DOES ANYONE TAKE FIOROCET/BUTALBITOL FOR DAIL HEADACHES AND...............

does the medication ever cause gastrointestinal upset and pain? Also let me know how often you take the pills and if you find them habit forming & to cause rebound headaches as some doctors say? Has anyone had to withdraw from the med?
Reply to, flo_02472@yahoo.com THANKS

The ONLY time I've gotten myself into a medication overuse headache / rebound situation was with Fioricet. It was awful.

Because of the butalbital in it, if someone has been taking them daily, they should discontinue them under a doctor's supervision because abrupt withdrawal can cause problems including seizures.

I still use Fioricet with codeine as a rescue med if my triptan fails, but I will never again take it more than two days a week.

Butalbital medications such as Fioricet have been banned in some European countries because they can cause so many problems if overused.

Good luck,
Teri

I've never used it, but unknowingly.....my Father in Law was being prescribed large amounts of it every month by his Dr. when he asked for it for headaches related to things OTHER than migraine. My FIL got very ill, I took over his medcial care, I went to the pharmacy to see what pills and in what quantities he was getting...........and there was years and years of TONS of Butalbital.

I was so upset. It was so wrong of his Dr. to be doing that. I confronted the Dr. with the records as my FIL lay in the hospital bed hooked on so many meds this dr. had been prescribing and he, the Dr., pulled a fast and cocky attitude on me.

In my opinion.....butalbital only creates more headaches.........it did for my Father in Law.

Yes, I used to take Fiorinal for years. It worked wonders for me then I started using triptans. I used Fiorinal occationally after that. As I got older I found that it gave me horrible gas pains and the poopies. Just horrible. I stopped taking them for that reason.

I now take Lortab which causes the opposite.

I think it may be the caffine in the fiorinal or fioricet as the case may be.

kimsmom

I take Fiorocet. I don't take it daily. I take Topamax daily to prevent the migraine and an abortive if I get one then the Fiorocet if the abortive doesn't work or if I have had a few migraines in a week and have taken the max amount of abortives. Fiorocet can be habit forming and cause rebound headaches. It makes you think you need it when you don't, sometimes when you don't even have a headache. You have to be careful taking it. This is the reason why when it is prescribed they will only prescribe so much a month...usually. It doesn't work for everybody either. If you are worried about this med there are many other meds that can be used instead of it. This med is not considered one of the better ones for migraine by my neurologist, but it seems to work for me and I use it as a last resort. A month's worth will last me a year. I hope that helps.

Flo,

I have used both and still have a handful of the Butalbital pills from a very old perscription. I haven't
taken one of those in years and probably should get rid of them. I have never taken them enough to have any addiction problems. I can remember that the solid pill form worked pretty well, but the capsule types didn't do as good of a job. That is when I stopped taking them and went to something else. Sounds like the change was a good choice. I have never had rebound headaches from those meds. No gastro problems. Just never took them long enough to have problems I guess.


Mianna,

I can believe that doctor over loading your FIL. The VA will do that to me if I do not keep track of what is going on. I will get perscriptions in the mail that I had not even talked to the doctor about. They just look in your records and send you stuff that might have something to do with your problems. I think they get a kickback from the drug companies. I'm sure they do that to alot of people and it would add up fast.

Hal

I took it years ago before the M's were chronic. It worked quite well though if I took it more than 2-3 days in row I would get a hangover type headache. That's why I switched to a different med when I needed something more often.

I didn't have any gastric Problems.

I took it in the form of a med called Esgic-Plus. The "Plus" was a muscle relaxant that would help with my neck.

I had success with it but would not recommend it for daily use.

My MOH problem was caused by Fioricet. I took it and the one with codeine. I ended up in 24/7 pain and I will never use it again.

I take it as an abortive and have never had any problems. It works fine for me.

Hiya, Alli!

You do realize that it's not an abortive, don't you? It can't abort a Migraine. If your Migraine is gone when it wears off, that means that the Migraine ran its course during that time, not that the Fioricet aborted it.

Teri

alli wrote:I take it as an abortive and have never had any problems. It works fine for me.

It was prescribed to Anna by her neurosurgeon after she was shunted.

