My understanding is...The ceiling on this drug has more to do with
Tylenol content than with
Hydrocodone content. The biggest limiter is staying under 4 grams a day of tylenol. While it's possible you could get respiratory depression at higher doses, if you are truly in bad enough pain the bodies own defense mechanism protects against this. You might find the side effects become intolerable though.
When I was still using
Norco 10/325 to manage my pain I had to take 1 1/2 to 2 of them every morning to get it under control, after that I could take 1 every 4-5 hours and be fine. It's easier to keep pain under control than to get it back down once it has gotten out of control. You may find the same thing applies in your situation. Been there with tooth pain. I hope your doctor gave you some good antibiotics to use till you can get in to see him.
Are you numb yet? No. AARRGGGGGHH! I told you I wasn't numb! Sorry, I didn't believe you.