By Curtis Alexander, Pharm.D.
America’s Natural Pharmacist
Summary: Darvocet N100 is generally one of the less popular drugs for pain relief. It is historically ineffective as well as having concerns over dangerous metabolites that may lead to heart problems or severe confusion. However, some doctors debate this evidence and are comfortable with it’s use.
Dear Curtis: My doctor has me on Darvocet N100 and it doesn’t seem to be helping that much. Plus, it upsets my stomach when I take it. Is there anything else that you’d suggest that I could talk to my doctor about?
My Answer: Surprisingly, in the USA Darvocet (particularly the N100 formulation) is pretty popular – usually falling within the top 20 prescribed generic drugs. But, if you look across the pond in Europe it is seldom if ever used. Part of the reason may be for it’s low effectiveness rate coupled with the fact that it can be habit forming (as can any of the pain killers in it’s class or higher). There is also concern about it causing heart abnormalities but this is still very debatable.
So, in short, I’m not really that surprised that Darvocet isn’t working for you. I still see a lot of doctors writing for it despite poor data on it’s effectiveness. And, you can’t blame them because that information isn’t that well known. But, if you want something to take to your doctor here is a good article on the subject:
http://www.emedmag.com/html/pre/fea/features/121501.asp
If they scroll down to myth #3 he will see the discussion on Darvocet N100.
Now, in regards to your other options. Since you are taking Darvocet N100 that means you are already taking Tylenol (Darvocet N100 has Tylenol in it) with no relief. You didn’t mention what your particular problem is but I would guess that it is likely inflammatory in some fashion as Tylenol has no anti inflammatory properties. So, ibuprofen would be a good choice if you don’t have any allergies or stomach issues.
There are literally a dozen other prescription options your doctor could opt for. Many in the same class or step as Darvocet but with better effectiveness. Of course, it depends on your allergies and so forth. I won’t list them all here as your doctor will be very familiar with his or her options. But some of the more popular ones would be hydrocodone, hydrocodone with tylenol, hydrocodone with ibuprofen, tramadol and even off label drugs like gabapentin or amitriptyline.
Of course, your doctor is going to know a whole bunch more about your particular situation so these options may or may not work for you. But, frankly, I think they are better than taking Darvocet N100 which, the more the medical community learns about it, the more it is falling out of favor.