Being newly shunted, her shunt catheter was more than likely leaking. When upright, Anna would get a terrible HA because her shunt was probably leaking. Taking Fioricet would supposedly increase CSF production (because of the caffeine in Fioricet). Taking Fioricet worked like magic for a time. Anna would get a HA from being upright, take Fioricet, and her HA would soon go away.

I have to say this was all a good GUESS as to what was happening...but this worked enough to believe Fioricet was relieving her HA because it was raising her CSF production (which she needed, if she was indeed leaking CSF).

I asked the neurosurgeon's PA if she could take straight caffeine (like in No Doze). The PA said no, they wanted her to take Fioricet. And they wanted her to take it daily, if she was symptomatic, until the leak sealed.

The leak probably never sealed...part of the long saga...her shunt was removed two years later and was found to be leaking big time.

Brain pain is very complicated, that's all I can say. If it is migraine disease. If it is low pressure (too much CSF). If it is high pressure (CSF leaking). What is it really? Mind boggling.

Cheryl

Yes, I know. Abortive is probably not the right word. If I take it at the beginning of the attack, it isn't as bad. It's probably the butalbital that is just relaxing me and it takes the sharpness from the attack. It's still there, it just doesn't hurt as much. Since my Dr has the attitude that pain meds are bad, this the best we can do.

I don't have a good abortive that I can take as the Triptans cause allergic reactions. The last one was really bad so we are afraid to try anymore.

I thought you knew, but I know you're learning, learning, learning, so I wanted to be sure. Fioricet is typically used as a rescue med. Sorry the triptans have been so bad for you. That stinks! Have you tried any of the Midrin generics? Brand name is not coming back, but there are more generics now. Have you tried Migranal Nasal Spray?

Teri

alli wrote:Yes, I know. Abortive is probably not the right word. If I take it at the beginning of the attack, it isn't as bad. It's probably the butalbital that is just relaxing me and it takes the sharpness from the attack. It's still there, it just doesn't hurt as much. Since my Dr has the attitude that pain meds are bad, this the best we can do.

I don't have a good abortive that I can take as the Triptans cause allergic reactions. The last one was really bad so we are afraid to try anymore.

Midrin works well but I thought it was gone. I'll ask my dr about it when I go back in and since it is genereic, it won't cost an arm and a leg!

I tried the nasal spray and didn't like it. It burned like crazy and didn't really seem to help much. I gave it several attempts but it didn't get better.

Migranal was one of the worst medications I've ever taken I hated it. It didn't relieve my pain and clogged up my nasal passages really badly.

The former neuro had a fit when he found out I was taking some fioricet from my gp about once a week. This is what started the parting of our company. I wanted a rescue med and he refused. He brought up the fact that it was banned in Europe and I wanted to say, good for europe and give me something else. Any rescue med can be bad if you over use.

I take fioricet a couple times a week only if I waited too long and the M is totally full-blown or if the triptan wore off and didn't knock it down. My gp basically made me promise to not take it every day - just for the worst because of all the possible bad stuff. I haven't yet dipped into the new script. I can't imagine taking it every day. For me, it makes me sound drunk and I have to be at home when I take it.

HL, is that the fioricet with codeine or the regular one without?

I am so curious because I can't imagine all the fuss for the regular fioricet w/o codeine. A year or two ago, I went to Urgent Care with a rager of a migraine and they gave me a torodal shot in the behind and then a scrip for fioricet. I tried the fioricet and it didn't do a darn thing for me. I didn't even finish the scrip, I still have it in my store of meds that I've tried and haven't finished. I fished it out a while back thinking, "didn't I have fioricet in there?" when we all started discussing it, and plus, I don't have my usual rescue med right now, which of course is stadol, and sure enough, I have about half a scrip, and nope, it still doesn't do jack. LOL Advil works better than fioricet for me!

Of course, it isn't the one with codeine. maybe that's the difference? I don't know. I just know that for me, I can't see what's addictive about it, I would only take it if I had absolutely nothing else. I guess I'm weird.

Bubbs,

I have the bottle - it has acetaminophen, caffeine, and butalbital. I think it's the butalbital that they are worried about - that's what makes me sound and act a bit "drunk". I can say that when I take one, I sure don't care what's happening and I can see how that could be addictive.

