Vicodin is the only pain med that works for me. I have been on morphine while in the hospital and it did nothing for my broken femur, or when I had kidney stones. I was also recently prescribed a nsaid for neck pain following a car accident and after reading the side effects I refused to take it.
The hydrocodone is much more effective than Morphine alone.
The acetaminophen is often added to other pain relievers to increase the effectiveness of the other medication while keeping the other medications dosage as low as possible.
The next step up from Vicodin would be Percocet which is acetaminophen and Oxycodone combined. The starting combination for both meds is 500 mg acetaminophen plus 5 mg of either Hydrocodone or Oxycodone.
Torodol used to be available in pill for and I was on It for over four years. It turns out that it does cause liver damage when used in pill form for over a year.
It is sill available and used in hospitals for injection.
It was very effective for my back pain usually stopping all pain in about 15 minutes.
It was originally created and marketed as an anti-inflammatory but it's pain relieving ability was so good doctors started prescribing it for pain alone.