Fiorinal w codeine

Hi. I have been taking fiorinal w codeine nearly every day now for the past year. Some days ill have one, some days Ill have up to 4. The past week I have been taking up to about 4 a day due to family stress. my husband and I both suffer from migraines and have been prescribed ea fiorinal by our doc. I want to stop taking it, i would like to start preparing to have a baby and need to get healthy. I am very healthy apart from the drug. I was wondering is it safe for me to go cold turkey? I cannot tell my hubby or doc about this. Should I reduce my dosage to maybe 1 pill a day for a little bit to taper off? pls let me know...... thank you!

[vicki595]

Hi~ No,you shouldn't go cold turkey. Your dose isn't high but you've taken it every day for a year and that's a problem.

We can't give a taper plan to you. You do need to taper. Why is this a big secret?
Do you think you are addicted?

Keep posting~
Vicki

[harleypie]

Thanks for your response. I know that I crave them but I don't know if I would call it addicted. I guess i will find that out as i try to taper them off :) I don't want to tell this to my hubby because he does not know how much i have been taking and I know he will be disappointed in me, and he is not the understanding type. He will just scold me. And i don't want to tell my doc because i feel she trusted me with these pills and I let her down by abusing them. I would like to try to get through this on my own, and I guess that is why I am at this forum. Addiction and alcoholism run in my family "i don't drink" and I have always tried to make a point to steer clear of these situations. I guess stress and depression got the better of me and I got sucked in, now I just need to get out of it...

[vicki595]

Hi~ Okay. First,I need to stress that you really do need to speak with someone about this. It helps not to keep secrets.

Codeine,in my opinion,is not the big baddie here. It's the Fiorinal. That needs to be tapered down a little. Not too much. Totally doable.  But,you'll be withdrawing from TWO addicting drugs here. Are you ready to do that?

[my_mayberry]

butalbital builds up in your system. you may be taking 4 a day....which is 200mg of butalbital, but if the half life is 35+ hours, then you're building on the previous days dose. for example, i take 100mg of butalbital today. 36 hours from now, half of that is still in my system, but 24 hours after the initial dose, i take another 100mg. this means i've got at least 150mg in my system, and in another 24 hours i take another dose, so now i would have 175mg+ in my system. doing this over the course of a year will raise the amount thats actually in  your system to more than what you're taking daily....hence the reason time matters just as much as the dose...so yes, a taper is a good  idea. how exotic does the taper have to be? well probably pretty simple...but only a doctor can really answer that. vicki makes a good point though...butalbital IS highly addicting and so is codeine. more importantly, they potenate the effects of each other. often times, during the golden age of barbiturates, they were used to greatly enhance the effects of opiates. fiorinal with codeine makes this possible in one convenient little capsule. my point is, it will be hard. i've taken HUGE doses of fiorinal with codeine...there was a time when i'd go through 120 pills in a week or less...but the hardest thing for me EVER in my experience as an addict has been to try to kick the final 2 a day that i still take (sometimes i manage not to)...some say well why not leave it alone and just live with 2 a day. i'd love to but the problem is i ALWAYS want to take more.....i always want to take a whole handful....which is why i NEED to be free of this demon forever. but anyway, enough about me...i say that because i know low doses can be very hard to kick too.

but the best advice i can give you....and you should REALLY consider doing this....is telling someone close to you about your addiction and telling your doctor. you MUST tell your doctor if you intend to actually stay clean in the future. she or he HAS to know...because now that you're addicted to this drug, you can't ever take it without abusing it unless its very very closely monitored by your doctor. even then, i'd advise never taking it again...the temptation is just to great once you have that one little taste. then you always want more.

[harleypie]

Hi guys!
  I did speak to hubby about this last night, and just as i figured he was disappointed but i'm kind of glad he now knows. The fiorinal I take has codeine in it, its a combined pill so although they are 2 drugs I have no choice to battle them both at once. I have in the past, not realizing how dangerous it is to go cold turkey, have stopped taking it for about 3 to four days. Once i stopped for a few weeks :"script was out too soon" but replaced it with tramadol. I never had any terrible symptoms apart from just really missing that uplifting feeling I get.Today so far I have only taken two pills and I will be good through the night. Maybe tomorrow i will try one pill.... I dont know how long i need to take to adjust. I also take ambien to sleep at night so hopefully after I get through this i can tackle that one. Who knows my sleeping disorder may be caused by the fiorinal itself. I used to smoke cigarettes  and i compare the feeling I have to that. When i don't have a codeine "thats what i refer to it as" I get that feeling you get when you are craving a cigarette. My- mayberry, I really did not realize this was all so complicated. You really know a lot about this and i'm glad you explained to me the whole buildup thing. I feel the hardest part of kicking this will be the psychological part. Its part of my routine, I use it to give me the motivation to go to work deal with the stress there. It gives me confidence "i am very shy and quiet" when i have to be in a challenging situation. I guess i will have to find some healthier coping mechanisms!  Thank you both for your support and advice, i really appreciate your feedback :)

[vicki595]

Hi~

Your taper sounds okay to me. Your daily dose was not above recommended limits but I need to urge you to contact your doctor.  You need to let him/her know you're stopping it.  The energy you feel from it is completely chemical and mental. You can achieve that same level of energy by taking good amounts of vitamins and minerals.

