Question

[Fiocody]

Hi All:

I went to see a psych today to help taper me off fioricet with codeine.  I have cut down from 6 to 4 a day by myself, but need some help going lower.  He prescribed me three different pills to take once I go to the three.  I want to know if anyone has heard of these meds - hydroxyzine, gabapentin and clonazepam!!!!  Just worried about taking all of this stuff, but he claims this will help me not feel withdrawals.  Just wondering if I will be trading in the fioricet for some new pill addictions.  Anyone know of these pills or have taken them.

Thanks
Fio

[slowlybetter]

I can tell you some information about those medications.  For one, don't be afraid of the hydroxyzine, it is basically a lot like benadryl, it will help you sleep.  I take it for a different condition but it has helped me sleep through w/d's.  It will just make you very drowsy so I would only take it at night or when you want to sleep.  It is actually prescribed sometimes to help people with nerves (BTW, I am not a medical professional, just familiar with these medications).  It is a strong antihistamine.  What strength did your doctor give you?  The brand names are Vistaril (in a capsule form) and Atarax (in a tablet form).  This is not additive, but I guess if you take it long enough you might get used to using it for sleep, but as far as I know it is not addictive.  It is just a C VI which is not a controlled substance, just a regular prescription.

Clonazepam is brand name Klonopin which is a benzodiazepine in the same family as Valium, Xanax, etc.  It will help with anxiety and sleep.  The Thomas recipe actually recommends it.  This is an addictive medication so be careful.  It is a controlled substance but I think it has a longer effect than Xanax so they say it is better for withdrawals.

Gabapentin brand name is Neurontin.  It is used in people with seizures but I have heard it prescribed to people with chronic nerve pain.  I am not sure how that will benefit you with withdrawals but there must be a reason (there again, I am not the professional, just offering the information that I know, your psychiatrist knows a lot more and at least he/she is working with you that is great!).  I am not sure of the addictive nature of this one.  Does anyone else?  I thought it wasn't addictive then I read someone who said it was hard to get off of.  

What are you taking the Fioricet w/codeine for?  Do you have bad headaches?  How long have you been taking it?  I took Fioricet (plain without codeine) for headaches and didn't have any trouble coming off of it.  But like I said there was no codeine.  What are you going to do for the pain?

Hope this helps!  Any other questions I would be glad to help!

SB

[MissyJoelle]

Welcome. You are at a great place for support and advise!

I have never heard of those pills so I would google them online. And you can always ask your pharmacist. If they are addictive I would be careful.

So how long have you been using?  If it isn't for very long well my guess would be you will be ok. And from what I know (I am not an expert but I do know my opiates to some degree) codeine is the lowest and sounds like you haven't been taking a lot.

I was taking about 25 pills of oxycodone a day for a few years and for me to kick the habit is a HUGE struggle. I wish I stopped when I was only at about 6 a day like you. So stop now and don't ever use again because then you are in for a world of hurt.

You should check out the thomas recipe and maybe you could skip the benzo part cause those are addictive.

And my assumption to you would be why not just flush what you have?  My assumption is your w/d's won't be so bad if you are telling the truth about how many you have been taking. I really don't see how you will be that bad off. You probably don't know any different about the pain levels of w/d but trust me on this.

Read the posts about what people have gone through and hopefully that will scare you straight!

Please stop now before it is too late because I wouldn't wish what I go through and the struggle I have ahead of me on my worst enemy. Ok maybe Osama Bin Laden (if he is still alive) but that is it. I will struggle with this for the rest of my life.

Good luck to you and keep coming here.

[Fiocody]

I take fio w/codeine for migraines.  It works miracles, but I have been taking this for seven years and without even paying much attention, I got hooked and the w/d's are so severe I cannot function without them.  I probably could continue taking this med, but for my own sanity, I do not want to be controlled by a pill and I am.  I will deal with the migraines later.  I am sure there will be something out there to replace the codeine that will work.  

I am going back to the psych on Monday and I will ask him more questions about the meds he gave me.  I did not have much time with him and he only said that these meds will help tremendously with tapering, but it is still up to me.  I got them filled today, but I do not want to start taking them until I see this doc again Monday and at that time I will taper down to to 3 pills a day with these other meds I have.  I just don't want to trade one addiction for another, but if this is going to help me get off the opiates, then I will try almost anything at this point.  This man seems to know what he is doing, so I will trust.  He said I will not get a high from these meds (except maybe the klonipin) but he is not worried about this as he will monitor by consumption properly.

Thanks for your feed back.

