The Hydromorphone drug is a potent semi-synthetic opioid derived from Morphine which is present in every Dilaudid 4 mg tablet. It is approximately 8 to 10 times as strong as Morphine. Hydromorphone is supplied in various countries under several trade names like Dilaudid, Hydal, Sophidone, Hydrostat Hydromorfan, Hydromorphan, Jurnista, Laudicon, Hymorphan, Opidol, Palladone, and many others for public use. However, Dilaudid 4 mg is an opioid pain medicine and thus it can put you at risk for overdose and death. Even if you take your dose exactly as prescribed you can still be at a risk for opioid addiction, abuse, and misuse.

Dilaudid Dosage

It is usually recommended to use the lowest effective dose of Dilaudid for a short duration. The individual initial starting dose prescribed is 2 mg to 4 mg of Dilaudid to be taken every 4 to 6 hours as advised. However, elder patients, over the age of 65 years can start with a lower dose. An individual struggling with renal or hepatic impairment is initially prescribed a dose that is ¼ to ½ the usual dose.

An opioid-dependent patent can gradually taper the dosage by ≤10–25% every 2 to 4 weeks. Eventually, this can help to gradually withdraw the Dilaudid drug from the system. Hydromorphone is much more chemically similar to Morphine than any other pain-relief medication. Often, people who take 10 mg or more of Morphine per day can be switched to 1 mg or 2 mg of Hydromorphone or Dilaudid and receive the same lasting analgesic effects.

Specifying the Dosage

Each patient’s dosing regimen is prepared by taking into account the patient’s previous analgesic treatment and other health conditions. Paying attention to the following can be very helpful:

• the age factor, general health condition, and medical condition of the individual
• the individual’s degree of opioid tolerance
• the daily dose, strength, and specific characteristics of the opioid that the patient has been using previously
• concurrent medications used
• whether the patient has a substance abuse problem or a history of mental illness or depression

Other Forms Apart from Dilaudid 4 mg

The Dilaudid prescription medication comes as an injectable with the regular-strength solution and a concentrated, extended-release version that contains hydromorphone drugs in a greater amount. It is also available as an extended-release tablet that can be taken at home, but this is a rarer prescription. Such prescriptions are fewer to be seen.

To suit a wide range of prescriptions, you can choose from the following available variants of Dilaudid from our Rxpharmasmeds website:

• Dilaudid 2 mg
• Dilaudid 4 mg
• Dilaudid 8 mg

Why Dilaudid 4 mg is Abused?

Dilaudid 4 mg medicine may cause serious breathing suppression, respiratory problems, other overdose symptoms, and even death in people who are not opioid-tolerant. This medicine was developed specifically to treat pain in people who are suffering from chronic pain and had taken opioid medication at an increasing rate for years.

The morphine milligram equivalents (MME) scale was created to help clinicians and pharmacists understand the safe and optimal dosages for different opioid medications. This scale uses Morphine as the basis for the scale to compare other opioids. While Morphine is 1 MME, Hydrocodone measures 1 MME, and Codeine measures 0.15 MME, one dose of Hydromorphone or Dilaudid measures 4 MME. Even among opioid-tolerant people, receiving Dilaudid 4 mg as pain treatment uses more than 50 MME per day. This can greatly increase the risk of overdose and chronic harm to the health of an individual.

How Long can Dilaudid 4 mg Stay in the System?

The immediate-release and extended-release forms of Dilaudid will remain in an individual’s system for different amounts of time. In general, an intravenous hydromorphone dose has a half-life of 2 to 3 hours on average. The Dilaudid 4 mg drug is metabolized out of a healthy adult’s system within 4 to 5 hours. This duration may vary depending on the functioning and health conditions of the kidney and the heart of an individual.

While Dilaudid 4 mg is actively present in the body, it is important to avoid another dose of Dilaudid. You must not take other opioid painkillers unless an authorized doctor prescribes them, or take medications that may adversely interact with Dilaudid 4 mg medicine. Misusing this potent opioid painkiller can lead to an overdose, which could be fatal and induce severe side effects.

Contraindicating Conditions

Using Dilaudid 4 mg under certain conditions and along with specific medications can result in several undesirable consequences. Therefore Dilaudid 4 mg tablets are prohibited for an individual with:

• an allergy to other opioid pain relievers such as Morphine, Codeine, and Oxycodone
• an allergy to hydromorphone or any other ingredient present in the Dilaudid 4 mg medication
• acute alcoholism
• acute asthma
• head trauma or increased intracranial pressure
• acute respiratory depression or a history of stroke and heart attacks
• severe central nervous system (CNS) depression like slowed nervous system
• obstructions in the digestive tract
• if you are pregnant or if you are a breastfeeding mother