There are several varieties - Charlotte mentioned one with a higher dose of acetaminophen but there are others without caffeine. Others that have aspirin instead of acetaminophen and there are varieties that have codeine as well. Seems the butalbital is the only constant ingredient among them though.

I had both fioricet and lortab as my rescue meds. But because of all the acetaminophen between the two, my Dr. and I thought it best that I only stay on one and I decided to keep the Lortab and get rid of the fioricet.

I have been taking them for so many years and never once had a problem with rebound headaches. I also do not have a problem with getting high or any of those other symtoms. It only takes the pain away and gives me some quality of life.

I honestly don't know what I would do without my rescue med. You hear so many horror stories and so many doctors are afraid to prescribe these meds. I feel for those who cannot get them or who cannot take them when they are in such dibilitating pain.

HL, I get it. My bottle has butalbital on the label too. But not codeine. I just don't get any type of "high" from the butalbital I guess. Maybe because I'm used to a different rescue med? I don't feel any different after taking fioricet than after taking advil or aleve. Go figure.

I hear you, Lostinobx. I really rely on my rescue meds too, there are some headaches where nothing else works. There are some times when I'm out and about and stricken by a bad migraine and don't even feel able to drive back home. I can't take my rescue med at that exact time, but if I can get myself home, and take it, I can usually abort what would've become a cycle of several days' worth of agonzing pain. I know, because when I don't have that rescue med on hand, that's exactly what has happened.
But I've never thought of fioricet as a rescue med. It just doesn't work on my migraines that way. Maybe the fioricet with codeine would, but I doubt my nuero would prescribe it and still prescribe my usual rescue med, and I would rather stay with the one I'm used to. Of course, I have to actually go to the nuero to get the scripts LOL But that's another story!

AB - I know what you mean about the fioricet. What I had was with codeine and when I took that, I also took a lortab and together they worked wonders. But, that's why I had to stop one or the other and only take just one and decided on the lortab. That one worked better for me alone than the fioricet did.

I know for rescue you take stadol. I'm sorry, but I can't remember if you also have another rescue med. Have you ever tried lortab and if so, does that work for you? Does your Dr. have a problem prescribing you pain meds, in general and will only prescribe you the stadol?

I use to have doctors like that who were so stingy with pain meds and would not prescribe them for me and if they did, they would not give me large quantities. That's not the case with my Dr. now, thank goodness. When we have been on one med for so long and it works for us, usually after using it for a long time, it will stop being as effective. That's why I think it's nice for us to have a backup should that happen. Not necessarily have them on hand all the time, but at least have the option of being able to get them if or when we need them.

I too have the same issue you do with not having insurance and boy does that suck! The meds cost a fortune, then the Dr's visits, well you know what I mean!! And having to go in for a script that can't be called in seems so wrong for those of us who don't have that coverage we need to pay for these visits.

Good luck sweetie and let me know if you decide to try something different or even see if your Dr. will give you something to go with your current rescue med.

I'm just one the one rescue med. I don't know if the dr. would prescribe another, but my feeling is probably not. And the stadol works well enough for me that it's the one I'd prefer to stay with, anyway. He's generous enough with approving refills, as long as I don't abuse it. I just haven't been able to get in to see the dr. in awhile because of cost. Yeah, it sucks to not have health insurance

AB,

I'm glad that your Dr. is good about prescribing you the med that works the best for you. It's so great when you have that relationship with your Dr. when you feel that they trust you and you can also trust them, especially when so many people don't have that. I understand too that if it continues to work that well for you, then don't "fix" what's not broken.

I take fioricet w. Codeine an average of 4 days a week. It is the only pain med I have found to work so far. I have never encountered a rebound, I do not get "high" and I also have taken med breaks and ran out and have suffered no withdrawals even after all this time of taking it. The key is responsibility with your meds. If you decline this as your rescue medication or triptans don't work you will probably be given another addictive med which will have the same chances of withdrawals.

I did get rebounds from nucynta. I don't respond well to vicodin. I cannot take triptans so my other rescue to avoid hospital trips is stadol.

I would always try a medication before discarding the script. It could be your saving grace...fioricet w. c and topamax are mine and you will find plenty of people who will refuse to take topa. Be careful, responsible and follow your doctors advice and you will be fine. Feel free to pm me if you have any questions

I hope you feel better soon and find something that works for you.