg oxycodone daily.

The FDA requires a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for opioid analgesics to balance benefits against risks of addiction and misuse. Prescribers must complete REMS-compliant education, counsel patients on safe use and disposal, ensure patients read Medication Guides, and consider patient-prescriber agreements to enhance safety.

OxyContin (oxycodone) is a full mu-opioid receptor agonist providing analgesia with no ceiling effect, meaning doses are limited only by adverse effects like respiratory and CNS depression. Its precise analgesic mechanism is unknown, but CNS opioid receptors throughout the brain and spinal cord are believed to be involved.

Oxycodone extended-release tablets first gained FDA approval on October 26, 1998, and are a Schedule II controlled substance. The brand OxyContin was approved on April 5, 2010.

Important Information About OxyContin

Get emergency help or call 911 right away if you take too much OxyContin (overdose). When you first start taking OxyContin, when your dose is changed, or if you take too much (overdose), serious or life-threatening breathing problems that can lead to death may occur. Ask your healthcare provider about medicines like naloxone or nalmefene that can be used in an emergency to reverse an opioid overdose.

Taking OxyContin with other opioid medicines, benzodiazepines, alcohol, or other central nervous system depressants (including street drugs) can cause severe drowsiness, decreased awareness, breathing problems, coma, and death.

Never give anyone else your OxyContin. They could die from taking it. Selling or giving away OxyContin is against the law.

Store OxyContin securely, out of sight and reach of children, and in a location not accessible by others.

Side Effects

Common Side Effects

The possible side effects of OxyContin are constipation, nausea, sleepiness, vomiting, tiredness, headache, dizziness, and abdominal pain.

Call your healthcare provider if you have any of these symptoms and they are severe.

Serious Side Effects

Get emergency medical help or call 911 right away if you have:

Trouble breathing
Shortness of breath
Fast heartbeat
Chest pain
Swelling of your face, tongue, or throat
Extreme drowsiness
Light-headedness when changing positions
Feeling faint
Agitation
High body temperature
Trouble walking
Stiff muscles
Mental changes such as confusion.

These are not all the possible side effects of OxyContin. Call your healthcare provider for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088. For more information, go to dailymed.nlm.nih.gov

Before Taking

Do not take OxyContin if you have:

Severe asthma
Trouble breathing or other lung problems
A bowel blockage or a narrowing of the stomach or intestines
An allergy to oxycodone, OxyContin, or any of the ingredients in your oxycodone preparation.

Before taking OxyContin, tell your healthcare provider if you have a history of:

Head injury, seizures
Liver, kidney, thyroid problems
Problems urinating
Pancreas or gallbladder problems
Abuse of street or prescription drugs, alcohol addiction, opioid overdose, or mental health problems.

Tell your healthcare provider if you are:

Noticing your pain is getting worse. If your pain gets worse after you take OxyContin, do not take more OxyContin without first talking to your healthcare provider. Talk to your healthcare provider if the pain that you have increases, if you feel more sensitive to pain, or if you have new pain after taking oxycodone.
Pregnant or planning to become pregnant. Using oxycodone for an extended period of time during pregnancy can cause withdrawal symptoms in your newborn baby that could be life-threatening if not recognized and treated.
Breastfeeding. OxyContin passes into breast milk and may harm your baby. Carefully observe infants for increased sleepiness (more than usual), breathing difficulties, or limpness. Seek immediate medical care if you notice these signs.
Living in a household where there are small children or someone who has abused street or prescription drugs.
Taking prescription or over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, or herbal supplements. Taking OxyContin with certain other medicines can cause serious side effects that could lead to death.

How do I Take OxyContin?

When taking OxyContin, do not change your dose. Take it exactly as prescribed by your healthcare provider. Use the lowest dose possible for the shortest time needed.

Take your prescribed dose every 12 hoursat the same time every day.
Swallow OxyContin tablets whole. Do not cut, break, chew, crush, dissolve, snort, or inject OxyContin tablets because this may cause you to overdose and die.
Do not pre-soak, lick, or wet the tablet before placing it in your mouth to avoid choking on the tablet.
Do not take more than your prescribed dose in 12 hours. If you miss a dose, take your next dose at your usual time.

