Oxycodone and naloxone and Nicotine

• Generic Name: naloxone / oxycodone
• Dosage Forms: n.a.
• Other Brand Names: Targiniq ER

Oxycodone and naloxone combination is used to treat pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment and when other pain medicines did not work well enough or cannot be tolerated.

Oxycodone belongs to the group of medicines called narcotic analgesics (pain medicines). It acts on the central nervous system (CNS) to relieve pain. Naloxone is used to treat an opioid emergency such as an overdose or a possible overdose of a narcotic medicine.

Oxycodone and naloxone combination should not be used if you need pain medicine for just a short time, such as when recovering from surgery. Do not use oxycodone and naloxone to relieve mild pain, or in situations when non-narcotic medication is effective. Oxycodone and naloxone should not be used to treat pain that you only have once in a while or "as needed".

When oxycodone is used for a long time, it may become habit-forming, causing mental or physical dependence. However, people who have continuing pain should not let the fear of dependence keep them from using narcotics to relieve their pain. Mental dependence (addiction) is not likely to occur when narcotics are used for this purpose. Physical dependence may lead to withdrawal side effects if treatment is stopped suddenly. However, severe withdrawal side effects can usually be prevented by gradually reducing the dose over a period of time before treatment is stopped completely.

Oxycodone and naloxone is available only under a restricted distribution program called the Opioid Analgesic REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy) program.