Fio

[Fiocody]

Let me tell you, I have only been taking 4 to 6 a day for about 7 years now.  Believe me, I stopped once about two years ago c/t and could not function.  I could not get up off the couch.  I had to call my doctor to get some pills.......it was awful and I think that is why I do not want to go do c/t again.  I need to function, I am a single parent, full time job and need to function to get through the day.  I think maybe it is a combo of fioricet with the codeine that is making it so hard and the withdrawls so nasty.  I feel like my brain is short circuitng when I go off of them.  It's rather scary, so I need to try to taper down to 3 for awhile, then 2 and hopefully get off of these pills for good and never go back.  Its just unfortunate because they help with my migraines and I used to get a migraine 2 or 3 times a week.  Have not had a migraine at all since taking this stuff.

Thanks for your input.  I could not imaging taking 20+ pills a day.......that must be a trip withdrawing from.

Fio

[MissyJoelle]

I know what you mean about not being able to get off the couch. That was me every time I triet to quit. This time I am taking suboxone and it is working for me.

One problem I have is that 4 yrs ago I had gastric bypass surgery and because of that when I take a pill orally it doesn't completely metabolize in my system so when I take a pill the effects aren't as strong and they wear off quicker. A BAD combo for someone that has addiction tendencies.

So when I went on traditional detox meds (one of them was vistiril which is the same as one you were prescribed and it isn't addictive and did work well) they effects didn't last long. That is also why when I take ambien, lunesta I don't get a full nights sleep. So that wasn't the best treatment for me.

The problem is most docs don't get how I digest things now. For a full effect I need liquid or sublingual. And that is why suboxone is perfect for me. It is sublingual so it works all the time on me.

[slowlybetter]

If you are weaning and need meds to help you get through, the one I know you wouldn't be scared of is the hydroxyzine.  It just is an antihistamine, but don't take anything you don't feel completely comfortable with.  Do you shop at a pharmacy where the pharmacists are easy to talk to?  You could call them.  You can actually call any pharmacy, it doesn't have to be the one you got them filled at.  That is part of their job, informing the patient about medications.  Did you get information sheets on your medications?  And since so many pharmacies are staying open later and even overnight you could call one of them (and they won't even know you so you won't have to worry about any condemnation, which shouldn't be there anyway, you are trying to get help!).

Does your psych prescribe the Fioricet with codeine?  Do you know the source of your migraines?  Are you male or female?  Sorry, never can tell by the screen name.  I had migraines at one time but fortunately the doctor actually was on top of things (after suffering from debilitating migraines for 3 years) and come to find out it was a medication I was taking, it was a hormone.  So no hormones for me.  That is why I asked if you were male or female.

I am sure you have been through the whole gamut (not sure how to spell that or even if it is a word) of migraine meds like Imitrex, Midrin and others.  Did those not help you?  I took Imitrex and it did help but it sure felt weird when I took it.  The last time I took it (I actually got a migraine and it had nothing to do with hormones, I was just really sick and it produced a migraine).  When I took the Imitrex I puked my guts up and I hadn't been puking with my illness.  I am so thankful I don't have migraines anymore.  They truly steal your life from you.  I am so sorry you have to suffer like you do.  Don't give away exact info but what age range are you in?  Young like teens early twenty's, thirties, forties, fifties?  I am just one of those people that like to help others when it comes to these things if possible.  If you don't feel comfortable giving the information, I completely understand.

I am the same as you when it comes to taking new medications.  I wouldn't take all three at the same time.  If you do have a negative reaction to one of them how will you know which one it is.

And I am sure you realize this as well (I don't want to insult your intelligence if you do know this but a lot of people don't always realize the whole situation about medications so this is just an FYI if you don't already know) Fioricet w/codeine is not only an opiate (the codeine) and the Fioricet or butalbital is a barbituate, and it also contains caffeine as well as Tylenol.  When you go off of this stuff after taking it for so long you will more than likely have rebound headaches.  It is something you will have to endure and it should get better over time though.  Typically Fioricet w/codeine is used for tension headaches, I am surprised it works for migraines, but itis good that it does for you.  You could try to take Exedrin when you don't take the Fioricet w/codeine because it has Tylenol/Aspirin and caffeine.  If you can't take Aspirin then you could take another form of Exedrin that is just Tylenol and caffeine.  That way you wouldn't get the rebound headache from not taking caffeine.  Anyone that has went off of caffeine knows how bad those headaches can get!  Anyway, after I took plain Fioricet for a while that is what I did, I just switched over the Excedrin but I didn't take it for very long.

I do wish you well.  And you are definitely doing the right thing because this way when you truly need the Fioricet w/codeine it will work much better and you won't need to take near as much when you do get the bad headaches.  I have a feeling you have had to increase your dosage because you are getting rebound headaches.  Pain medications are such a strange thing.  They are like a necessary evil.  It is true that the least amount medication you need to take is what you should take and no more.  It produces a cycle of your body producing more and more pain receptors and so you are more sensitive to the pain.  That is one of my main motivations to get off pain meds as soon as possible even though I still have pain (better than it was prior to surgery but still there).  I am hoping and think my pain will decrease over time just by not taking pain meds.  I guess we will see.  I tapered slowly and have been 3 1/2 days with no pains except OTC ones.

SB