I took Fioricet plain for too many years. I no longer use it and will never touch it again. I'd rather eat glass. That's how horrible I know it is.

Also,a word of caution: Ambien is NOT a drug you want to take while on Fiorinal with or without codeine.  Try to seek other ways to achieve sleep. Maybe Melatonin and Valerian root. Both OTC's.

Don't even get me started on Tramadol.  LOL    It's nasty stuff and not a train you want to jump on. It's an opiate WITH an antidepressant component.

Stick to your taper over the next few weeks or days. Change up your routines. Think about seeking out some therapy for this. It will help you.

Good luck!
Vicki

[pattifan]

You're doing absolutely great and you've got a lot of courage and resolve.

Admitting your problem to yourself and then to the list was great. Admitting it to your husband was even better.You now have someone you can talk to face to face, and who will support you through this.

One problem that you will have is that your husband still takes pain meds, and having them in the house will always be a temptation, especially when you've had a crappy day!

Can you persuade him to lock them away somewhere that you can't get at them? I'm sure he'll understand that and it'll make your recovery that wee bit easier.

You're really doing well, so keep on going, and do see a doctor for a bit of extra help and guidance.

Take care.

[harleypie]

Thanks for the encouragement! :) I have, since ive gone down to two a day, been waking up with a terrible headache every morning. I wonder if this is a rebound thing or if it hasything to do with cutting back? Also I am a little stumped for when i do get to the point where i am ready to go to half a pill a day. The  pills are actually capsules filled with a powder. Would it be safe to actually maybe mix half of the powder with food or a drink when i do get to that lower dosage point?

[vicki595]

Yes,I believe it's a rebound headache. They're awful.

Don't break the capsule. When you get to one pill just stop from there. That's what I would do. Actually,I stopped at two per day. I just got really tired of tapering.

Good luck~

[my_mayberry]

well, you probably CAN actually do that. ask your pharmacist if its ok to do.

i know it would be easier to just stop, but if you're having the rebound headaches, it deal you one whopper of a headache to just stop. when i did this from the fiorinal with codeine, i used the tablets and cut them in half at t he end.

ask your pharmacist if its ok. the problem is it will be VERY bitter and you'll either have to throw the other half away or find something to do with it. but if u and ur doctor prefer just to stop, then go for it. it'll take a few days for the rebound headaches to go away though...i'd get a BIG bottle of excedrin!

[harleypie]

My rebound headache was AWFUL yesterday.... It lasted the entire day. After taking my 2 fiorinal w codeine in the morn, I was hoping maybe it would go away, but it didnt. I waited 6 hrs and took a tylenol, nothing...I waited another 4 hours and took a shot of liquid tylenol xtra strength with some coffee and finally it went away. I hate getting headaches/ migraines. It seems like everyne i know when they get a headache it goes away within an hour or so, where mine always last me the day and ruin my day. Itll be hard not having fiorinal to turn to in the end but i'm hoping if I try some homeopathic approaches maybe that will help. I have also noticed last night and this morning i feel very anxious. Like Ive had a shot of expresso. I wonder if this maybe is a wd thing. Today i am going to take 2, and tomorrow and I am going to go down to one and see how that goes. My husband actually has a safe, that i dont know the combos too and I asked him to keep them in there from now on. He also has percocets, vicodens " which thankfully make me sick to my stomach" and tramadol, fiorocet and a few others. His doctor is obviously way too trust worthy. He is very good though, only uses them as a last resort. But we do have friends that are always BEGGING us for them and this is why we have a safe because in the beginning some did go missing. We do not EVER give them out. It is scary to see how many people are actually addicted to pills. I have one friend who snorts oxycontins to no end. I am terrified for him and have begged him to stop or get help. But I know until he sees it, there's not much i can do. Anyway's enough rambling from me. This sight is great and I am so grateful for your responses.... Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

[vicki595]

Those headaches are awful,I know. If it's any consolation,I went through that forever and lost many a day to suffering needlessly.  Once I stopped the Fioricet completely,my migraines stopped in frequency.  I take Excedrin MIGRAINE now and it really works.  Imagine that!!     Yes,I think the anxiety is directly related.  It gets better to the point where it's gone completely. Give it a little time...

A word to the wise: It's great that all meds are locked up. Now,don't even speak of them in public/with your friends.  You just never know...somebody may get really desperate
and visit your home when you're away.  ;)

Good luck and stay strong~
V.

[my_mayberry]

just want 2 mention that excedrin migraine and excedrin extra strength are the same thing, but extra strength is half the cost...plus there's generally a store brand thats even half the cost or more of that.

just look at the ingredients and compare them to find the cheapest. i used to use the migraine too but anymore its really gone up in price...but i will also mention that actual brand name excedrin products do work better than store brands on full-blown migraines.