Propoxyphene: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Propoxyphene is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 4 brand and generic names. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Available as
- Capsule · Suspension · Tablet
- Sold as
- 4 products — Dolene, Propoxyphene Hydrochloride and Darvon, and others
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
Every propoxyphene product we track (4)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 70/100 | Prescription | Capsule | No data | — | View → | |
| 2 | 56/100 | Prescription | Capsule | No data | — | View → | |
| 3 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Capsule | No data | — | View → | |
| 4 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Suspension | No data | — | View → |
What propoxyphene pills look like
Imprint codes, colour and shape from the FDA’s labelling data. Match the imprint on your pill — or search any imprint.
| Imprint | Strength | Colour | Shape | Maker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MYLAN;7065 | 65 mg | pink | capsule | — |
Combination products containing propoxyphene
A combination is a different drug — different dosing, different warnings. It is listed here so you can find it, not so you can substitute it.
Propoxyphene and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for propoxyphene: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadMaternal use of oral opioids during breastfeeding can cause infant drowsiness, which may progress to rare but severe central nervous system depression. Withdrawal symptoms can occur in breastfed infants when maternal administration of an opioid analgesic is stopped, or when breastfeeding is stopped. Newborn infants seem to be particularly sensitive to the effects of even small dosages of propoxyphene may be particularly prone to causing these effects. Propoxyphene should be avoided during breastfeeding.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised March 15, 2026. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about propoxyphene
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 5,636 reports naming propoxyphene, and the FDA flagged 99% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- cardiac disorder1,300 reports
- back pain446 reports
- cardiovascular disorder313 reports
- back injury244 reports
- headache193 reports
- nausea189 reports
- arthralgia174 reports
- abdominal pain153 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean propoxyphene caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved July 26, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
Can you take propoxyphene with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run propoxyphene against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is propoxyphene sold under?
We track 4 propoxyphene-containing products in the U.S.: Dolene, Propoxyphene Hydrochloride, Darvon and Darvon-N. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does propoxyphene come in?
Across the brands we track, propoxyphene is currently marketed as capsule, suspension and tablet, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic propoxyphene?
Yes. Our catalog lists 2 generic propoxyphene products alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Propoxyphene: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/propoxyphene
- MLA
- “Propoxyphene: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/propoxyphene.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for propoxyphene on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.