Fiorinal use

[Bev]

Dear Dr. Adelman,
     I have been using Fiorinal C1/2 for migraines and tension headaches.  Since I went off the birth control pill my migraines are fewer and less severe but I still have a lot of tension headaches.  I have tried other prescription medications for them but nothing else works as well as the fiorinal do.  I get a prescription for 60 caplets approximately every 45-60 days, I have to take 2-6 caplets per day when I get a headache which is usually about 3 days per week.  Am I taking too many?

[Sherri Rice]

This comment/response is to Imus3's post on 4/7/00:

Yes, Mr. Jokester, detox for Fiorinal #3!  When one has been using F#3 for over 12 years - at the rate of 30 to 48 capsules per day - you bet you need a detox ward!  One could have a stroke and/or heart attack from the physical withdrawal. And guess what they use to detox you - a barbiturate!

This isn't funny stuff my friend - F#3 worked better than anything I'd ever used for Migraines, but it's also highly addictive.  And because it contains butalbital and codeine, you get the double whammy of an opiate and a barbiturate.  Which means you ALSO get a "double withdrawal" - and one you need to be careful with.  But - thankfully, it is possible.  Been there, done that - and 5 years off.

Sherri

[imus3]

I took it for a long time, 2 years, 5 pills a day,, and quit with no trouble, if you were taking 1,500 fiorinal pills a month, you should go thruogh withdraw, i dont think you were taking that many, you need to go to a hospital alright, but not the kind your thinkin of

[to imus3]

you're not mean, just high. Sherri hit it on the head -- going through barbiturate AND opiate withdrawal would be not only unpleasant but quite possibly life threatening. Ever see Ray Miland scratching at invisible bugs in Lost Weekend? That's pretty close to barbiturate withdrawal. I know what you mean though --  a lot of people in this forum agonize about using what is to me (and you, I guess) pathetically small amounts of drugs. Many people on this forum eke out over a day what I would have inhaled in one sitting. Yet their withdrawal is every bit a bad as they say it is. It's all relative. Enjoy the xanax ...

[d]

Just a word to the wise: BEware of IMUS3.This person HAS been thrown out of OTHER forums for telling people to chew their medications.He/She IS NOTHING BUT TROUBLE...Best thing to do IS IGNORE!

[Joan C]

I have taken fiorinal with codiene on and off for the last 5 years and really don't have any problem when I go off them.  Some days I would take as many as 8 a day for migrians.  I always start out with at least 3 and then take as needed through out the day.  I usually get 50 with 2 refills but use them up before I should. I'm always afraid my doctor will cut me off.  Isn't it terrible that we have to act like we don't care if we get them or not just so the doctor won't cut us off.

[Brian to Joan]

You sound like someone who is dangerously close to becoming addicted to the fiorinal.  Be careful because most of us started with prescribed medication that we too thought we could control.