Comments

Call your healthcare provider if the dose you are taking does not control your pain.
Do not stop taking OxyContin without talking to your healthcare provider.

How do I Dispose of OxyContin?

Dispose of expired, unwanted, or unused OxyContin tablets by promptly flushing them down the toilet if a drug take-back option is not readily available. Visit www.fda.gov/drugdisposal for additional information on disposal of unused medicines.

What to Avoid

While taking OxyContin, DO NOT:

Drive or operate heavy machinery until you know how OxyContin affects you. OxyContin can make you sleepy, dizzy, or lightheaded.
Drink alcohol or use prescription or over-the-counter medicines that contain alcohol. Using products containing alcohol during treatment with OxyContin may cause you to overdose and die.

What other drugs will affect OxyContin?

OxyContin can interact dangerously with many medications, potentially causing serious side effects or death. Always inform your doctor of all medications you take, including:

Other opioids, pain medicines, or prescription cough medicines
Sedatives, such as Xanax, Valium, Ativan, Klonopin, or Restoril
Sleeping pills, muscle relaxants, or tranquilizers
Mental health medications for depression, anxiety, or other conditions
Neurological medications for Parkinson's disease, migraines, or seizures
Antibiotics, antifungals, or HIV/hepatitis C treatments
Heart or blood pressure medications
Cold, allergy, or asthma medications
Nausea, motion sickness, or bladder medications

Some medications affect how OxyContin (oxycodone) is processed in the body, potentially raising levels to dangerous concentrations. This list is not complete; always check with your doctor or pharmacist before starting or stopping any medication, including over-the-counter products, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

Store at room temperature, away from heat, moisture, and light. Keep track of your medicine. OxyContin is a drug of abuse, and you should be aware if anyone is using your medicine improperly or without a prescription.

Do not keep leftover opioid medication. Just one dose can cause death in someone using this medicine accidentally or improperly. Ask your pharmacist where to locate a drug take-back disposal program. If there is no take-back program, flush the unused medicine down the toilet.

What happens if I overdose?

Seek emergency medical attention or call the Poison Help line at 1-800-222-1222. An OxyContin overdose can be fatal, especially in a child or other person using the medicine without a prescription. Overdose symptoms may include severe drowsiness, pinpoint pupils, slow breathing, or no breathing.

Your doctor may recommend that you get naloxone (a medicine to reverse an opioid overdose) and keep it with you at all times. A person caring for you can give the naloxone if you stop breathing or don't wake up. Your caregiver must still get emergency medical help and may need to perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) on you while waiting for help to arrive.

Anyone can buy naloxone from a pharmacy or local health department. Make sure any person caring for you knows where you keep naloxone and how to use it.

Storage

Store at room temperature, around 25°C (77°F).

Because of the risks associated with accidental ingestion, misuse, and abuse, OxyContin should be stored securely, out of sight and reach of children, and in a location not accessible by others, including visitors to the home. Leaving OxyContin unsecured can pose a deadly risk to others in the home.

Ingredients

Active Ingredient: oxycodone hydrochloride

Inactive ingredients: butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), hypromellose, polyethylene glycol 400, magnesium stearate, titanium dioxide, hydroxypropyl cellulose (10 mg and 15 mg only).

Other inactive ingredients in specific tablets:

10 mg tablets also contain hydroxypropyl cellulose
15 mg tablets also contain ferrosoferric oxide, ferric oxide yellow, ferric oxide red
20 mg tablets also contain polysorbate 80 and ferric oxide red
30 mg tablets also contain polysorbate 80, ferric oxide red, ferrosoferric oxide, ferric oxide yellow
40 mg tablets also contain polysorbate 80 and ferric oxide yellow
60 mg tablets also contain polysorbate 80, ferric oxide red, ferrosoferric oxide
80 mg tablets also contain ferric oxide yellow, FD&C Blue No. 2, and aluminum oxide.