If you’ve ever had a tooth pulled at the dentist, suffered a sports injury, or had a minor surgical procedure and been prescribed Percocet, developing a dependence on such a seemingly innocuous pain reliever might be the last thing you’d expect.  

Yet in the ensuing days or weeks, many people may find themselves needing the medication beyond the proper dosage, not because they’re deliberately seeking to get high, but because their body may have almost seamlessly adapted to it. Using and stopping Percocet as instructed should relieve one’s pain and cause no ill effects, but after getting hooked on it, Percocet withdrawal symptoms can prove stubborn to face. 

And though it may not seem like it, Percocet plays a role in the larger opioid crisis, in which about 3.7% of people in the U.S. need help for opioid use disorder, notes the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Statistics from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) show that 8.6 million people reported misusing prescription opioids in 2023, gateway drugs to more dangerous, illegal opioids like fentanyl. 

This doesn’t mean you should be afraid if you’ve taken it and begun experiencing withdrawal symptoms from Percocet. Here’s what to look for and how to seek the right treatment for opioid withdrawal. 

What Is Percocet?   

Percocet is the brand name for a prescription medication that combines two active ingredients: 

• 5 mg of oxycodone, a pain-relieving opioid; and 

• Acetaminophen, a non-opioid, over-the-counter pain analgesic, is the main ingredient in Tylenol. The less potent acetaminophen is added to Percocet to increase the effects of its oxycodone. 

Percocet is meant for mild to moderate pain relief and, through its acetaminophen, for treating fever symptoms. You may be given Percocet after surgery or for other issues, like back pain, as a last measure when other non-opioid options have proven ineffective at relieving pain. It comes in tablet form and is fast acting; after being swallowed, Percocet starts relieving pain within 15 minutes to a half hour, reaches peak effect at the one-hour mark, and lasts up to three to six hours.  

Is Percocet Addictive?     

Yes, Percocet is highly addictive. Because Percocet is an opiate analgesic and contains a highly addictive opioid in the form of oxycodone, it’s classified as a Schedule II controlled substance with a high potential for abuse and dependence despite its legitimate medical uses — one reason why Vicodin, a similar pain medication combining hydrocodone and acetaminophen, is no longer in production. (Tylenol #3 is also another opioid-blend pain reliever of codeine and acetaminophen.)  

Although acetaminophen itself is not habit forming (but can cause liver damage after prolonged use), prescription painkillers like Percocet, containing opioids, should not be taken for more than a few days after one’s pain subsides, since they can create powerful psychological and physical dependence. This awareness has led many medical practitioners to seek safer alternatives with no addictive potential for pain relief. 

“We now know that for most dental procedures, non-opioid, non-prescription, over-the-counter pain relievers work just as well as prescription pain relievers and don’t have the risks of ongoing use, misuse, and addiction,” notes a study from the Rhode Island Department of Health. 

The signs of a Percocet addiction resemble addiction to oxycodone or other opioids. Behaviorally, you might notice a loved one exhibits mood swings and irritability, or anxiety when they’ve run out of Percocet. In turn, they may begin doctor shopping for new prescriptions, find creative ways to obtain Percocet, and then take larger amounts than intended.  

Physically and cognitively, Percocet dependence can manifest itself in a host of ways, from creating sleep problems and insomnia to shallow breathing, sleep and coordination problems, impaired memory, and difficulty concentrating or being distracted. 

How Does Percocet Affect the Brain?   

Percocet — particularly the oxycodone it contains — affects the brain in the same way as the development of addiction to other opioids like heroin or morphine.   

Percocet works by binding to opioid receptors in your brain and throughout your body, like your spinal cord and gastrointestinal tract, flooding them with dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward. This binding action of opioid onto receptor is what minimizes pain signals to your brain and makes a drug like Percocet work so well. Opioids don’t treat the underlying cause of your pain or remove the pain, only to block the transmission of the pain signal. 

But over time and repeated Percocet use, your brain may adapt to these artificial surges of dopamine by reducing its own natural production. This can create a dependency where your brain struggles to function normally without the drug, leading users to take more and more of it just to recreate the original intended effect.  

“Repeated exposure to escalating dosages of opioids alters the brain so that it functions more or less normally when the drugs are present and abnormally when they are not,” notes a study on the neurobiology of opioid dependence. “Opioid tolerance occurs because the brain cells that have opioid receptors on them gradually become less responsive to the opioid stimulation … therefore, more opioid is needed to produce pleasure comparable to that provided in previous drug-taking episodes.” 

How Long Do Percocet Withdrawal Symptoms Last? 

When you’ve been using Percocet regularly and stopped taking it, your body must readjust to functioning without the drug. This adjustment period and timeline for Percocet withdrawal follows a common trajectory of stages and symptoms as your body reacts to the absence of Percocet — starting slowly, building gradually and reaching a peak intensity before tapering off as the drug is cleared from your system.